To carry out this project, the Municipality of Medellín and the Department of Antioquia joined in equal parts, making possible the creation of the Company. In 1979, the technical and economic feasibility studies were carried out by the firm Mott, Hay & Anderson Ltda. and the contract was extended until the international bidding documents were developed.
In 1980 the project was submitted to the National Government for consideration, and its National Council of Economic and Social Policy gave its approval in December 1982. That year the Company was authorized to outsource 100% of the resources necessary for the work and in 1984 the construction was contracted to German and Spanish firms.
On November 30, 1995, at 11:00 a.m., commercial operation began in a first section, between the Niquía and Poblado stations on Line A; then the system was extended to Itagüí, four more stations to the south and to the west with six stations on Line B. On August 7, 2004, Line K, Northeast Metrocable, came into operation, and on March 3, 2008, the second Metrocable, Line J, which serves sectors in the west of Medellín, began operating.
In February 2010 the first tourist line, Cable Arví, Line L, was put into service to the near east; on December 22, 2011 METRO began operating, on behalf of the Municipality of Medellín, Line 1 of articulated buses; on September 17, 2012 two new stations were delivered in the South of the Valle de Aburrá, Sabaneta and La Estrella. In 2013 METRO began operating line 2 of standard buses.
On March 31, 2016, the Ayacucho tram began its commercial operation. With its 6 stops and three stations, this environmentally friendly means of transportation turned the Ayacucho corridor into a space not only for mobility, but also an area of commercial interest, tourism and culture; a public space suitable for the enjoyment of all citizens.
On December 17, 2016, Line H entered commercial operation, with a length of 1,402 meters, 42 cabins, 3 stations (Oriente, Las Torres and Villa Sierra) and the capacity to mobilize up to 1,800 passengers every hour in each direction in the east of the city.
Line P of the Metrocable Picacho was inaugurated on June 10, 2021 and benefits 420,000 inhabitants of the communes 5, Castilla, and 6, Doce de Octubre. The four stations of this new line P are: Acevedo, Sena, Doce de Octubre and El Progreso. This metrocable has 138 cabins, each with a capacity for 12 users, and has the capacity to transport 4,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
Currently, the System has 76 stations: 27 train stations, 11 cable stations, 9 tram stations (6 of which are stops) and 28 bus rapid transit stations (lines 1, 2 and O, 8 of which are stops). Today, after 28 years of operation, the direct area of influence of the METRO sytem extends over six municipalities: Bello, Medellín, Itagüí, Envigado, Sabaneta and La Estrella and has integrated routes to other nearby municipalities.
Today METRO has mobilized more than 4,995 million passengers, applying the principle of Sustainable Mobility, with clean energy and generating a great social benefit internationally recognized as METRO Culture. Every day hundreds of thousands of users travel safely, quickly, with information and presentation, attributes that characterize the METRO service and generate quality of life.
