The Aburrá Valley Integrated Transport System (SITVA, ) is the public transportation system of Medellín and its metropolitan area. It allows people from the Metropolitan Area of Medellín to move across the ten Aburrá Valley municipalities using different transport modes. It uses integrated fares and a single payment card (Cívica card).
Components
SITVA includes the Medellín Metro, currently comprising two lines: Line A, which is long and serves 21 stations, and Line B, which is long and serves 6 stations (plus San Antonio station, the transfer station with Line A). There is also a tram line: Line T (Ayacucho Tram).
Additionally, the aerial cable car system, Metrocable, which supplements the metro system, comprises six lines: Line J with 3 stations (plus one transfer station with Metro Line B), Line K with 3 stations (plus one transfer station with Metro Line A and one with Line L), Line L with one station (plus one transfer station with Line K), Line H with two stations (plus one transfer station with Line T), Line M with two stations (plus one transfer station with Line T) and Line P with 3 stations (plus one transfer station with Metro Line A). SITVA also integrates a bus rapid transit (BRT) system (Metroplús), a minibus network called Sistema Integrado de Transporte (SIT) in Spanish and a bicycle-sharing system (EnCicla).
As of 2026, there are 26 metro stations, 14 Metrocable stations, 2 tramway stations (+ 6 tram stops), 22 BRT stops (+ 24 bus stops) in the SITVA network, all listed in the following table; for a total of 42 stations, 28 tram and BRT stops, and 24 bus stops. Transfer stations are in bold, and the transfer station between metro lines A and B is shown in bold-italic:
NameStationsDate of openingFleetCommercial speedCapacity (per vehicle)Capacity (passengers/h-direction)Travel time one journeyTop frequency (rush hour)Metro servicesNorth to South21 stationsNiquía Bello Madera Acevedo Tricentenario Caribe University Hospital Prado Berrío Park San Antonio Alpujarra Exposiciones Industriales Poblado Aguacatala Ayurá Envigado Itagüí Sabaneta La Estrella30 November 199580 three-car trains; for a total of 240 cars; max. speed 300 users per car41,48042 minutes3 minutesCenter to West7 stationsSan Antonio Cisneros Suramericana Estadio Floresta Santa Lucía San Javier 29 February 199616,23110.5 minutes3:50 minutesMetrocable servicesNorth to Northeast4 stationsAcevedo Andalucía Popular Santo Domingo Savio 7 August 200493 gondolas8 users sitting, 2 standing; for a total of 10 users per gondola3,0009 minutes0:12 minutesWest to North4 stationsSan Javier Juan XXIII Vallejuelos La Aurora3 March 2008119 gondolas12 minutesNortheast to far Northeast2 stationsSanto Domingo Savio Arví9 February 201055 gondolas1,20015 minutes0:14 minutesEast to far Northeast3 stations Oriente Las Torres Villa Sierra17 December 201644 gondolas1,8005 minutes0:13 minutesEast to Northeast3 stations Miraflores El Pinal Trece de Noviembre28 February 201949 gondolas2,5004 minutes0:09 minutesWest to Northwest
3 stations Acevedo SENA Doce de Octubre El Progreso10 June 2021138 gondolas10 users sitting, 2 standing; for a total of 12 users per gondola4,00010 minutes0:11 minutesBRT servicesWest to Northeast20 stations U. de M. Los Alpes La Palma Parque Belén Rosales Fátima Nutibara Industriales Plaza Mayor Cisneros Minorista Chagualo U. de A. Hospital Palos Verdes Gardel Manrique Las Esmeraldas Berlín Parque Aranjuez 22 December 201130 gas working buses, 1 fully electric bus; for a total of 31 articulated buses; max. speed 154 users per bus3,27045 minutes2:45 minutesSouthwest/SoutheastSouth CorridorUnder developmentFeeding bus servicesWest to Northeast15 stations + 8 stops U. de M. (station) Los Alpes (station) La Palma (station) Parque Belén (station) Rosales (station) Fátima (station) Nutibara (station) Industriales (station) Barrio Colombia San Diego Barrio Colón San José La Playa Catedral Metropolitana Palos Verdes (station) Gardel (station) Manrique (station) Las Esmeraldas (station) Berlín (station) Parque Aranjuez (station)22 April 201347 gas feeding buses; max. speed 90 users per bus1,41752 minutes4:17 minutesNorth to South27 stops Caribe Floresta La Palma 2 December 201964 electric buses; max. speed 80 users per bus80045 minutes6:00 minutesTram servicesCenter to East3 stations + 6 stopsSan Antonio (station) San José Pabellón del Agua Bicentenario Buenos Aires Miraflores (station) Loyola Alejandro Echavarría Oriente (station)31 March 201612 tramway vehicles; max. speed 300 users per tram3,80719 minutes4:44 minutesTotal 65 stations (48 stops)Oldest: 30 November 1995 Newest: 6 June 2021 240 cars 498 gondolas
31 articulated buses
111 feeding buses
12 tramwayFastest: max. speed Slowest: Most capacity: 300 users per car/tram Least capacity: 10 users per gondola82,502Fastest journey: 4 minutes Slowest journey: 52 minutesLeast wait time: 0:09 minutes Most wait time: 6:00 minutes
Expansions
Metrocable
On 7 August 2004, the city inaugurated a new line known as "Metro Cable" (Line K). The line starts in the Acevedo Station and goes to the up hill district of Santo Domingo Savio. This important addition integrated new additions to the city that since the 1960s that previously were not considered part of the "real city".
On 3 March 2008, a second "Metro Cable" line (Line J) was inaugurated. The line starts in the San Javier Station and goes through Juan XXIII and Vallejuelos to the La Aurora district. This new line benefits approximately 150,000 new users.
A new Metrocable line (line L) was inaugurated in 2009 with a transfer station at Santo Domingo Savio Station. This line continues further uphill to El Tambo in Arví park near Guarne. The reason for constructing this line is because the city wants to promote tourism in the rural area near Lake Guarne. It takes 14 minutes to ascend to El Tambo and there are no intermediate stations.
On June 10, 2022 there was a new "Metro Cable" line (Line P). The line starts from the Acevedo station and goes all the way to the El Progreso station, in the northwest. It takes approximately 10 minutes to go through all the stations, and it benefits 200,000 people.
Line A extension Line A was expanded from Itagüí to La Estrella, in the south of the metropolitan area. A new intermediate station, Sabaneta, built near 67th South Street, was opened on 5 August 2012 and the final station, La Estrella, was built near 77th South Street and opened on 17 September 2012.
Train line
In February 2020 it was announced that Medellín will reactivate the train line between Bello and Caldas.
References