Medellin Subway

La Civic Card is a rechargeable electronic transport title, which uses the RFID system (radio frequency identification) or Smart card without contact (contactless smart card), which is detected by readers from a distance of about 8 cm. It is one of the means of payment to use the SITVA, which allows faster on the return tickets and in the time of loading and reloading the card. The application process of the card can be carried out by Colombians presenting their citizenship certificate and by foreigners presenting their foreign card or passport at customer service points, the procedure is free and its delivery is immediate.

The following rates began to govern from 1 January 2023.

Integration scheme	Frequent	Senior	Student	PMR	Carrier / Eventual
Metro / Metrocable / Tram / Metroplus / Food Route	$2.880	$2.660	$1.260	$2.150	$3.280
Metro / Metrocable + Tram / Metroplus	$2.880	$2.660	$1.260	$2.150	$3.280
Tramway / Metroplus + Food Route	$2.880	$2.660	$1.260	$2.150	$3.280
Metro/Metrocable + Food Route	$3.470	$3.250	$1,850	$2.740	$3.870
Metro/Metrocable + Tram / Metroplus + Food Route	$3.470	$3.250	$1,850	$2.740	$3.870
Food Route + Food Route	$3.470	$3.250	$1,850	$2.740	$3.870
Food Route + Tram / Metroplus + Food Route	$4.060	$3.250	$2.440	$3.330	$4.460
Food Route + Metro / Metrocable + Food Route	$4.650	$4.430	$3.030	$3.920	$5.050
Food Route + Tram/ Metroplus + Metro/Metrocable + Food Route	$4.650	$4.430	$3.030	$3.920	$5.050

Line L does not service the first working day of each week.

The Metro de Medellín project was raised to five years and was finally completed in 12 years. On 14 December 1982, the National Council for Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) had approved the subway debt quota up to $656.3 million, at an estimated cost of $1 009 million. At the end of the construction of the first three lines (two commercials and one link) of the mass transport system, in 1997 the final cost was $2 174 million, including the construction contract, financial expenses, interest costs and social investment.

The total debt acquired by the region, for the construction of the Metro, is being paid under the subway law, where 60% are contributions from the Department of Antioquia and the Municipality of Medellín and the remaining 40% of the Nation.

In 2004 the Minister of Finance Alberto Carrasquilla, the mayor of Medellin Fajardo Valderrama, the governor of Antioquia Aníbal Gaviria Correa and the manager of Metro Ramiro Márquez Ramírez, signed a definitive agreement for the cancellation of that debt. This arrangement allows the Antioqueños themselves to pay the Metro, whose construction began in 1985.

The members of the Metro (Medellín and Antioquia) company assume 60% of the total debt, according to the Metros Act, which was taxed at USD$1 256 million money already canceled by the State to the creditors, and USD$335 million more that are missing, for a total of USD$1 591 million that are passed to Colombian pesos, according to the representative rate of the market of the 21 May 2004.

In this way, the Metro de Medellín recognizes as its duty and in favor of the Nation the payment of USD$1 256 million, which corresponds to the debt paid, and USD$335 million corresponding to the debt to pay.

A portion of the subway debt remains in foreign currency, and amounts to about USD$360 million (capital plus interest); for the payment of this item there is still a 10-year period. Antioquia, Medellín and the company Metro de Medellín Ltda. They are fully honoring their debt to the Nation and external banks.

The payment agreement also defined that the debt that the region has with the Nation will be supported by the incomes of both the department of Antioquia (corresponding to 40% of its tobacco revenues) and other incomes of all the municipalities of the area of influence of the system (corresponding to 10% of the overtase to gasoline).

The agreed incomes, that of the overtase to gasoline (municipal) and that of the cigarette tax (departmental), honour their debt to the Nation and from May 2004 to 31 December 2012, had turned COP$836 898 million, compared to commitments amounting to COP$583 billion, which represented a greater payment (prepaid) by COP$253 898 million. In total, the Metro de Medellín and its partners (Medellín and Antioquia) have turned to the Nation from 1990 to 2013, USD$1 033 million. Thus, compliance with the payment agreement of the Metro company and its partners has been since its inception and until 2012 of 138%. The debt in 2013 was calculated at COP$5.3 billion (USD$2 600 million).

The agreement was also achieved thanks to the fact that the Public Enterprises of Medellin (EPM) and the municipality of Medellin had a lawsuit against ISA-Isagen, worth COP$650 billion, for the use of the waters of the El Peñol-Guatapé reservoir (Oriente Antioqueño), in the water chain and reservoirs of Puerto Nare-Guatapé.

The cancellation of the debt to the Nation (internal debt in Colombian pesos) is assured by the aforementioned Payment Agreement. It would end up paying in 2083, as globally the financing of these mass transport systems differs to the useful life of the same, however the good behavior of the payment so far, has projected its total cancellation by 2057. The capitalizations of the partners (Municipio de Medellín y Departamento de Antioquia) have been completed by 100% since the signing of the Payment Agreement. The debt payable to external banks (external debt in dollars) will be cancelled by 2024.

In this way, it appears definitively to resolve a problem that compromised regional finances, which had not been able to resolve the last four national and local governments.

Line A and Line B of the Metro, in addition to the additional service and maintenance route called Line C, cost USD$2 174 million, of which USD$1 009 million corresponds to the real value of the work and the rest to financial overruns, mainly due to the delay of seven years that it had its construction — including the paralysis of the work between 1989 and 1992 — due to the lack of soft credits and the hostile attitude of the government of the former Bar86-19.

Other large investments will mostly be supported with resources from the Metro and seek to extend and improve the quality of life among all the inhabitants of the Aburra Valley.

• The Metro de la 80 is a work going from the Caribbean station to Aguacatala station or vice versa, in a time of 32 minutes going in total by 14 stops and 3 stations. The corridor consists of 13,25 km with a trace from the Caribbean Metro station, passing through the 73 crossroads, then on 65th Street to the sector of the Faculty of Mines where it takes 80-81 Avenue, closing the circuit at the Aguacatala station in the south of the city of Medellín.
• The Tren de Cercanías, or Tren del Río, which serves to mobilize cargo, solid waste and passengers, whose stage of studies began in December 2009, plans to obtain the resources of the work by hand of the Metros law, this $4.2 trillion project, of which the region contributes 30% ($1.26 trillion) and a public debt co-financing of the remaining 70% National Government ($2.94 trillion).
• The repotentiation of the first MAN-type trains, which have already completed 25 years of service in the system, is currently under way, this project is planned to be completed in approximately 24 months, fully realized with its own resources and with local labor.
• The mayor of Medellin, at the hands of Daniel Quintero Calle in 2021, signed an agreement to initiate studies of prefactibility and feasibility of a new railway line, which is planned to be 100% underground, and whose letter would be line S.

The entity manifests in the short term the feasibility of each of the works to determine its execution.

The Metro de Medellín, together with the Santiago de Chile Metro, are the only Iberian meters that are not subsidized by local governments in their operation. In addition, the Metro de Medellín is self-used in the operation and maintenance of the system. The Metro qualifications also include the subsidies offered (up to 50% in relation to the rate approved by the Metropolitan Authority), to users who, because of their socio-economic, physical or labor status, are considered to enjoy this benefit; such is the case of students, seniors, and persons with reduced mobility.

Medellin Metro is one of the only three meters in the world that generates operating surpluses. The commercial operation of the Metro — transport services, leases and exploitation of advertising spaces — generates operational surplus before depreciations and provisions (EBITDA). As at 31 December 2007, these surpluses were COP$47 178 million pesos. These positive results, which have remained at levels above 20% over the past five years, confirm the company's operational profitability.

In 2007, the company received the certification of the Colombian Technical Standards ISO 14001:2004, Environmental Management System, and OHSAS 18001:1999, Occupational Safety and Health Management System. This complemented the Integral Management System of the Metro with the ISO 9001:2000 standard, Quality Management Systems, all of which makes the Company the only one certified in these three standards among the members of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Metros y Subterráneos (ALAMYS). This international position led to the start in 2007 of the exploitation of railway knowledge, which is unique in the country and recognized abroad by companies in the Americas and Europe, which began to establish alliances and trade agreements that will represent an important source of income for the company.

In 2007 the Metro was a special guest 1.♪ International Congress of Integral Security in Metropolitan Railways held in Madrid, Spain, with the presence of three hundred specialists from 17 countries, since the organizers of the contest wanted to know firsthand the security system implemented by the Metro de Medellín, which enjoys a good name between the meters of Latin America.

'Duff & Phelps de Colombia S.A. in 2008, for the third consecutive year, the "A+" (A plus) rating to the corporate debt of the Masivo Transport Company of the Borra Valley] (ETMVA)-Metro of Medellín Ltda. In addition, the World Bank has recognized the Meter of Medellin for its positive balances, which have grown significantly since 2001.

These ratings, in addition to providing tranquility and satisfaction to the Metro, encourage you to continue working for the quality of life that offers you to the about 850 000 users that mobilize daily.

The rating assigned by Duff & Phelps to the Mass Transport Company of the Limited Borage Valley, is based on its operational consolidation, the capacity to generate financial resources and the financial support of its shareholders, the Department of Antioquia and the Municipality of Medellín, which are qualified by Duff & Phelps with AAA rating (triple A).

In the criteria of the qualifier, the fact that in recent years the company has been able to maintain a cash generation close to $37 billion on an annual average, over the last few years, is constituted in a solid backing for the current service provision.

On the other hand, the rating emphasizes that the Metro is a company of a regional nature, but its importance at the national level has made its management being evaluated almost permanently by different agents external to it and, over time, it has shown continuity, transparency and efficiency in the hiring and management of its resources.

It also highlights how the Company has been concerned about establishing the Good Government Code and sharing it with all its employees, thus facilitating the transparency of internal relations and the company in general with external agents.

Finally, when analyzing the Metro strategy, Duff & Phelps It highlights the social balance, which aims to generate a better quality of life in the population of influence. In this regard, it emphasizes that the Company has been concerned about investing resources in facilitating means so that people with reduced mobility can access the system, for which it has taken into account that today all stations have tilted platforms or lifts, which also places the Metro in a good competitive position in front of the meters of the world.