Ayacucho Tram

The Ayacucho Tram (or Medellín Tram) is a Translohr tram system that serves the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley in Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia. It started trial operations on 20 October 2015. The tramline consists of 9 stations with three of those allowing interchanges with the Medellín Metro and the Metrocable systems. The Ayacucho Tram is operated by Medellín Metro and is the only (rubber-tyred or otherwise) tram in Colombia.

Ayacucho Tram
Medellín rubber-tyred tram
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerMedellín
LocaleMedellín, Colombia
Termini
Stations9
Websitewww.tranviadeayacuchoysusdoscables.com
Service
TypeTranslohr
SystemSITVA
Services1 ()
Operator(s)Medellín Metro
Ridership10 million (2019)
History
Opened15 October 2015
Technical
Line length4.3 km (2.7 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gaugeNone (there are no rails).
There is a central guide rail instead
Electrification750 V DC Overhead line
Operating speed25 km/h (16 mph)

Medellín once had a standard steel-wheeled tramway network. It first was opened as a horse tramway and was later converted to electric trams. Routes were built in stages, and the network reached its maximum size in 1945, served by a fleet of 61 tramcars. However, like most cities around the world during the 1950s and 1960s, the tram service was completely abandoned in 1951.

In the late 2000, plans to return trams to Medellín began to come together. The first contracts for the project, to be known as the Tranvía de Ayacucho (Ayacucho Tram), were signed in 2011. It was decided that the new Medellín tramway would uses Translohr vehicles, imported from France, as rubber-tyred trams would be able to handle the line's steep hills better than a conventional steel-wheeled tramway. Construction of the line began in 2012, and delivery of the Translohr vehicles began in 2014.

On 13 July 2015, the first test runs took place. Free, limited passenger service began on 15 October 2015, and on 31 March 2016 regular passenger operations officially started.

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