The opening of the Medellin Metro
Witness History26 Jun 2025

The opening of the Medellin Metro

When the Medellin Metro opened in 1995, the Colombian city had recently been called the “murder capital of the world” due to the high homicide rate caused by Pablo Escobar’s drug wars.

The network has grown to include a large cable car network which stretches to the neighbourhoods built into the sides of mountains that surround Medellin.

It has helped transform the city into a tourist hot-spot – something unimaginable 30 years ago.

Tim O’Callaghan has been speaking to Tomas Andreas Elejalde, who is the general manager of the Metro.

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(Photo: The metro cable above the city of Medellin. Credit: Raul Arboleda via Getty Images)

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