Ayacucho Tram

Ayacucho Tram
Medellin rubber tyred tram
Overview
Type	Translohr
System	Medellin Metro
Status	Operational
Locale	Medellín, Colombia
Termini	San Antonio Oriente
Stations	9
Services	1 ()
Website	www.tranviadeayacuchoysusdoscables.com
Operation
Opened	20 October 2015
Owner	Medellín
Operator(s)	Medellín Metro
Technical
Line length	4.3 km (2.7 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	None (there are no rails)
Electrification	Yes
Operating speed	25 km/h

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 Metro de Medellín.

Ayacucho Tram is the rubber tire tram both in Colombia and Southern Hemisphere.

Medellin once had a standard steel wheeled tramway network. It first was opened as horse tram and later converted to electric tram. Routes were built step by step, and it reached their most widespread network in 1945 with 61 tramcars. But like most cities around the world during the fifties & sixties, the tram service was completely stopped in 1951.

Tram returned in Medellin in 2015. Commercial service started in 2016. Ayacucho Tram started construction in 2012. In July 13, 2015, Medellin tram trial operation started, and in 31st March 2016 officially passenger operations started. Medellin tram use Translohr vehicle, imported from France.

After closing tram network in fifties, people of Medellin thought the only unfashionable obstacle of smooth city traveling has removed, and the city can move faster than before, but it proved false some years later. Uncontrolled increasing of petrol vehicles like bus, taxicab, and private car started chocking the streets of Medellin. Like most South American countries, Colombia suffered by many problems of developing countries, including pollution, traffic jam, illegal migration, low literacy and booming increasing of population etc. Increasing population started increasing urbanization of Medellin, and it started increasing motor vehicles, which started increasing air & sound pollution, traffic jam & smog. The city even became slower than pre-tram closure era. From starting '80, all this problems started and at mid '90, inhabitants of Medellin realized that non-controlling of motor vehicles & closure of tram was a great mistake.