THE governor of the Antioquia region in Colombia, Andrés Julián Rendón, has announced that his administration will ask the legislature to approve Pesos 2.6 trillion ($US 650m) in funding over 29 years for the first phase of the long-stalled Tren del Río project.
The full 63km project would see passenger services introduced between Caldas, 20km south of Medellín, and Barbosa, running northwards through Medellín on a disused railway alignment that parallels Line A of the Medellín metro. Of the project’s 17 stations, eight would provide interchange with the metro.
Technical studies and planning were completed in 2021, but the project stalled due to the absence of national co-funding required under Colombian law. Progress was further delayed by subsequent policy shifts by the administration of president, Gustavo Petro, that prioritised freight upgrade projects over new passenger services, while institutional overlap between Antioquia’s railway agency, Metro Medellín and the Valle de Aburrá metropolitan authority also contributed to the impasse.
Rendón told El Colombiano that the new commitment covers the phase that can be financed entirely with regional resources, noting that feasibility studies have already been completed. Once approved, the regional government expects to define the project’s delivery model early next year.
Two options are under consideration: a public works tender for the initial 32km northern section between Bello and Barbosa, or a public-private partnership (PPP) covering a 193km corridor between Puerto Berrío and Caldas. The latter would rehabilitate the entire disused line, connecting with the national network at Puerto Berrío and providing access for freight to the deep-water Caribbean port of Santa Marta and to La Dorada in central Colombia.
Tren del Río forms part of Antioquia’s long-term vision to develop seven corridors totalling 2497km by 2053. The plans include the Tren a Urabá (Bolombolo - Turbo, 367km), Tren del Café (Caldas - La Felisa) and Tren del Norte (San José del Nus - Turbo) projects, as well as a proposed high-speed line between Medellín and Bogotá.
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