Medellin's metro, long one of Latin America's smoothest urban transit systems, is quietly changing how you pay. As of November 9, 2026, traditional ticket windows have closed at six stations — Floresta, Acevedo, Parque Berrío, Envigado, Ayurá and Itagüí — and more are scheduled to follow. If you're visiting the city and planning to ride, the window-and-cashier era is ending faster than you might expect.
The immediate impact: topping up your Cívica card (the prepaid card you tap to enter the system) now happens at machines or through your phone. The Metro has rolled out change-returning top-up machines at the six affected stations — 14 at Parque Berrío alone, plus 11 at Envigado and nine at Itagüí — so cash still works. Digital options go further: the Cívica app, Nequi, the Bancolombia app, Gana points around the Valle de Aburra, and even a WhatsApp line running on Colombia's Bre-B instant payment network let you recharge without stepping into a station at all.
Bigger news for short-term visitors landed two days later. Since November 11, contactless Visa and Mastercard cards — plus Apple Pay and Google Pay on phones — work directly at the gates on lines A and B. That means tourists can skip the Cívica card entirely on those lines and just tap the card already in their wallet. The rollout is limited for now: full coverage depends on installing more than 3,000 new validators across the network, and the Cívica card isn't going away, since it carries discounted fares and links to other transport services.
The human side of the change is messier. Older riders and occasional users say the machines and apps replace help they depended on, with complaints about machines that don't return change and long queues at the customer service points absorbing former window customers. The Metro has responded by extending hours at service points in stations like Niquía, Acevedo, San Antonio and San Javier until 10 p.m. on weekdays, with some Saturday openings from November 17. Staff who used to sell tickets now guide passengers through the new systems, and no jobs were cut.
Expect the shift to accelerate. Six more ticket offices are due to close between February and March 2027, and another six in May and June 2027, leaving just 10 sales points across the entire system.
Why it matters for travellers: if you're in Medellin for a few days, the practical move is to try contactless payment on lines A and B first — no card registration, no top-up trip. If you're heading to stations beyond those lines, grab a Cívica card early, top it up at a machine while staff are nearby to help, and keep small bills handy since machine change policies vary. The system still works well; it just asks a little more of you at the gate than it did last month.
