El Salvador Dismantles Idle San Salvador Bus Stations
TRANSPORT · EL SALVADOR
Key Facts
- —The country El Salvador, a small Central American country that uses the US dollar. Its capital, San Salvador, built a bus rapid transit line that opened in 2015.
- —What happened On 1 October 2026 public works crews began removing the roof of a former SITRAMSS station opposite the Médico Quirúrgico hospital, Diario El Mundo reported. Work continued on 2 October.
- —Who is involved The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) is doing the work. The Vice-Ministry of Transport is studying a cable car or monorail for the same corridor.
- —What it means for you No bus service is lost, because the line has not run regularly since 2020. Expect works and an excavator on Alameda Juan Pablo II near the hospital.
- —Still open Whether every station will go, at what cost, and what replaces them. As of 2 October no route, budget or start date for a new system had been announced.
El Salvador has begun dismantling the SITRAMSS stations, the platforms of a San Salvador bus rapid transit line idle since 2020. Public works crews started removing a station roof opposite a social security hospital on Thursday 1 October, Diario El Mundo reported.
The news site elsalvador.com saw workers taking apart the same structure on Friday 2 October. The government has not said whether every station will go, or what will replace them.
What the Crews Are Removing
It is the former MQ station on Alameda Juan Pablo II, opposite the Médico Quirúrgico hospital of the social security institute (ISSS). An excavator has stood at the site since 1 October, according to Diario El Mundo.
In mid-September the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) fenced several stations with mesh and metal sheets to keep people out. Asked whether all the infrastructure would be dismantled, its press office told El Mundo it had no information yet.
A Line That Stopped in 2020
SITRAMSS, the Integrated Transport System of the San Salvador Metropolitan Area, ran articulated buses in segregated central lanes. Its corridor linked Soyapango, east of the capital, with central San Salvador along Bulevar del Ejército and Alameda Juan Pablo II.
It was built under the left-wing FMLN government of Mauricio Funes, with a US$45 million Inter-American Development Bank loan approved in 2012. Service began in stages on 8 May 2015, elsalvador.com reports.
In June 2019 the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled the line’s exclusive use of those lanes unconstitutional. It said such use required a concession from the Legislative Assembly.
Service stopped in 2020 under pandemic transport restrictions and never resumed regularly. The ministry fined operator Sipago-Sitramss about US$500,000 in October 2021, El Mundo reports, and later withdrew its concession.
In December 2021 the court ordered the stations handed to the authorities for public use. The Assembly has not taken up the concession question since, according to El Mundo.
Prosecutors opened a corruption case linked to the system in December 2022, seeking arrests of former officials. The FMLN is now in opposition: see El Salvador’s Left-Wing FMLN Picks Doctor Rafael Aguirre to Face Bukele in 2027.
Cable Car or Monorail Under Study
The Vice-Ministry of Transport (VMT) is studying a new mass transit system along Bulevar del Ejército. Vice-minister Nelson Reyes named a cable car or a monorail as options in a September interview on radio YSKL.
One idea is to use space at the old SITRAMSS stations for piles supporting the new structure, elsalvador.com reported on 17 September. Reyes called the cable car line “a first approach” within a national road and mobility plan.
Separately, a line linking Mejicanos with San Salvador’s historic centre is under construction, with four stations over about 3.5 kilometres. Officials have not tied the current dismantling to any of these projects.
What It Means for the City
For commuters the change is mostly visual, since no buses have used the stations for years. Clearing them also follows the 2021 court order to return the space to public use.
The risk is that a corridor built for mass transit loses its infrastructure before any successor has a route or budget. More background on the government’s priorities is in El Salvador Explained 2026: Bukele’s Model, the Economy and What to Watch.
What Is Not Yet Known
The government has not said whether all the former SITRAMSS stations and the Soyapango terminal will be removed, or on what schedule. It has not published a cost for the works.
No option for the Bulevar del Ejército corridor has been chosen, and no investment figure or start date has been announced. Whether this week’s dismantling is the first step of that project remains unconfirmed.
What was SITRAMSS?
A bus rapid transit system linking Soyapango with central San Salvador in segregated lanes. Service began in stages in May 2015 and stopped in 2020.
Which station is being dismantled?
The former MQ station on Alameda Juan Pablo II, opposite the Médico Quirúrgico hospital. Crews began removing its roof on 1 October 2026.
Will a new transit system replace it?
The Vice-Ministry of Transport is studying a cable car or monorail on Bulevar del Ejército. No option, route, budget or date has been announced.
Sources: elsalvador.com, report of 2 October 2026; Diario El Mundo, report of 2 October 2026; elsalvador.com, interview report on Vice-Ministry of Transport plans, 17 September 2026.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief