Alberti Norte is a
ghost station
A ghost station is a disused train station through which revenue-service passenger trains (especially rapid transit trains) pass but at which they do not stop. The term is also sometimes used for any unused underground station or any unused ...
in the
Buenos Aires Underground
The Buenos Aires Underground ( es, Subterráneo de Buenos Aires, links=no), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Pla ...
, which was part of
Line A until its closure in 1953. It is one of two ghost stations on the line, the other being
Pasco Sur.
History
The station was originally opened in 1913, as one of the original Line A stations opened that year. The station was unusual for the network in the sense that it only had one platform, serving only trains heading towards
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo (; en, May Square) is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time kn ...
, with the opposite platform located some metres away at
Alberti station.
![Alberti Norte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Alberti_Norte.jpg)
Given its proximity to
Pasco's northern platform (located just 124 metres away), both Alberti Norte and Pasco Sur stations were closed in 1953 in order to improve the line's frequency, since the close proximity of stations in that part of the line meant that trains could never accelerate to full speed before having to stop again.
Upon the closure of the station, passengers could still see the unaltered station for many years from the line's trains. In the mid-1980s, the platform even had a display showing the early years of the Underground, complete with
mannequins
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...
dressed in 1920s clothing.
When the Underground services were
privatised
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
by concession to
Metrovías
Metrovías S.A. is an Argentine privately owned company that operates the Buenos Aires Underground and the Metropolitan services of the Urquiza Line. 90% of Metrovías' shares are held by Grupo Roggio.
History
On 1 January 1994, Metrovías took ...
in the 1990s, the company closed up the platform and turned it into an electrical substation for the line. The entrance to the station from
Rivadavia Avenue still exists, though it is sealed with a door only for maintenance personnel.
Urban myths
There are a number of
urban myth
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
s surrounding the station. The most popular of these claims that when the station was being built, two railway workers were buried alive and their deaths were covered up and never reported to the local media. Subte workers and passengers of the line claim that if one takes the last train of the line (23:30) then the railway workers can be seen on the platform, with shovels in hand, following the gaze of passengers until the train passed. Another myth claims that if the lights went out on the old
La Brugeoise cars when passing the station, one could see passengers dressed in period clothing waiting on the platform.
La misteriosa Línea A del subte de Buenos Aires
- Soitu, 10 February 2009.
See also
* San José vieja - Ghost station on Line E
* Constitución - Ghost station on Line E
* Pasco Sur - Ghost station on Line A
References
External links
{{Buenos Aires Underground Stations
Buenos Aires Underground ghost stations
Railway stations opened in 1913
Railway stations closed in 1953
1913 establishments in Argentina