Belgrano Cargas S.A. was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

State-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

company which operated the gauge freight rail network built by Central Northern and

Province of Santa Fe The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...

Railways, which became part of

Belgrano Railway The General Manuel Belgrano Railway (FCGMB) (Spanish: Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano), named after the Argentine politician and military leader Manuel Belgrano, is a railway and the longest of the Argentine system. It was one of the six ...

network after

railway nationalization Railway nationalization is the act of taking rail transport assets into public ownership. Several countries have at different times nationalized part or all of their railway system. More recently, the international trend has been towards privatiza ...

of 1948. The network operated by Belgrano Cargas extended through the provinces of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Mendoza,

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...

, San Juan,

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N� ...

, Catamarca, Tucumán, Chaco,

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

and

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

. The line also reached all the Argentina's neighbouring countries, such as

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. In more recent years, the name ''Belgrano Cargas'' is often erroneously used by the Argentine government and press to refer to the entirety of the country's freight network, and more specifically those parts operated by Belgrano Cargas y Logística. The name has stuck despite the fright network encompassing numerous other Argentine railways, of which the

General Belgrano Railway The General Manuel Belgrano Railway (FCGMB) (Spanish: Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano), named after the Argentine politician and military leader Manuel Belgrano, is a railway and the longest of the Argentine system. It was one of the six ...

is only one.

History

As part of a national railway privatisation plan carried out under the presidency of

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

from 1992, a 30-year concession to operate the network was granted to "Belgrano Cargas S.A.", formed by the union of railway workers, "Unión Ferroviaria" (51%), and Laguna Paiva (48%), an industrial cooperative, on 16 November 1999. The government retained a 1% golden share and the right to elect one director. Nevertheless, the union was involved in suspicions about the handling of the funds received to operate the line. The union alleged that the Government did not invest enough to reactivate the line which was in critical condition when they took over. In 1998 Belgrano Cargas carried 3,287,515 tonnes a year. In 2006 it decreased to 500,000 tonnes."Estatizan el ferrocarril Belgrano Cargas", ''La Nación'', 23 May 2013
/ref> During presidency of

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...

, two tenders failed due to lack of interested investors. Soon after, "Shima", a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

company associated with local entrepreneur Franco Macri presented an investment plan consisting of AR$ 1,400 million. This consortium finally withdrew when the Government imposed as a condition that private holdings

Emepa Group Emepa Group S.A. ( es, Grupo Emepa, an acronym for Empresa Metalúrgica Patricias Argentinas)

and Grupo Roggio (owners of railway operators

Ferrovías Ferrovías S.A.C. is a privately owned company which, on 1 April 1994, took over the concession, granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem, for the operation of the 1,000 mm ...

and

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 ...

respectively) should be part of the operator holding along with Unión Ferroviaria and other transport unions of Argentina. In 2008, the

Government of Argentina The government of Argentina, within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. ...

ceased the concession granted to Belgrano Cargas S.A. to operate Ferrocarril Belgrano's freight services. Belgrano Cargas y Logística was established in May 2013 by National decree, to take over Ferrocarril Belgrano's freight services, formerly operated by Belgrano Cargas. In June that same year the company also took over some services from Urquiza,

San Martín San Martín or San Martin may refer to: People Saints * Saint Martin (disambiguation)#People, name of various saints in Spanish Political leaders *Vicente San Martin (1839 -1901), Military, National hero of Mexico. *Basilio San Martin (1849 ...

and

Sarmiento Sarmiento may refer to: Places Argentina *Sarmiento Department, San Juan, a subdivision of the San Juan Province *Sarmiento Department, Santiago del Estero, a subdivision of the Santiago del Estero Province *Sarmiento Department, Chubut, a subdivi ...

railways.

References

{{Railway Companies in Argentina Defunct railway companies of Argentina Metre gauge railways in Argentina

History

See also

References