The Córdoba Metro was a project that was supposed to, according to its proponents, serve the city of
Córdoba, the second-largest city in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. The metro system would have become the second metro system in Argentina, after 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–Plaz ...
. The project was dropped after several issues.
Background
On December 10, 2007, the
Secretary of Transport and Traffic of the Argentine Municipality announced an initiative of the Iecsa/Gela companies to build an
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground (S ...
system in the City of Córdoba. The announcement was made after a meeting with the Argentine Secretary of Transport, Ricardo Jaime and, on December 14, the municipality commenced Technical and Financial Feasibility studies.
First proposal
![Mapa subte Córdoba](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Mapa_subte_C%C3%B3rdoba.jpg)
Finally on April 10, 2008, President
Cristina Kirchner
Cristina is a female given name, and it is also a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Cristina (daughter of Edward the Exile), 11th-century English princess
*Cristina (singer), Cristina Monet-Palaci (1956–2020), American s ...
in a meeting with the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of the city of Córdoba,
Daniel Giacomino
Daniel Oscar Giacomino (born June 28, 1964) is an Argentine politician elected Mayor of Córdoba in 2007. He was elected National Deputy for Córdoba Province for second non-sequent term in 2011.
Life and times
Giacomino was born in San Franci ...
confirmed the construction of the metro system.
In the meeting, the Argentine president also announced granting the adjudication of the high-speed rail to the French engineering giant,
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
.
This original proposal was for a two line
metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
network comprising of route.
Depending on which vehicles would be selected and other factors, the total planned cost of the system is of nearly US$1.1 billion.
The preliminary design of the original project foresaw two principal lines. The first line would cross the city from west to south, over Colón and Duarte Quirós Avenues, up to Perón Boulevard, where it would reach the vicinity of the Mitre Railroad, near the bus terminal. The second line would run from north to south near the Ciudad Universitaria area, and under the
Suquía river, continuing northwards to the
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 ...
, near the Alta Córdoba train station. Plans were initially for the construction of 17 stations, 11 on the west-south line, and six in the south–north line.
However, an updated plan was announced in November 2010, with 29 stations on a network built by China Railway International, costing US$1.8 billion.
Second proposal
The project was redesigned again in 2012.
The redesigned project proposes a three-line metro network consisting of of route and 26 stations to be built by China Railway International and financed by a US$1.8 billion loan from China. Line A would run from Colón Avenue in the west to Bajada de Piedra and serve 11 stations. An interchange would be provided at Maipú with the proposed north-south Line B, which would run from Alta Córdoba near the Belgrano Railway station to Rontonda las Flores, and would serve 8 stations. Shortest of the three routes, Line C would run east-west from Fuerza Aérea Avenue to Sabattini Avenue, paralleling Line A but further south, serving 7 stations.
The new redesigned project was approved by the municipality in 2012, however no date for the commencement of the works was given by the national government. In November 2014, a member of the
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the So ...
attempted to restart the project to get it back on track, however it was met with lukewarm responses from the national government.
Diputado radical busca reimpulsar proyecto del Subte de Córdoba
- EnElSubte, 3 November 2014.
Construction features
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
s used in the construction will, according to experts of the Iecsa company, avoid surface traffic interruption when the tunnels from the start of the project are covered in thick prefabricated assembled units of concrete. The trains will have safety systems along the entire metro network.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordoba Metro
Underground rapid transit in Argentina
Buildings and structures in Córdoba, Argentina
Proposed railway lines in Argentina