The Alerce is 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 ...

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

produced by the

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

Chascomús Chascomús is the principal city in Chascomús Partido in eastern Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, located south of the capital Buenos Aires. In 2001, the city had a population of 30,670. History The city was founded as a fort (the ''Fortí ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

. , the units are produced for 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 ...

's narrow gauge network and are currently used on commuter rail services, though a broad gauge variant is currently in the works. They are designed to be easily converted into

Electric Multiple Units An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

, though only diesel variants have been produced to date. The Alerce's namesake is the common name of ''

Fitzroya cupressoides ''Fitzroya'' is a monotypic genus in the cypress family. The single living species, ''Fitzroya cupressoides'', is a tall, long-lived conifer native to the Andes mountains and coastal of southern Chile, and only to the Andes mountains Argentina, ...

'', a coniferous tree native to Argentina and

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 ...

Overview

The first prototype of the Alerce began circulating the

Belgrano Norte Line The Belgrano Norte line is a commuter rail service in Buenos Aires, Argentina run by the private company Ferrovías since 1 April 1994. This service had previously been run by the state-owned General Belgrano Railway since nationalisation of the ...

on test runs in 2012 from

Boulogne Sur Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Department ...

Retiro Belgrano railway station Retiro-Belgrano, or simply Retiro, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the neighborhood of Retiro, it serves as terminal station for the Belgrano Norte Line that runs local trains to t ...

and the National Government then decided to purchase 20 trains from Emepa for use on the line. Each train has a capacity for 240 passengers and feature intelligent doors,

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

security cameras Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

, disabled access and

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

. The Alerce's engine is located between the two carriages on its own articulated

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

with an access corridor between the two carriages. The trains use 90% of its parts from Argentine origin, with the remaining 10% being specialised parts imported from abroad, such as the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

brakes and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n intelligent doors. The trains are also designed to be easily converted into

should the lines they run on be electrified.Servicio diferencial en la Línea Belgrano Norte con coches motores "Alerce"
- Cronica Ferroviaria, 26 March 2015. In June 2015 it was announced that Emepa would produce a broad gauge variant of the Alerce for use on local service on the

General Roca Railway The General Roca Railway (FCGR) (native name: Ferrocarril General Roca) is a broad gauge railway in Argentina which runs from Constitución station in Buenos Aires to the south of the country through the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, ...

Usage

The narrow gauge variant of the Alerce is currently used for differential services on the

commuter rail service in

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 ...

. The service stops at

, the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

' Ciudad Universitaria campus, Aristóbulo del Valle and

Del Viso Pilar Partido is a partido in the northern part of Greater Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 232,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Pilar, which is around ...

with prices ranging from AR$ 1.50-17 with a SUBE card and AR$3–34 without a SUBE card. The journey time between Retiro and Del Viso is 65 minutes. Unlike the rest of the line operated by

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 (3 ...

, the service is operated by the state-owned

Trenes Argentinos Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado (abbreviated SOFSE; trading name: Trenes Argentinos Operaciones) is an Argentine state-owned company created in 2008 to operate passenger services in Argentina. It is a subsidiary of the Ferrocarriles Ar ...

. The service was also going to have a stop at

Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Jorge Newbery Airfield ( es, link=no, Aeroparque "Jorge Newbery", ), commonly known as Aeroparque, is an international airport northeast of downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. The airport covers an area of and is operated by ''Aeropuertos Argen ...

airport, however this station was cancelled with the

Ministry of the Interior and Transport The Ministry of the Interior ( es, Ministerio del Interior) of Argentina is a ministry of the national executive power that manages issues pertaining to domestic politics such as immigration and co-ordination between the federal government and th ...

citing the station causing a possible increase in security concerns at the airport as the reason for its cancellation. The broad gauge variant of the Alerce will be used on the

between

Constitución railway station Constitución railway station () is a large railway station in Constitución, a in central Buenos Aires, Argentina. The full official name of the station is (in English: Constitution Square Station) reflecting the fact that the station is loca ...

and

Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...

on a rural service which will stop at all stations between the two termini. In April 2018, Emepa provided the two last Alerce vehicles (from a total of 20) that had been commissioned to be used in the regional services

Tren de las Sierras Tren de las Sierras (technically known as the "A-1" branch of the General Belgrano Railway) is a regional rail line in Córdoba Province of Argentina. The line runs from Alta Córdoba to Cosquín, being currently operated by state-owned com ...

( Córdoba Province) and Salta – Gral. Güemes (

Salta Province Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Boliv ...

). In 2020, two coaches else commissioned to Emepa were added to the Salta Service.El servicio de tren Salta-Güemes contará con un nuevo coche motor
on El Tribuno, 13 Nov 2020

References

{{Rolling stock manufacturers of Argentina Rolling stock of Argentina Emepa Group Train-related introductions in 2015

Overview

Usage

See also

References