The General San Martín Railway (FCGSM) (Spanish: Ferrocarril General San Martín), named after the former Argentine general

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...

, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948. The six companies were managed by

Ferrocarriles Argentinos Ferrocarriles Argentinos (abbreviated as FA; ) was a state-owned company that managed the entire Argentine railway system for nearly 45 years. It was formed in 1948 when all the private railway companies were nationalised during Juan Perón's fir ...

which was later broken up during the process of railway privatisation beginning in 1991 during Carlos Menem's presidency. The FCGSM took over the broad gauge British-owned company

Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway (BA&P) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Buenos Aires al Pacífico) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The original concession wa ...

. The principal lines departed from Retiro terminus 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 ...

to the west through the provinces of

, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Mendoza, San Luis and San Juan.

History

Background

The

had been established in London on October 10, 1882, with the purpose to build a railway from Mercedes, Buenos Aires to Villa Mercedes in

San Luis Province San Luis () is a province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza and San Juan. History The cit ...

, where the line joined to Ferrocarril Andino. The entering to the city of

was made through

Buenos Aires Western Railway The Buenos Aires Western Railway (BAWR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires), inaugurated in the city of Buenos Aires on 29 August 1857, was the first railway built in Argentina and the start of the extensive rail network which was ...

(current Ferrocarril Sarmiento) until the company built its own access to the capital city of Argentina.

Nationalisation

After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

finished, British and French-owned railway companies in Argentina began proceedings with the purpose of selling their railways due to financial problems to operate those services. Finally on March 1, 1948, all the foreign railway companies in Argentina were nationalised under the Juan Perón's administration, creating the State-owned company "Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado Argentino (EFEA)", then renamed to

, taking over all the railway lines of Argentina, including passenger and freight services. The following broad gauge railway companies were added to San Martín railway network after the 1948 nationalisation: Notes: * ⁽¹⁾ ''The BAP had previously acquired the Villa María & Rufino (1900),

Argentine Great Western Railway The Argentine Great Western Railway (AGWR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Gran Oeste Argentino) was a British-owned railway company, founded in 1887, that operated a broad gauge, , railway network in the Argentine provinces of San Luis, San Juan an ...

(1907), and

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

(1909) railways.''

Ferrocarriles Argentinos

By 1945 the English and French railway companies made the arrangements with the Government of Argentina to sell their railways. On November 1, 1947 the French companies became State-owned companies. Finally, on March 1, 1948, the Government took over the British railways, including the BAPR. That same year the railway was named "Ferrocarril Nacional General San Martín", honoring General

, the prime leader of South American wars of independence. By the beginning of the 1990s, the railway system in Argentina was showing a deficit of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

355 million per year (about 1 million a day). National Decree N° 520 (1991) created

FEMESA Ferrocarriles Metropolitanos S.A. (also known for its acronym FEMESA) was a company set up by the Argentine government in 1991, during the presidency of Carlos Menem, to oversee the privatisation of commuter rail services within the city of Bue ...

, a State-owned company in replacement of

to operate the urban services in

. FEMESA would take over the passenger services until they were privatized. Ferrocarriles Argentinos only continued operating freight services. On 10 March 1993, the Government of Argentina closed all the services from Buenos Aires to the rest of the country. The San Martín freight service was given in concession to private company "Buenos Aires al Pacífico" (then

América Latina Logística The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

- abbreviated "ALL"). The system included more than 5,000 km length, 120 locomotives and 8,500 freight wagons. The most of the material carried were oil and minerals. Between January 1994 and June 1995 the lines temporarily operated by FEMESA were privatized. The consortium "

Metropolitano Metropolitano S.A. was a privately owned consortium formed in 1994 to take over concessions granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem for the operation of commuter rail services i ...

" took over the San Martín line (along with Roca and Belgrano Sur lines, renamed "TMS", "TMR" and "TMB" respectively). After the National Government cancelled all the interurban passenger services, in 1993 the Government of Buenos Aires created the "Unidad Ejecutora del Programa Ferroviario Provincial (UEPFP)" that began to operate some trains from the main terminus in Buenos Aires Constitución, Retiro and Once to different cities within Buenos Aires Province. The San Martín line took over the service to Junín and Iriarte. The trains run on tracks that were also used by the freight companies (such as

), a part of being in bad conditions with no maintenance. The UEPFP later changed its name to "

Ferrobaires The Unidad Ejecutora del Plan Ferroviario Provincial (UEPFP) (in English: "Executive Unit of the Provincial Railway Plan"), mostly known under its trade name Ferrobaires, was a public railway company which operated extensive long-distance passen ...

Urban services

With the purpose of improving the passenger services in Greater Buenos Aires, Metropolitano acquired 15 locomotives by General Motors, although the devaluation of the Argentine Peso and the 2002 economic crisis made Metropolitano could not pay its debts and the rolling stock was retained in the customs due to a court order. By 2003 the quality of the service got worse considerably due to the reasons given above. The critical condition of rolling stock and tracks led the Government to review the contract of concession. Two years later the users still criticize the poor conditions of the service so the Government decided to revoke the concession to Metropolitano for the San Martín urban services. As a result, a new consortium formed by the rest of private companies operating the urbain lines (

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 ...

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 ...

and

Trenes de Buenos Aires Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) (In English: Trains of Buenos Aires) was a private company that operated commuter rail services over the broad gauge Sarmiento and Mitre lines of Buenos Aires. The company, owned by Claudio and Mario Cirigliano, als ...

) named " UGOFE" took over the Retiro- Pilar branch. The 1,100 employees of the company were hired by Ferrocarril Belgrano S.A., a residual company created in 1999 when the

Belgrano Cargas Belgrano Cargas S.A. was an Argentine State-owned company which operated the gauge freight rail network built by Central Northern and Province of Santa Fe Railways, which became part of Belgrano Railway network after railway nationalizat ...

was privatized. After UGOFE took over the services, new locomotives and coaches were added to the trains. By March 2006 a new service Retiro- Hurlingham was launched. In December 2012, the first locomotives and coaches by Chinese company CSR arrived to Argentina for the San Martín urban service. In Mendoza, a new light rail service named the

Metrotranvía Mendoza The Metrotranvía Mendoza (Spanish for Mendoza Light Rail or fast tramway) is a public light rail transport system for the city of Mendoza, Argentina, served by articulated light rail cars operating on newly relaid tracks in former- General San ...

began operation in 2012, using a former

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

and

trackbed The track bed or trackbed is the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links. According to Network Rail, the trackbed is the layers of ballast a ...

of the FCGSM. UGOFE operated the line until 12 February 2014, when the Minister of Transport, Florencio Randazzo, announced the San Martín line to be given in concession to "Corredores Ferroviarios S.A.", a company of Grupo Roggio."Las privadas volverán a operar la mayoría de las líneas ferroviarias", ''Clarín'', 12 Feb 2014
/ref>

References