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The Premetro is a light rail line that runs along the outskirts 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 ...
, connecting with 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 ...
line E, at Plaza de los Virreyes station and then to General Savio, with a short branch to Centro Cívico. It opened in 1987 and is operated by
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 ...
. Originally, the Premetro was to include many more lines, but shortly after the privatisation of the railways the projects were postponed and never materialised and only "Premetro E2" was built.Premetro a Puente de la Noria, en el olvido por el Metrobus del Sur
- EnElSubte, 16 August 2013


History


Line E2

The line opened in stages. The first section was opened for service on 28 April 1987. This was the 2 km section between the Plaza de los Virreyes metro station and Ana Maria Janer,Cross, Barry (April 2001)

. ''
Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...
'', pp. 136–137. UK:
Light Rail Transit Association The Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), formerly the Light Railway Transport League (LRTL), is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to advocate and encourage research into the retention and development of light rail and tramway/street ...
/
Ian Allan Publishing Ian Allan Publishing was an English publisher, established in 1942, which specialised in transport books. It was founded by Ian Allan. In 1942 Ian Allan, then working in the public relations department for the Southern Railway at Waterloo st ...
.
near the line's carhouse. The service was extended to Villa Soldati in June and to General Savio on 25 August. A formal inauguration ceremony was held two days later. The cost of constructing the line was US$5.4 million, and an additional $4.6 million was allocated to the acquisition of a fleet of 25 trams. A contract for the latter was awarded around the end of 1985 to a consortium led by the Argentine company
Materfer Materfer (an acronym for Material Ferroviario S.A.) is an Argentine manufacturer of railway and road vehicles, located in the city of Ferreyra in Córdoba Province. The company was established by Fiat Concord in the late 1950s, being its subsidi ...
(''Fábrica de Material Ferroviario''),''
Modern Tramway Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...
'', March 1986, p. 97. UK:
Ian Allan Ltd Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
.
of Córdoba, some of which were for a planned second line that was to be built later. Delivery of the Materfer cars was originally due to begin in mid-1987, but it soon became apparent that they would not be ready until mid-1988 or later, which was well after construction of the line was completed. In order to avoid a long delay in the opening of the line, officials decided to create a temporary fleet by converting some 1913 metro cars into trams. They were double-
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
(four-axle), non-articulated, double-ended (bidirectional) trams. A total of eight such cars were built, using new metal bodies manufactured in Buenos Aires by EMEPA S.A., mounted on the original 1913 Belgian-built La Brugeoise underframes. They were painted in a livery of all-over green. The first three of these inaugurated service on the first section of line E2 in April 1987. The Materfer trams began to arrive in mid-1988, with six delivered by the end of the year.Van Hattum, C. (August 1989). "Developments in Buenos Aires". ''
Modern Tramway Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...
'', pp. 271–273. UK:
Ian Allan Ltd Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
.
Their electrical equipment was supplied by
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
. Like the temporary cars rebuilt from metro cars, the Materfer/Siemens trams are double-truck, double-ended cars. They have seating for 24 passengers and room for around 115 standees. They have three doors on each side. The low-platform stops along the line are long enough to accommodate only one car at a time, and
multiple-unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...
operation is not planned, so the tramcars are not equipped with
couplers Coupler may refer to: Engineering Mechanical * Railway coupler, a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train device ** Janney coupler ** SA3 coupler ** Scharfenberg coupler for multiple unit passenger cars * Quick coupler, used in constru ...
. The first Materfer cars entered service on 14 October 1988. In 1989, both types of car were still in service, but eventually the Materfer cars replaced all of the rebodied metro cars. By April 1991, 20 of the 25 cars had been delivered (fleet numbers PM 1–20), and the last five were reported as being completed but still at the factory in Córdoba.''
Modern Tramway Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...
'', August 1991, p. 280. UK:
Ian Allan Ltd Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
.
However, the scheduled service needed only six cars. As of 2001, normal peak service still required only six to eight cars.
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 ...
became the line's operator on 1 July 1993, under a
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
agreement.''
Light Rail and Modern Tramway ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...
'', August 1993, p. 219. UK:
Ian Allan Ltd Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
.


Other planned lines

The original PreMetro plan developed in the late 1980s included the building of two or three more additional lines, however due to the timing of these projects having coincided with
railway privatisation in Argentina Railway privatisation in Argentina was a process which began in 1993 under the presidency of Carlos Menem, following a series of neoliberal economic reforms. This primarily consisted of breaking up the state-owned railway company Ferrocarriles Ar ...
, only PreMetro E2 materialised before 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 ...
network was privatised and investment ground to a halt for the following two decades. Much like PreMetro E2, the naming of the PreMetro lines would have shared the letter of their corresponding Underground line along with a number depending on how many PreMetro lines corresponded to that Underground line. With Line E of the Underground, PreMetro E2 was the first phase of the project with the construction of PreMetro E1 being the second phase. This line would have extended out from the end of Line E eastwards to the limits of the city proper with
Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...
. However, this never materialised following privatisation and the building of the
Metrobus Sur The Buenos Aires Metrobus is a network of dedicated separated lanes and stations for buses that serve the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Designed as a Bus Rapid Transit system, it mixes a few bi-articulated buses with conventional buses. The ...
in 2013 rendered the building of the line obsolete since it covered the same area and route, with the added benefit of going directly to the city centre without needing to transfer to Line E. While the Metrobus Sur was still in the planning stages, it had been proposed in 2012 to create a Premetro H1 line extending from the terminus of Underground Line H to the edge of the city proper, connecting with Premetro E2 at its General Savio terminus, giving the benefit over the originally planned E1 line in that it would create a loop between Underground lines E and H. In the end though, the Metrobus was established instead of Premetro H. Plans for other lines included PreMetro D1 in the 1980s, which would have departed from the final station of Line D to the limits of the city proper. In 2015, this became a reality with the opening of
Metrobus Cabildo Metrobus may refer to: Transport services Bus Rapid Transit *MetroBus (Bristol), a bus rapid transit system in Bristol, England, United Kingdom *Metrobus (Buenos Aires), a bus rapid transit system in Buenos Aires, Argentina *Metrobus (Istanbul), a ...
rather than a tram service.¿Por qué la línea D no llega hasta Puente Saavedra?
- EnElSubte, 25 June 2013.
There would also have been a PreMetro C1 which would have connected with Line C and the
Roca Line The Roca line is a gauge commuter rail service in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, part of General Roca Railway network. The service is currently operated by State-owned company Trenes Argentinos, from the city-centre terminus of Const ...
at
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 headed northwards to
Retiro railway station Retiro is the name of a railway station complex in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that includes three main terminal train stations ( Retiro-Mitre, Retiro-Belgrano and Retiro-San Martín) and two terminal subway stations ( Retiro of Line C and Reti ...
(parallel to Line C, but further east) and eastwards to
Puerto Madero Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land ...
. The current extension of Line E northwards to Retiro replaced this, but not the Puerto Madero section, which was briefly covered by the experimental Tranvia del Este.


Recent developments

In 2015 SBASE, along with the City of Buenos Aires, began making plans to refurbish and rebuild many of the Line E2 stations, including a brand new terminal at Plaza de los Virreyes, as part of a plan to modernise the network which also intends to increase the amount of rolling stock in circulation. In October 2015 the refurbishment of the Intendente Saguier terminal was completed, followed by the refurbishment of Fátima station in April 2016.


Description and service

Line E2 passes through many poorer areas, but travel on the line is generally safe. As of 2001, service was being provided from 7:00 to 22:00, matching the hours of the line E underground service, on a
headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...
varying between 5 and 10 minutes depending on the time of day. Most of the line is
double-track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...
, but the short branch to Centro Cívico is single-track. The line includes sections of private right-of-way, sections of reserved track (in the median of streets, but separated from other traffic) and street-running in mixed traffic. The carhouse (maintenance facility) for the line is located along Avenida Mariano Acosta, adjacent to the Somellera stop.


Gallery

File:POLA.jpg, Tram at Pola station File:Villa Lugano, estación "Centro cívico Lugano" de Premetro (septiembre 2008).jpg, A tram/light-rail car at the end of the line's single-track branch, to Centro Cívico File:Estación Parque de la Ciudad.JPG, Tram in Parque de la Ciudad station File:Estación General Savio (2).JPG, General Savio station File:Premetro de Buenos Aires, interior del vagón (septiembre 2008).jpg, Interior of one of the trams


See also

*
Trams in Buenos Aires The first trams in Buenos Aires began operating in 1863 in what quickly became a vast network of tramways with the city being known as the "City of Trams" for having the highest tramway-to-population ratio in the world.Tren de la Costa Tren de la Costa (in English: "Train of the Coast") is a suburban , 11-station light rail line in Greater Buenos Aires, between Maipú Avenue station in the northern suburb of Olivos and Delta station in Tigre, on the Río de la Plata. The l ...
- Another light rail line in Buenos Aires *
Tranvía del Este The Tranvía del Este, also known as the Puerto Madero Tramway, was a 12-block "demonstration" light rail line in the Puerto Madero neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in operation from 2007 to 2012. It used French-built Alstom Citadis 302 ...
- Former modern tram line in Puerto Madero area (closed in 2012) *
Buenos Aires Metro 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 ...
*
La Brugeoise cars (Buenos Aires Metro) ''La Brugeoise cars'' were Buenos Aires Underground (''Subte'') Line A rolling stock since its inauguration in 1913 till 2013 when replaced by new Chinese stock. They were built by the Belgian railway rolling stock manufacturer La Brugeoise e ...


References


External links


Metrovías – official website
{{Rail transport in Argentina P P P P P 750 V DC railway electrification Rail transport in Buenos Aires