Red de Expresos Regionales
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Red de Expresos Regionales (RER, English: Regional Express Network) is a planned
mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
system in Buenos Aires which will connect the main rail terminals of the city through of tunnels with a central terminal. The tunnels will mean that the existing commuter rail network will be connected, with passengers being able to travel from one part of
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 ...
and
La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...
to the other while only making one change at the new underground central terminal.Detalles del proyecto para conectar todos los ferrocarriles urbanos debajo del Obelisco
- Buenos Aires Ciudad, 12 May 2015.
The project is modelled on the Réseau Express Régional in Paris. It is estimated that after the completion of the project, combined with the current renewal of the commuter rail lines' rolling stock, passenger numbers will double from 1.4 million passengers per day to 3 million.


History and Overview

The idea of linking the main commuter rail lines of Buenos Aires through a tunnel dates back to 1969, resulting in a 1973 study which suggested creating a ''Red Expresa Regional''.Planificacion Y Estrategia En la región metropolitana
- Pagina/12, 20 October 2013.
While the original proposal sought to link the Mitre Line and
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 ...
through the centre of the city, more recent proposals suggested creating tunnels between
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 ...
, Once railway station and
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 ...
- the three biggest rail terminals of the city. Such a line would connect all urban and suburban commuter rail lines in the city, with the exception of the Urquiza Line which has access tunnels to Line B at of the Buenos Aires Underground
Federico Lacroze railway station Federico Lacroze railway station (Estación Federico Lacroze in Spanish) is a passenger railway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is located in the city's outlying ''barrio'' (neighbourhood) of Chacarita in a predominantly residen ...
and the
Belgrano Sur Line The Belgrano Sur line is an Argentine commuter rail service in the Greater Buenos Aires area, currently operated by state-owned enterprise Trenes Argentinos. The Belgrano Sur runs over tracks and through stations built by the Franco–Belgian-ow ...
, whose inclusion in RER first depends on the current plans for the extension of the line to Constitución being completed.Elevarán las trazas del ferrocarril San Martín y del Belgrano Sur
- InfoBAE, 16 December 2014.
The current RER proposal was put forward by Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri in 2015. The project includes the construction of of tunnels to link the three main railway terminals and the construction of five new underground stations: one at each of the terminals, one underneath the
Obelisco Obelisco may refer to: *Obelisk of Buenos Aires The Obelisco de Buenos Aires (Obelisk of Buenos Aires) is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la República in the intersection of avenues Corrientes an ...
in the centre of the city and another in the
Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
underneath the
Buenos Aires Central Post Office The Buenos Aires Central Post Office (native name: "Palacio de Correos y Telecomunicaciones" or most commonly, "Correo Central") building, now the Kirchner Cultural Centre, was the seat of the ''Correo Argentino'' (Argentine Post Office Department ...
. The total cost of the project will be US$1.8 billion and will integrate the existing network through the tunnels.Macri promete una estación central debajo del Obelisco
- La Nacion, 9 May 2015.
The central station will connect with the Metrobus network, as well as the Buenos Aires Underground lines , , and , while the Correo Central station will also connect with . The first stage of the project will take four years to complete and consists of building the
Obelisco Obelisco may refer to: *Obelisk of Buenos Aires The Obelisco de Buenos Aires (Obelisk of Buenos Aires) is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la República in the intersection of avenues Corrientes an ...
station and the North-South tunnels from
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 ...
to
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 ...
, integrating the Mitre Line,
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 ...
and
San Martín Line The San Martín line is a , 22-station commuter rail service in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Martín line operates from the city-centre terminus of Retiro north-west to Doctor Cabred in Luján Partido along a broad ...
. The second stage will take a further two years and will see the building of the East-West tunnels connecting Once railway station to the central station and the building of the Correo Central station, integrating the Sarmiento Line into the network. The final stage will take a further two years and will extend the
Belgrano Sur Line The Belgrano Sur line is an Argentine commuter rail service in the Greater Buenos Aires area, currently operated by state-owned enterprise Trenes Argentinos. The Belgrano Sur runs over tracks and through stations built by the Franco–Belgian-ow ...
to Constitución from its existing terminal using viaducts (a project already under way independently of RER) then build a new tunnel between Constitución and Retiro connecting the two
metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
railways after they are electrified.En campaña, Macri presentó un proyecto de RER
- EnElSubte, 9 May 2015.
Perhaps the most notable omission from the project is the inclusion of the Urquiza Line whose terminal as at
Federico Lacroze railway station Federico Lacroze railway station (Estación Federico Lacroze in Spanish) is a passenger railway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is located in the city's outlying ''barrio'' (neighbourhood) of Chacarita in a predominantly residen ...
in the West of the city. The line is distinctive from the other lines due to its
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
configuration since it was originally intended to be part of Line B of the Buenos Aires Underground. Urquiza Line trains without any modification could use the access tunnel at the Federico Lacroze underground station and travel through the line's tunnels to
Carlos Pellegrini Carlos Enrique José Pellegrini Bevans (October 11, 1846 – July 17, 1906) was Vice President of Argentina and became President of Argentina from August 6, 1890 to October 12, 1892, upon Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman's resignation (see Rev ...
station which is where Line B would combine with RER regardless of the inclusion of the Urquiza line.


Challenges

The main challenges to the implementation of the RER network are found in the differing track gauges and state of electrification found in the different lines in
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 ...
: Discounting the Urquiza Line which is not included in the project and which could easily be integrated into the Buenos Aires Underground, the problems are then found within the
San Martín Line The San Martín line is a , 22-station commuter rail service in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Martín line operates from the city-centre terminus of Retiro north-west to Doctor Cabred in Luján Partido along a broad ...
and the two Belgrano lines of 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 ...
. The San Martín Line, while sharing the same as the majority of the network, currently uses diesel-electric CSR SDD7 rolling stock, however electrification of the line has now been planned for some time and the rolling stock would presumably be moved to other parts of the country. In 2015, the first studies on the line's electrification began, while the government announced that funding had been secured. The Belgrano Sur and
Belgrano Norte 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 ...
perhaps provide the biggest challenge since both have a different track gauge to the rest of the network and neither are electrified, with no immediate plans to carry out electrification at the time the RER project was announced. However, both lines are having their rolling stock replaced with electrification in mind, with the Belgrano Sur line using new CNR DMUs which have been designed to be easily converted to electric power, while the Belgrano Norte has a similar case with its new Argentine-made Emepa Alerce DMUs which are also designed to be easily converted. Converting the gauge of the lines is out of the question, so there will be a separate North-South tunnel between Retiro and Constitución for the two lines. Since both lines have the lower traffic than the
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 ...
, Mitre and Roca lines and given the current lack of electrification, difference in gauge and necessary extension of the Belgrano Sur line to Constitución, the connection of these two lines to the RER network will be left to the third and final stage of its construction. Conversely, those three lines are the most straight forward especially considering that they all share the same CSR rolling stock.


Existing tunnels and connections

As noted, the Urquiza Line already has a connection to both future stations in the centre of the city through the use of Line B, though currently this connection is not made use of since services terminate at
Federico Lacroze railway station Federico Lacroze railway station (Estación Federico Lacroze in Spanish) is a passenger railway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is located in the city's outlying ''barrio'' (neighbourhood) of Chacarita in a predominantly residen ...
and do not continue on underground. Likewise, the Sarmiento Line and
San Martín Line The San Martín line is a , 22-station commuter rail service in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Martín line operates from the city-centre terminus of Retiro north-west to Doctor Cabred in Luján Partido along a broad ...
are connected by a one-track tunnel which runs through the city from the Sarmiento Line's terminus at Once railway station in what would be RER's trajectory to Puerto Madero, while a double-track segment connects the former Puerto Madero station with the San Martín Line's terminus at
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 ...
. This route between the two lines has been traditionally used for freight services, though it was briefly used for passenger services to the centre of the city on the Sarmiento Line during the 1990s.Desde Puerto Madero a Castelar en 20 minutos
- La Nacion, 8 August 1997.
Similarly, the tracks of what was the
Buenos Aires and Ensenada Port Railway The Buenos Aires & Ensenada Port Railway (BA&EP) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Buenos Aires y Puerto de la Ensenada) was a British-owned company that built and operated a broad gauge railway network in Argentina towards the end of the nineteenth cent ...
and the Tranvia del Este provide a north-south connection through the Puerto Madero district, though today these areas have heavy road traffic and would be unsuitable for overground commuter rail.


See also

* Rail transport in Argentina * Buenos Aires Underground


References


External links

* {{Urban public transport in Argentina Underground rapid transit in Argentina Proposed railway lines in Argentina Transport in Buenos Aires Rail transport in Buenos Aires Underground commuter rail