The University train of La Plata is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

service part of

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 ...

, currently being operated by

State-owned company A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

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 ...

. Trains run within

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 ...

city of

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 ...

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 ...

History

The service was officially opened on 26 April 2013. The units are

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed d ...

es powered by a 1.7-litre

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s manufactured by

FIAT Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

and were manufactured and assembled by

TecnoTren TecnoTren is an Argentine manufacturer of railbuses. Its products are designed to be very low cost vehicles intended for use in rural parts of the country where railway privatisation and the subsequent deterioration of the network left small rura ...

, a local company which developed a train that runs on abandoned tracks. The train runs through the ''Paseo del Bosque'' of La Plata, connecting La Plata station with the

University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90 ...

campus buildings, finishing its trip at the "General San Martín" polyclinic. The service was interrupted in February 2014 when the units were sent to workshops for maintenance and inspection works, being reestablished one month later. In December 2014, the TecnoTren units were replaced by

NOHAB NOHAB (Nydqvist & Holm AB) was a manufacturing company based in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden. History The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as ''Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad'' as ...

railcars built in 1948 and imported in the 2000s from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

took over Roca line (operated by

Argentren Argentren S.A. was an Argentine private company that operated the Belgrano Sur and Roca railway services in Buenos Aires Province for about one year until the Government of Argentina rescinded the agreement with the company in March 2015. ...

) after the

Government of Argentina The government of Argentina, within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. ...

rescinded the contracts signed with the company on 2 March 2015. The contract terms specified that the concession could be cancelled with no right to claim compensation."Ya está lista la ley que prevé más control estatal sobre los trenes"
''Clarín'', 5 Mar 2015 The agreements had been signed in February 2014, committing Argentren and Corredores Ferroviarios to operate the lines. In March 2020, it was signed an agreement between the

National University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90 ...

and the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

to build an extension of length from Policlínico to the city of Los Hornos, also building new six stops in that path. The tender was launched in April 2021, with an estimated end of works in April 2022.El Tren Universitario extenderá su recorrido y llegará hasta Los Hornos
at UNLP

Historic operators

Companies that have operated the University train have been:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Linea Roca (Buenos Aires) U Railway services introduced in 2013 U U Rail transport in Buenos Aires Province