The Santa Fe Urban Train (in
Spanish
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* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
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Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: "Tren Urbano de Santa Fe") was a
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
serving the metropolitan area of
Santa Fe city in
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 ...
. It had 8 stops, extending from El Molino to Don Bosco stations, running on the
Belgrano Railway ''Ramal F'' tracks at a speed of .
The Tren Urbano complemented other forms of public transportation on the city such as
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es and
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...
. Rolling stock were
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 by local manufacturer
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 rur ...
, also used in the
University train of La Plata
The University train of La Plata is a commuter rail service part of Roca Line, currently being operated by State-owned company Trenes Argentinos. Trains run within La Plata city of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.
History
The service wa ...
.
The Tren Urbano was not longer active since 2019.
[Breve crónica del tren urbano, una historia que nunca arrancó y con probable destino de epitafio]
by Gastón Neffen on Aire de Santa Fe, 1 July 2019 In March 2022, it was announced that the remaining rolling stock would be auctioned.
[
]
History
The first project of an urban railway had been featured in 2010, with two routes suggested, the first connecting Guadalupe station with the port of Santa Fe and the second joining both stations, Belgrano and Mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
railways. The project also planned an estimated journey time of 30 minutes and a frequency of one service per hour. The train only would run during the day because tracks were used by freight
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...
services (currently operated by Trenes Argentinos Cargas y Logística) by night.[
Therefore, the route was set from former Molino Franchino (a former ]flour mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...
, currently an exhibition centre named "El Molino Fábrica Cultural") in the corner of Pedro Vittori and Boulevard Gálvez, where a bus stop already existed, remodeling it to make connections with train and cycling transport. Initial costs of the works were estimated at A$ 8 million. Departing from Molino Franchino, the train will run to the north, crossing Parque Federal, Puente Negro and finishing in ''Esquina Encendida'' (with a new station named "Don Bosco"), on the corner of Zeballos and Zuviría streets.
Works also included the construction of the intermediate stops, segregated cycle facilities along the way, the installation of traffic lights
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic lights ...
in all the level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
s.[ and the reconditioning of the existing tracks. The total costs of the works increased to over A$25 million.
By July 2015, all the electronic warning devices had been installed in the 22 ]level crossings
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term als ...
of the line.
The service was put into operation on January 11, 2016, but operation was suspended after only three days because of a motor failure. The suspension continued until July 2016, when operation resumed.
Following multiple problems in operations, the two only units of Tren Urbano were put out of service and moved near El Molino station, remaining stopped there for about two years until they suddenly disappeared from that location, without further explanation from the authorities. Some time later, a local journalist revealed that the units had been taken to a warehouse operated by freight train company Belgrano Cargas y Logística.[ The Municipality alleged that the Tren Urbano could not operate because of the increasing frequencies of Belgrano Cargas service.Por el aumento de frecuencias del Belgrano Cargas, guardaron el Tren Urbano]
on ''El Litoral'', 28 June 2019. The Tren Urbano is currently inactive.
In March 2022, the major of Santa Fe announced that the Santa Fe Urban Train rolling stock would be auctioned. According to him, the decision was taken after some studies made to evaluate train's operating conditions, which stated that it was unable to run across the city.
on UNO Santa Fe, 3 March 2022
3 March 2022 on El Litoral
References
External links
Tren Urbano
on Santa Fe Ciudad (archived, 30 October 2019)
{{Rail transport in Argentina
Railway lines in Argentina
Railway lines opened in 2016
Railway lines closed in 2019
u
Urban Train