Track gauge in Argentina
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The Argentine railway network consisted of a network at the end of the
Second World War 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 opposin ...
and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in the world. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up in 1993 of Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA), the state railroad corporation. During the period following privatisation, private and provincial railway companies were created and resurrected some of the major passenger routes that FA once operated. Dissatisfied with the private management of the railways, beginning in 2012 and following the
Once Tragedy The 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster, also known as the Once Tragedy, occurred on 22 February 2012, when a train crashed at Once Station ( es, link=no, Estación Once de Septiembre; ) in the Balvanera neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Th ...
, the national government started to re-nationalise some of the private operators and ceased to renew their contracts. At the same time,
Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado 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 ...
(SOFSE) was formed to manage the lines which were gradually taken over by the government in this period and Argentina's railways began receiving far greater investment than in previous decades.Resolution 163/2015 - Infoleg
Comenzaron a funcionar los nuevos trenes
- ADIFSE, November 2014
In 2014, the government also began replacing the long distance rolling stock and rails and ultimately put forward a proposal in 2015 which revived Ferrocarriles Argentinos as
Nuevos Ferrocarriles Argentinos Ferrocarriles Argentinos Sociedad del Estado (doing business as Trenes Argentinos S.E.) is a state-owned railway company of Argentina created for the operation and maintenance of the Argentine railway network in the country, including passenger ...
later that year.Así es el proyecto que recrea Ferrocarriles Argentinos
- EnElSubte, March 2015

- Pagina/12, 16 April 2015
Es ley la creación de Ferrocarriles Argentinos
- EnElSubte, 15 April 2015
Ferrocarriles Argentinos: Randazzo agradeció a la oposición parlamentaria por acompañar en su recuperación
- Sala de Prensa de la Republica Argentina, 15 April 2015
The railroad network today, with its size, is now somewhat smaller than it once was, though still the 8th largest in the world,CIA World Factbook - Argentina
/ref> and the 15th largest in passenger numbers.


History

The growth and decline of the Argentine railways are tied heavily with the history of the country as a whole, reflecting its economic and political situation at numerous points in history, reaching its high point when Argentina ranked among the 10 richest economies in the world (measured in GDP per capita) during the country's ''Belle Époque'' and subsequently deteriorating along with the hopes of the prosperity it came so close to achieving. In the early years, the railway was emblematic of the vast waves of European Immigration into the country, with many coming to work on and operate the railways, such as the Italian-Argentine Alfonso Covassi, the country's first engine driver,Breve Historia de los FERROCARRILES ARGENTINOS, su Construcción, su Destrucción, su Importancia, y Proyecto de Recuperación.
- Universidad Tecnologica Nacional, 2013, p.6
and also in the sense that the population boom experienced as a result of this immigration required means of transportation to meet growing demands. Much like in the
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
, the railways also played a key role in the creation and expansion of new population centres and
boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
s in remote parts of the country.


Development

The importance of foreign capital in the construction of the Argentine railways is perhaps overstated,Ferrocarriles Argentinos: una historia de entrega y de luchas
- Soy Ferroviario, 2 April 2015.
with initial construction of the network beginning in 1855 at first with Argentine finance, which continued throughout the network's development. The Buenos Aires Western, Great Western and Great Southern railways (today the part of the
San Martín San Martín or San Martin may refer to: People Saints * Saint Martin (disambiguation)#People, name of various saints in Spanish Political leaders *Vicente San Martin (1839 -1901), Military, National hero of Mexico. *Basilio San Martin (1849 ...
,
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 ...
and Roca railways respectively) were all commenced using Argentine capital with the Buenos Aires Western Railway being the first to open its doors in the country, along with its Del Parque railway station. Following the adoption of
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
economic policies by president
Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile ...
, these railways were sold off to foreign private interests, consisting of mostly British companies, in what would be the first of many acts where the ideological climate of the time would define the fate of the Argentine railways. These sales also included Argentina's first railway, the Buenos Aires Western (by now 1,014 km long), which was sold in 1890 to the British company New Western Railway of Buenos Aires for just over 8.1 million pounds (close to £500 million in 2005 money). This sale, and others that came after it, was heavily criticised at the time for being far lower than the actual value of the railway, and prompted many anti-British protests. In later years, this was also criticised by historians: In the years that followed, there were numerous cases of undervalued sales to British investors, including the long Andean Railway, which provoked much anti-British sentiment in the country. By 1910 the network had been monopolised by British companies, owned by large finance firms such as J.S. Morgan & Co. in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Nevertheless, major development of the Argentine rail network occurred up to this period and the Argentine state also played a large role, financing ''ferrocarriles de fomento'' (development railways) in rural areas not attractive to private interests, while the Argentine State Railway had a network. By 1914, the Argentine rail network attained significant growth having added to the network between 1895 and 1914,Breve historia de los ferrocarriles argentinos: entre la nacionalización y la privatización
- Notas, 9 April 2015.
which positioned the country as having the tenth largest rail network in the world in that year, at a point where the country had the tenth highest per-capita GDP in the world. Its expansion accelerated greatly due to the need for the transport of agricultural products and cattle in
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 ...
. The rail network converged on the city of Buenos Aires and was a key component in the development of the Argentine economy as it rose to be a leading export country. However, with the advent of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, then subsequently the
Wall Street Crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
and
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, the rail network of the country experienced a much lower rate of growth after this period and had mostly ground to a halt by the beginning of the
Second World War 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 opposin ...
. File:Estación del Parque (2).jpg, Exterior of Del Parque station (c.1857-84) File:Huelga ferroviaria en estación Recoleta, 1904.jpg, Railway strike on the
Buenos Aires Northern Railway The Buenos Aires Northern Railway (BANR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril del Norte de Buenos Aires) was a British-owned company that operated a broad gauge railway line in Argentina, in the second half of the 19th century. The BANR was also the first ...
, the first British railway in Argentina (c.1904) File:Puente Pacifico 1930s.jpg,
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 w ...
train in
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
(c.1930) File:Est Comodoro Rivadavia (2).jpg,
Comodoro Rivadavia Railway The Comodoro Rivadavia and Colonia Sarmiento Railway () was an Argentine railway company that built and operated a broad gauge line that connected the port of Comodoro Rivadavia with Colonia Sarmiento in Chubut Province. The FCCRCS -belonging ...
train in Patagonia (c.1940) File:Provincia del Chubut - Bariloche - Ganz 2.jpg, A
Ferrocarriles Patagónicos Ferrocarriles Patagónicos was an Argentine State-owned railway company that built and operated several rail lines in Patagonia region. FP were part of the Argentine State Railway created in 1909 during the presidency of José Figueroa Alcorta. ...
Ganz DMU in
Chubut province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...
(1945)


Nationalisation

By the end of the Second World War, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
owed Argentina m$n 2 billion after the country had filled the gaps in food shortages during the war effort.Juan Domingo Perón anuncia la nacionalización de los ferrocarriles "Juan Domingo Perón anuncia la nacionalización de los ferrocarriles."
Argentina.ar, 1 Mar 2015
Following what was then a worldwide trend, the private companies were nationalised by the government of
Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
, beginning in 1946 with the French railways and then purchasing the British railways after an agreement was signed cancelling the British debt in 1947. Perón later claimed in an interview that the British envoys had offered him a bribe of US$100 million if the state paid an extra m$n 6 billion for the railways on top of the
debt cancellation Debt relief or debt cancellation is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particu ...
.


Ferrocarriles Argentinos divisions

After the 1948 nationalisation, the long Argentine railway network was separated into six divisions managed by State-owned company Ferrocarriles Argentinos. Of the 20 railways incorporated into Ferrocarriles Argentinos, 7 were Argentine, 10 were British and 3 were French prior to nationalisation. There were grouped together by
track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...
and location and named after important figures in
Argentine History The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1536–1809), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argenti ...
. Maps of those division companies were as follows: File:Belgrano_railw_map.jpg,
Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Belg ...

File:Fc_mitre_map.jpg,
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 ...


with the
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 ...
in File:Roca_railway_complete.jpg, Roca

with some stretches in File:Sarmiento railw map.jpg,
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 ...

File:San_martin_railw_map.jpg,
San Martín San Martín or San Martin may refer to: People Saints * Saint Martin (disambiguation)#People, name of various saints in Spanish Political leaders *Vicente San Martin (1839 -1901), Military, National hero of Mexico. *Basilio San Martin (1849 ...

File:Urquiza_railw_map.jpg, Urquiza
Soon after the reorganisation, Perón turned it into a political matter with the nationalisation becoming a symbol of national autonomy and independence from foreign powers rather than an administrative change and is still to this day regarded by justicialists as a move against neo-imperialsm. Although for many years the state-owned railways were able to provide a good standard of passenger and freight service, over the years the changing politics of Argentina began to take its toll. By the 1960s, the post-war economic boom had ushered in a new age of the automobile, with rail transport on its way out around the world, a trend from which Argentina was not left unscathed. Following the ousting of Perón from power, the Larkin Plan was implemented to modernise transport in the country with backing from the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and intended to make investments in the country's railways. However, by 1961 its aims had changed significantly and the plan had evolved into one which prioritised automobile transportation and began lifting sections of railway - an act which was put to an end following a series of strikes by railway workers in opposition to the plan. The government favoured road transport and opened car and truck factories in the country. Diesel train shops and new car shops were opened with help from Fiat, Alstom, and Mitsubishi. Steam locomotives were slowly phased out. Later governments between 1967 and 1971 then continued investing in the railways and enacted modernisation plans, renewing much of the rolling stock and the railways continued to function well.El Proceso de Concesión y Desarme de Ferrocarriles Argentinos
- La Fraternidad
Under the military junta, the 1970s and 1980s saw a significant decline in Argentina's railways. In 1965, 25% of cargo and 18% of passengers were transported by rail, while by 1980 this figure had dropped to 8% and 7% respectively and Ferrocarriles Argentinos was losing US$1 million per day maintaining an ageing system with dwindling passenger numbers. Between 1976 and 1980, 560 stations were closed, along with of track, while the number of employees in railway workshops alone fell from 155,000 to 97,000. By the time the country returned to democratic rule, the railways were in bad shape and the country was overwhelmed by the economic burdens and debts left over from the junta.''Encyclopædia Britannica. Book of the Year, 1986.'' World Affairs: Argentina. Under this context, and with the state unable to cope with the cost of managing the railways due to a large fiscal deficit, the privatisation of the network came into consideration. File:Justicialista en la exposición.jpg, Argentine locomotive "La Justicialista" being inaugurated (1952) File:Cordoba j.b.justo 1969 fcsm.jpg, Railway workers on 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 ...
(1969) File:Ferrocarriles Argentinos - Coche motor en Cañuelas.jpg,
Fiat Materfer 7131 The 7131 was an Argentine diesel multiple unit class, first produced in Italy by Fiat Ferroviaria, then licensed to Argentine company Materfer to continue the manufacturing. Those railcars were introduced in the 1960s to replace the existing roll ...
units were emblematic of the 1960s File:FA rolling stock retiro 1968.jpg, Ferrocarriles Argentinos rolling stock outside Retiro Mitre station (1968) File:Ferrocarrilesargentinos70s.jpg, Ferrocarriles Argentinos poster from the 1970s File:Ferrocarriles Argentinos - Gran Capitán.jpg, Ferrocarriles Argentinos train on the Urquiza Railway (1990)


Privatisation

Under the presidency of
Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...
, Argentina radically changed its economic policies moving from a more Import substitution industrialisation-orientated model towards
neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
shock therapy and the
Washington Consensus The Washington Consensus is a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.-based institutions such as the International Monet ...
under the supervision of the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
. Much like under the
classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture. Definition Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...
of the late 19th and early 20th century, under these plans, Argentina would sell off most of its state assets at extremely reduced prices, among them the railways. During these reforms, between 1992 and 1995, the government decided break up and to privatise the state-owned company Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA), which comprised six relatively independent divisions,
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 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 ...
, Urquiza,
San Martín San Martín or San Martin may refer to: People Saints * Saint Martin (disambiguation)#People, name of various saints in Spanish Political leaders *Vicente San Martin (1839 -1901), Military, National hero of Mexico. *Basilio San Martin (1849 ...
,
Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Belg ...
and Roca, and granted concessions to private companies for their operation through competitive bidding, while doing the same with freight services. At the start of the concessions, the railway network was quickly reduced to one quarter of its capacity, with long distance lines disappearing almost completely.Privatisation Derailed Argentina’s Rail System
- IPS News, 24 February 2012.
At the same time, as more locomotives and rolling stock were needed, the private companies became increasingly reluctant to make the investment required to increase capacity and thus service quality and passenger numbers declined. Railway privatisation resulted in the loss of some 70,000 jobs in the railway sector over the years, whilst by 1998 some 793 railway stations had been closed. In addition, companies operating other transport means (such as bus transport) who had vested interests seeking the demise of the railway, purchased lines for far less than their real value.Privatización de los ferrocarriles: "Ramal que para, ramal que cierra"
- Contra Molinos de Sortilegios, 24 July 2013
Under privatisation, substantial government subsidies continued in order to keep the system from collapsing, the state continued losing money on the railways. During this period, the railways were plagued by negligence, while private operators persistently ignored warnings from inspectors whilst failing in their contractual obligations to maintain railway infrastructure. Similarly, over the years, government subsidies to the private companies increased to levels similar to the losses incurred under the state management of the railways, albeit now with a much more limited service and further deteriorated infrastructure. The closing of much of the rail system also led to the emptying of many rural towns dependent on the railways, creating
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
s and therefore to a dismantling of the development that had taken place there since the arrival of trains. Argentine agriculture found itself in the difficult position of shipping its goods less efficiently using road transport, which costs around 72% more than state-owned rail services. The economic crisis in 2001 was the final blow and neither the private companies nor the government could provide the service required. In 2003, the new administration of President Néstor Kirchner set it as a key policy objective to revive the national rail network. Although the economic upturn saw traffic grow again, the suburban rail operators were still little more than managers of government contracts rather than true entrepreneurs.


Re-nationalisation

In 2008, the National Government formed Trenes Argentinos Operadora Ferroviaria (SOFSE) to manage some freight and passenger lines in the country. The
Once Tragedy The 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster, also known as the Once Tragedy, occurred on 22 February 2012, when a train crashed at Once Station ( es, link=no, Estación Once de Septiembre; ) in the Balvanera neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Th ...
of February 2012 prompted further action by the government, resulting in the revocation of the
Sarmiento Line The Sarmiento line is a broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, run by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos since 11 September 2013. History This line had previously been run by the state-owned company Ferrocarril ...
and Mitre Line concessions from Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) in May of that year, with both lines eventually being put under the management of the state-owned SOFSE. In June 2012, the government announced that it was renationalising some freight railways citing "serious breaches of contract" by the operators, this culminated in the nationalisation of 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 nationalization o ...
network which operates on over of
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 ...
track."Nueva empresa estatal para el Belgrano Cargas"
''Página/12'', 23 May 2013
This trend continued in the following years and the government began re-opening services and improving on the once private services using completely new rolling stock, including long distance services like the one from Buenos Aires to
Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...
and Buenos Aires-Rosario-Cordoba. This new-found investment in the railways has not been limited to rolling stock since, in many cases, the state has completely replaced, or is in the process of replacing, the existing infrastructure with continuous welded rails on concrete sleepers and undertaking other works such as renovating level crossings and building new railway bridges. The freight network has also received significant investment from China, with two investments totalling US$4.8 billion made in 2013 and 2015. While from 2008 to 2014 there were many indications that the state was re-nationalising parts of the railway and making efforts towards improving it, in 2015 it was announced that complete nationalisation of the remaining lines and services were on the table after a project was put forward that would see the resurrection of Ferrocarriles Argentinos as a state-owned holding company which would incorporate SOFSE (passenger services), TACyL (freight) and ADIFSE (infrastructure). This was put into effect in April 2015 when, by overwhelming majority, the
Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ( es, Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 185 ...
passed the law which re-created Ferrocarriles Argentinos and effectively re-nationalised the country's railways, a move which saw support from all major political parties across the political spectrum. Expenditure for the railway network was set at AR$ 9 billion for 2015, while in 2016 it is expected to be AR$7.2 billion.


Commuter rail and trams

Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Cordoba, Resistencia, Paraná,
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 ...
,
Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
and
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
are the only cities in Argentina to offer suburban passenger services; most other cities rely on bus and
trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
transportation, though in the past there were more networks and most major cities had a tramway network.


Buenos Aires

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 ...
' metropolitan rail system is the second most extensive in the Americas after New York's commuter rail system, with about 259 stations, covering and 7 rail lines serving more than 1.4 million commuters daily in the
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 ...
area.Detalles del proyecto para conectar todos los ferrocarriles urbanos debajo del Obelisco
- Buenos Aires Ciudad, 12 May 2015.
Estadísticas del transporte ferroviario - Total 2014
CNRT website - Ministry of Transport
Commuter rail services from the suburbs is mostly operated by SOFSE, though some private operators remain. The rail lines converge at five rail terminals, all of them in Buenos Aires, with two, Retiro and Constitución rail terminals being the busiest
train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...
s in Argentina, though there is a plan to connect all the lines in one central underground station for easy transfer. Buenos Aires City's
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 ...
provides 1800 trains carrying 1.4 million passengers each business day in the city 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 ...
, its suburbs 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 ...
and several far-reaching satellite towns. Service is provided by private companies and spreads out from five central stations in Buenos Aires: Retiro, Constitución,
Once Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...
and Federico Lacroze – all serving both long-distance and local passenger services – and Buenos Aires Station which, despite its name, is a secondary rail terminus serving only local commuter services and will cease to be a terminal once 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 ...
is extended to Constitución. The Retiro and Constitución train stations are linked by Line C of the Buenos Aires Underground, Once is served by Line A of the underground via its "
Plaza Miserere Plaza de Miserere is one of the main plazas (squares) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located alongside the Once de Septiembre Station of the Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (Sarmiento railroad) in the heart of the Balvanera neighborhood ...
" station and by
Line H Line H is a line of the Buenos Aires Underground. The first phase, between Plaza Once and Caseros, which opened on 18 October 2007, currently stretches over 8.8 km between Hospitales and Facultad de Derecho stations. It is the first entirely ...
's
Once station Once railway station ( es, Estación Once de Septiembre, translation=Eleventh of September Station, ; informally known as ) is a large railway terminus in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the ''barrio'' of Balvanera. The station, inaugurated ...
, while Federico Lacroze is served by Line B. The smaller Buenos Aires Station is accessible by some city bus services and it is the only railway terminus in Buenos Aires that has no access to the Buenos Aires Underground, though it is connected to 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 ...
line. Most trains leave at regular 8-20 minute intervals, though for trains travelling a longer distance service may be less frequent. Fares are cheap and tickets can be purchased at ticket windows or through the
SUBE card The SUBE card (standing for Sistema Único de Boleto Electrónico; literal English translation: ''Unique Electronic Ticket System'') is a contactless smart card system introduced in Argentina in February 2009. It is used on public transport servic ...
machines at stations.SUBE
- Ministerio del Interior y Transporte.
Most of the lines are electrified, several are diesel-powered, while some of these are currently being electrified and some of the lines share traffic with freight services. Buenos Aires area commuter rail lines were privatised in the 1990s, and passengers had complained for years about poor commuter rail services on lines leading from Constitución station in downtown Buenos Aires to the capital's southern suburbs. However, in recent years all but two of the services have been re-nationalised and are operated by Trenes Argentinos (SOFSE).


Light rail and trams

Buenos Aires once had one of the most extensive tramway systems in the world, with a network in the city proper alone, which gained the city global notoriety as being "The City of Trams" in the late 19th and early 20th century.Historia del tranvía en Buenos Aires
- Revista Digital ead

- ElDiario.es, 21 March 2015.
The system remained popular throughout its existence but, despite this, it was dismantled in the mid-1960s in favour of bus transport.
- Biblioteca Popular Federico Lacroze
Today, some minor tram services remain, as well as light rail services in the city proper and
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 ...
. The light rail
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 ...
(Train of the Coast), which serves tourists and local commuters, runs from the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires to Tigre along the river for approximately . The line connects directly to the Mitre Line at Maipú–Bartolomé Mitre station in the northern suburb of Olivos for direct access to Retiro terminus in the centre of the city. An experimental project of a short run
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way line,
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 ...
, was inaugurated in 2007 in the
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 ...
district of Buenos Aires. The 2 km prototype line ran between the Córdoba and Independencia avenues, ridership was not as expected and the line closed in 2012. A Historic Tramway operates on weekends and holidays in the
Caballito Caballito (; Spanish for "little horse") is a ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only ''barrio'' in the administrative division ''Comuna'' 6. It is located in the geographical centre of the city, limited ...
neighbourhood of the capital with free fares and using vintage rolling stock from the now defunct Buenos Aires tramway network.Cross, Barry (April 2001)
"Buenos Aires: Brand new pre-Metro line"
. ''
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.
Another tramway line, the
Buenos Aires Premetro The Premetro is a light rail line that runs along the outskirts of Buenos Aires, connecting with the Buenos Aires Underground line E, at Plaza de los Virreyes station and then to General Savio, with a short branch to Centro Cívico. It opened ...
, operates as a feeder at the end of Underground Line E, running through some of the city's southern districts. Though there is currently only one Premetro line (E2), originally many other lines were planned to run as feeder services to the Buenos Aires Underground, however due to their planned construction coinciding with the privatisation of the Underground network, these never materialised.¿Por qué la línea D no llega hasta Puente Saavedra?
- EnElSubte, 25 June 2013.
The creation of new lines has been proposed as late as 2012, however it is now accepted that, with the creation of the Metrobus network in 2011, the need for further Premetro lines has been made redundant.


Ticketing

The Buenos Aires
public 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 uses a ticketing system. All tickets are bought at ticket booths and ticket printing consoles at railway stations and on board certain trains. Tickets can be bought either using cash or by using the SUBE card (also used throughout the country for buses, tollbooths and underground). Ticket cost differ depending on the payment method: If the tickets are bought using SUBE, the user can benefit from a government subsidy which translates to a substantially reduced fare. Children under three years of age, children in school uniform, retired people receiving pensions and the disabled do not have to pay to use these services in most cases. Similarly, university students and staff have a 20% discount, with a 50% discount proposed in 2015.


Electrification

Although the first electric railway between Retiro and Tigre was inaugurated in 1916, major electrification projects were not adopted. The large size of the country, its long distances and flat topography mean that major electrification does not make much sense economically, although some suburban networks in Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area were electrified. After several decades of the Buenos Aires rail-service being under-funded, there is presently an ongoing modernisation plan so as to provide much needed improvement in services, and the trend is towards electrification of several lines. Similarly, ongoing maintenance and investment has continued on existing electric lines, such as with the $845 million purchase of 705 CSR electric multiple unit cars from China for the Mitre, Sarmiento and Roca lines in 2013. The first line to receive this improvement was 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 ...
network in the southern part of the city, where work is already in progress, and several new segments electrified in 2012, such as the
Glew OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...
-
Alejandro Korn Alejandro Korn (3 May 1860 – 9 October 1936) was an Argentine psychiatrist, philosopher, reformist and politician. For eighteen years, he was the director of the psychiatry hospital in Melchor Romero (a locality of La Plata in Buenos Aires) ...
route and the
Temperley Temperley is a district in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the south of Lomas de Zamora Partido. History In 1854 the industrial and textile merchant George Temperley (born in 1823 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England) bought from the M ...
- Remedios de Escalada route. The electrification of this line from
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 ...
in Buenos Aires to the city of La Plata was completed in 2017. In 2018, all routes were electrified except Bosques – Villa Elisa route, which only a portion is in service with diesel trains.Ya funciona el Roca Vía Circuito
- En El Subte.com, 12 October 2018
It is expected that 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 ...
will finish the electrification of its diesel segments in 2022., and there are plans to electrify 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 ...
and remaining parts of the
Sarmiento Line The Sarmiento line is a broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, run by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos since 11 September 2013. History This line had previously been run by the state-owned company Ferrocarril ...
. Both the Mitre and Sarmiento lines received completely new CSR electric multiple units in 2014. The Roca line's 300 coaches of the same type are in service, as the electrification of its remaining diesel segments was completed in 2018 (except Bosques – Villa Elisa route). In 2008, approximately 42.7%, from a total rail network of of the Buenos Aires and
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 ...
area (excluding outer-suburban satellite cities of
Capilla del Señor Capilla del Señor (Chapel of the Lord), is a city located in the northern part of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative seat of Exaltación de la Cruz Partido; which is bounded by the Zárate, Campana, Pilar, Luján, San ...
,
Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...
,
Mercedes Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...
, Luján, Zárate and Cañuelas), but including the city of
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 ...
, was electrified. This is expected to increase by the end of 2015, when major electrification works are completed.


La Plata

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 ...
is mostly served by 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 ...
, including 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 was of ...
, which runs from the central station to the National University of La Plata. The segment of the Roca Line which runs from Buenos Aires Constitución to La Plata and its suburbs is electrified with new rolling stock, stations and track, with works having commenced in 2014 and completed in 2017. This line also provides commuter services to La Plata's city centre from neighborhoods like Tolosa, Ringuelet,
City Bell City Bell is a town located in La Plata Partido, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located some 10 kilometers from the city center. It forms part of the Greater La Plata urban agglomeration. The earliest settlement in City Bell was founded around 1 ...
and Villa Elisa, with a frequency of one train every 25 minutes, which is expected to drop to 12 minutes after the electrification is completed. Up until the 1980s, there were also other commuter services on the
General Roca Railway The General Roca Railway (FCGR) (native name: Ferrocarril General Roca) is a broad gauge railway in Argentina which runs from Constitución station in Buenos Aires to the south of the country through the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, ...
to nearby towns and suburbs, however they are no longer in use and there are no indications that they will be reactivated.


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- Ferrocarril General San Martín mainline
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 ...
. The tram system is unusual in the sense that, unlike the rest of railway services in Argentina, the rail cars on this line run on the righthand track instead of the left. The tram serves the metropolitan area of Mendoza, which includes the
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of Las Heras, Central district, Godoy Cruz, Maipú and Luján de Cuyo. As of 2013, only one line runs a stretch between Mendoza Central Station and General Gutierrez in Maipú, on double-track track. The finished project includes four lines, in length and 50 stations, also connecting downtown with the Airport. Construction of the first line (''Línea Verde'', or Green Line)"Mendoza light rail service begins" (December 2012). ''
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 ...
'', p. 451. LRTA Publishing. .
began in March 2009. The system opened for regular service on 8 October 2012. In February 2014, the local Government announced the start of constructing works for the second line, linking the city centre with the North, up to Panquehua, in
Las Heras Department Las Heras is a department located in the north west of Mendoza Province in Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 183,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Las Heras, which is located around from the ...
.


Neuquén

The ''Tren del Valle'' (Train of the Valley) is a service that runs between the cities of Neuquén and Cipolletti in Neuquén and Río Negro provinces, expected to begin operating in July 2015 with 22 services per day.Randazzo anunció que el tren del valle entre Cipolletti y Neuquén comenzará a funcionar el 20 de julio
- Telam, 2 June 2015.
While in the first phase of the reactivation of this line (closed in the 1990s after the privatisation of the network) takes it between these two cities, after the opening, it will continue to be extended to General Roca, Plottier and
Añelo Añelo is the second category municipality located in the Añelo Department in Neuquén Province, Argentina. Economy The economy of Añelo is based on agriculture. One of the most important crops are grapes as in the near town of San Patricio ...
in 2015 and 2016. The line uses Argentine-built
Materfer CMM 400-2 The CMM 400-2 is a diesel multiple unit produced by Materfer in Córdoba Province, Argentina. The units are produced in Argentina's three primary track gauges and the standard gauge variants were the first to be produced for General Urquiza Railwa ...
DMUs A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
and
General Roca Railway The General Roca Railway (FCGR) (native name: Ferrocarril General Roca) is a broad gauge railway in Argentina which runs from Constitución station in Buenos Aires to the south of the country through the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, ...
tracks, which have been replaced along with the restoration of existing railway bridges, while parts of its route will be shared with
YPF YPF S.A. (, formerly ; English: "Fiscal Oilfields") is a vertically integrated, majority state-owned Argentine energy company, engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, and the transportation, refining, and marketing of gas and petr ...
freight services that serve the vast Vaca Muerta oil fields in the provinces. This line was once operated by the
Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (BAGS) ( es, Ferrocarril del Sud) was one of the ''Big Four'' Indian gauge, broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company was founded by Edward ...
, before railway nationalisation in 1948.


Paraná

The Paraná urban railway is served by two local lines which run on the standard gauge
General Urquiza Railway The General Urquiza Railway (FCGU) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril General Urquiza), named after the Argentine general and politician Justo José de Urquiza, is a standard gauge railway of Argentina which runs approximately northwards from Buenos Aire ...
and link Paraná city -Capital of Entre Ríos province- with Colonia Avellaneda and
Villa Fontana A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
. The two lines are 9 and 13.4 km long, but there are further plans to expand the system. Villa Fontana's line was inaugurated in August 2010 up to Oro Verde and expanded to Villa Fontana in 2011. Colonia Avellaneda's line was inaugurated in March 2011. Paraná city is also linked with interurban services to
Concepción del Uruguay Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina. It is located in the Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 80,000 inhabitants ( ...
and Concordia, Entre Rios' main cities.


Resistencia

It serves Great Resistencia, the capital city of the province of Chaco with a 10 km line to
Puerto Vilelas Puerto Vilelas is a village and municipality in Chaco Province, in northern Argentina.Ministerio del Interior

< ...

with 8 stations, and a 20 km line to
Puerto Tirol Puerto Tirol is a town in Chaco Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Libertad Department. The town was founded on August 6, 1888. The name refers to the origin of the initial settlers, who came from the Southern part of the Austro-Hu ...
with 16 stations. From the intermediate station of Cacuí in the Puerto Tirol Line leaves the interstate line to Los Amores in the province of Santa Fe. The whole network uses the former
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 ...
gauge tracks. The system was originally operated by Chaco Railway Services, owned by the Province's Government, but in May 2010 operation was transferred to SOFSE, the state-owned railway company managed by the National Government.


Santa Fe

The
Santa Fe Urban Train The Santa Fe Urban Train (in Spanish: "Tren Urbano de Santa Fe") was a commuter rail serving the metropolitan area of Santa Fe city in Argentina. It had 8 stops, extending from El Molino to Don Bosco stations, running on the Belgrano Railway '' ...
is project initiated in 2014 for a 3.7 km line which runs through the city of Santa Fe in Santa Fe Province using
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 ...
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 ...
tracks. In June 2015, the service underwent successful testing on the line and its 8 brand new stops, using Argentine-built TecnoTren railbuses. Once fully opened in 2015, this will be the first commuter rail service in the city since railway privatisation in the 1990s, while it is estimated that using the train will be 40% faster than existing bus transport.


Santiago del Estero

The historical city of
Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
will have a commuter rail service called ''
Tren al Desarrollo Tren al Desarrollo (in English: "Train to Development") is an elevated commuter rail service between the cities of Santiago del Estero (from the "Forum" station) and La Banda (with also a new building) in Santiago del Estero Province. Trains run o ...
'', which will run on a series of newly built viaducts over the city, as well as existing
General Mitre Railway A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...
broad gauge tracks. The 8 km line has undergone testing using Argentine TecnoTren rolling stock and will open to the public in 2016, though its central terminus was inaugurated in 2015. After its aperture, the line will be further extended to the outskirts of the city, though it has also been considered to extend the line to the nearby city of San Miguel de Tucumán.


Historical networks

Up until the mid-twentieth century, most major cities in Argentina had a tramway network, though today only a small number remain.Tranvias Argentinos
- Tranvias de Cordoba
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 ...
was the first Argentine city to receive an electric tramway network in 1892, rather than
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 ...
which would see its existing network electrified from 1897 onwards. By the mid-1960s, most cities had their tram networks dismantled and replaced with colectivos and
trolleybuses A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
. La Plata was the last city to operate trams in Argentina, with its last service operating in December 1966, until the 1980s when the
Buenos Aires PreMetro The Premetro is a light rail line that runs along the outskirts of Buenos Aires, connecting with the Buenos Aires Underground line E, at Plaza de los Virreyes station and then to General Savio, with a short branch to Centro Cívico. It opened ...
began operations.


Mass transit


Buenos Aires Underground

The Buenos Aires Underground (''Subterráneo de Buenos Aires''-locally known as ''Subte'') is a metro system that serves the city 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 ...
, the network was inaugurated in 1913 by the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company, being the first of its kind in
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and in the entire Southern Hemisphere and Spanish speaking world. It currently has six lines, with a seventh underway a further two planned, carrying 365 million passengers per year on a network with 83 stations.Aumentó un 12% la cantidad de usuarios que usan el subte a diario
- La Nacion, 7 May 2015.
The network expanded quickly in its early years, but the rate of expansion had slowed by the 1960s, with serious attempts at expansion and modernisation only occurring in recent years.


Other projects

In the city of
Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province a ...
, there is a project to build an underground system; the
Córdoba Metro The Córdoba Metro was a project that was supposed to, according to its proponents, serve the city of Córdoba, the second-largest city in Argentina. The metro system would have become the second metro system in Argentina, after the Buenos Aires ...
, which would make it the second metro system in Argentina. The network will be 33 kilometres long with 26 stations on 3 lines, with a total cost of $1.8 billion. The city of Rosario has also proposed having its own metro system, which is currently being evaluated. Work has also begun in Buenos Aires to move the
Sarmiento Line The Sarmiento line is a broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, run by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos since 11 September 2013. History This line had previously been run by the state-owned company Ferrocarril ...
underground in an effort to decrease journey times whilst improving traffic conditions above ground. The project will be undertaken in three stages and, when completed, would mean that 32.6 kilometres of the line between
Caballito Caballito (; Spanish for "little horse") is a ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only ''barrio'' in the administrative division ''Comuna'' 6. It is located in the geographical centre of the city, limited ...
and
Moreno Moreno may refer to: Places Argentina *Moreno (Buenos Aires Metro), a station on Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro *Moreno, Buenos Aires, a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina *Moreno Department, a depatnent of Santiago del Estero Province, A ...
will be completely underground, with station entrances above ground similar to a metro system. The existing above-ground line has continued to operate while work has occurred below ground for the corresponding sections. There is also a project announced in 2015 to create a series of tunnels to connect
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 Once railway station ( es, Estación Once de Septiembre, translation=Eleventh of September Station, ; informally known as ) is a large railway terminus in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the ''barrio'' of Balvanera. The station, inaugurate ...
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 result of this would be the
Red de Expresos Regionales Red de Expresos Regionales (RER, English: Regional Express Network) is a planned mass transit 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 th ...
, which would link together all of Buenos Aires' existing commuter rail network, allowing for passengers to travel from one side 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 ...
to the other making only one connection at a central underground station 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 ...
. The project will cost $1.8 billion and will be carried out in three stages, taking 8 years for it to be fully completed, though some parts are due to commence operation sooner.


Intercity passenger services

Argentina scrapped many of its uneconomical long-distance passenger train services during the early 1990s and privatised, by concession contract, several main routes to Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA), Ferrocentral,
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 passeng ...
, and Trenes Especiales Argentinos. The new services were not what passengers were used to and, with the exception of the
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 ...
,
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
, Córdoba and Tucumán corridors, provided erratic and poor-quality services. In recent years however, government policy has changed to one in which the state intends to re-open and operate all services which were formally closed. Under privatisation, many services ceased to operate for a variety of reasons. Among these were previously iconic routes such as Buenos Aires - Posadas and Buenos Aires -
Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro Province, Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel ...
. Recently however, the national government has been replacing very large segments of track in important corridors and routes, using continuous welded rails on concrete sleepers to accommodate trains running at speeds of 160 km/h. Many of these improvements are nearing completion while others are under way and some are in the planning stages. Long-distance rail travel in Argentina has been described as considerably cheaper than air or bus travel, but also much slower, with maximum speeds of 50 km/h even on the newer stretches opened in 2017. In 2014 there was a 600% increase in spending on railway infrastructure, being spent on projects around the country to revive long distance services, while this expenditure is expected to be even higher in 2015.Se publican en la web las obras ferroviarias de ADIF y sus contratos
- ADIFSE, 26 May 2014
To accommodate this revival in long distance services,
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 ...
will receive a new expansion for the services being operated by SOFSE. Similar projects are nearing completion in cities like Rosario, where a completely new railway terminal has been built in addition to the existing ones. At the same time, the high speed rail project which had been planned for the Buenos Aires - Rosario - Córdoba corridor has been put on hold since for the moment the routes are being refurbished for the 160 km/h services which are considered to be a higher priority, though as of 2015, Chinese proposals for high speed rail are still being considered.


Routes

Inter-city services are currently served by two State-owned railway companies, Trenes Argentinos (that manages all the long-distance passenger rail services) and
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 passeng ...
(operating services in
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 ...
). Ferrobaires has been criticised for the quality of its service, though there have been signs that the company (owned by the
province of Buenos Aires 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 ...
, rather than the national government) may be dissolved when its remaining services are taken over by Trenes Argentinos. Nowadays, some of the most important cities of Argentina are served by train, departing from Constitucion,
Once Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...
and Retiro terminus located in the centre 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 ...
. Some cities currently are:
Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...
, Rosario (both stations, Norte and
Sur Sur or SUR or El Sur (Spanish "the South") may refer to: Geography * Sur or Shur (Bible), the wilderness of Sur/Shur from the Book of Exodus * Sur (river), a river of Bavaria, Germany * Súr, a village in Hungary * Sur, a district of the city of ...
, Córdoba, General Pico,
Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...
, Rufino and San Miguel de Tucumán. Other regional services are operated by their respectives Provinces, such as
Tren a las Nubes The Tren a las Nubes ( en, Train to the Clouds) is a tourist train service in Salta Province, Argentina. The service runs along the eastern part of the Salta–Antofagasta railway line of the Belgrano Railway (also known as the "C-14" line) t ...
(operated by the Government of
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
) and
Servicios Ferroviarios Patagónico Tren Patagónico (in English: "Patagonian Train") is a state-owned company of Río Negro Province in Argentina which operates an 827-km length broad gauge railway line between Viedma and San Carlos de Bariloche. The train also runs a shorter ...
(also known as "Tren Patagónico") by the Río Negro Province.


Tourist railways

Buenos Aires *
Avellaneda Park Historic Train The Avellaneda Park Historic Train (native name: Tren Histórico del Parque Avellaneda), colloquially known as "Expreso Alegría" ("Joy Express" in English language, English) is a narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge train that runs inside Avellaned ...
, a miniature railway which runs through a park in the west of the city, reopened in 2015 after 9 years without services. * Capilla del Señor Historic Train was an
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
operated by the Ferroclub Argentino. The train was pulled by steam locomotives, running on tracks originally built by
Buenos Aires Central Railway The Buenos Aires Central Railway (BACR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Buenos Aires) was an Argentine railway company which built and operated a railway line from Buenos Aires to the city of 4 de Febrero in Santa Fe. History On 2 October ...
. The service ceased in 2011. * The "Tranvía Histórico de Buenos Aires" is a
Heritage Tramway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
inaugurated in 1980 in the Caballito neighborhood on existing vintage street tracks. Córdoba *
Tren de las Sierras Tren de las Sierras (technically known as the "A-1" branch of the General Belgrano Railway) is a regional rail line in Córdoba Province of Argentina. The line runs from Alta Córdoba to Cosquín, being currently operated by state-owned com ...
is a railway line between Alta Córdoba station in the centre of the city of Córdoba and Cosquín. It's popular with tourists because of its scenic route through the " Sierras Chicas" of Córdoba Province. Entre Ríos * Villa Elisa Historic Train was opened and operated by "Ferroclub Central Entrerriano", a local non-profit association formed by railway enthusiasts. Since then, the service has been running trains pulled by
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s between the cities of Villa Elisa and
Caseros Caseros might refer to: * Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina * Caseros (Entre Ríos), Argentina * Caseros Department, a provincial political subdivision in Santa Fe Province, Argentina * Caseros Prison, Argentina * Battle of Caseros, Argentina * Caser ...
in Entre Ríos Province, covering a distance of , with a total journey time of 120 minutes. Mendoza * The "Wine Train" (Tren del Vino) was a project that would provide railway transportation to locals, running along wine producing districts of Mendoza. The route had been set from cities of La Colonia (in Alto Verde) to Luján de Cuyo with
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
trains with 3 coaches each. Despite of its opening had been announced for 2008, ''Tren del Vino'' never made its inaugural trip. Nevertheless, in April 2014 state-owned
Trenes Argentinos Cargas y Logística Belgrano Cargas y Logística S.A., trading as Trenes Argentinos Cargas, is an Argentine State-owned company which operates a freight rail network that includes Belgrano, Urquiza and San Martín railways. It is a subsidiary of Trenes Argentinos ...
took over the transportation of wine, carrying the production of Mendoza Province. Misiones *The
Rainforest Ecological Train The Rainforest Ecological Train or Waterfalls Train (''Tren Ecológico de la Selva'' or ''Tren de las Cataratas'') is a narrow gauge train that runs through the forest inside Iguazú National Park in the north of the province of Misiones of Argent ...
is a small environmentally friendly train that runs for through the rainforest inside
Iguazú National Park The Iguazú National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Iguazú) is a national park of Argentina, located in the Iguazú Department, in the north of the province of Misiones, Argentine Mesopotamia. It has an area of . History The area of the park w ...
in the north of the province of
Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...
. Patagonia *The narrow-gauge "Old Patagonian Expres" (popularly known as ''
La Trochita La Trochita (official name: ''Viejo Expreso Patagónico''), in English known as the Old Patagonian Express, is a narrow gauge railway in Patagonia, Argentina using steam locomotives. The nickname ''La Trochita'' means literally "The little gauge" ...
''), is a long narrow gauge
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
in Patagonia using steam locomotives. It is said to be the only narrow-gauge long-distance steam train in operation in the world. * The "Tren Histórico a Vapor" was a short run from
Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro Province, Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel ...
to Perito Moreno, 4-6-0 steam manufactured in Scotland in 1912 by the
North British Locomotive Company The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park Wor ...
in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, the Cedar and Mahogany carriages were originally made in England. The service was opened in 2001 although it was closed later, remaining inactive up until the present day. Rosario *The Bicentennial Tramway runs through the city of Rosario with two different routes and a total of 19 stops. Rosario got its first trams in 1906, however after they closed in 1962 much of the track was covered in tarmac, so the vintage units have been converted to run on rubber tires. In June 2015, a heritage tram began running on rails using one of the original trams from the restored network; the intention is to provide more heritage services and restore more trams. Salta *
Tren a las Nubes The Tren a las Nubes ( en, Train to the Clouds) is a tourist train service in Salta Province, Argentina. The service runs along the eastern part of the Salta–Antofagasta railway line of the Belgrano Railway (also known as the "C-14" line) t ...
in the
province of Salta Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Bol ...
crosses canyons and cliffs before arriving at San Antonio de los Cobres. The railway is approximately
above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...
, while its tracks and rolling stock were refurbished in 2015."El tren más famoso del país vuelve a las nubes"
''Perfil'', 1 Apr 2015
Tierra del Fuego *The
Southern Fuegian Railway The Southern Fuegian Railway ( es, Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino (FCAF)) or the Train of the End of the World ( es, El Tren del Fin del Mundo) is a gauge steam railway in Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina. It was originally built as a freight ...
, called "Tren del Fin del Mundo" - "The Train at the End of the World", is the world's southernmost railway in the province of
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...
, operating on narrow gauge , using steam locomotives.


Freight

There are several private freight operators in Argentina, along with the state-owned
Trenes Argentinos Cargas y Logística Belgrano Cargas y Logística S.A., trading as Trenes Argentinos Cargas, is an Argentine State-owned company which operates a freight rail network that includes Belgrano, Urquiza and San Martín railways. It is a subsidiary of Trenes Argentinos ...
. In 2012, the network carried 12,111 million tonne-kilometres (tonnes x distance travelled). The amount of freight carried by individual operators in 2014 was as follows:
Trenes Argentinos Cargas y Logistica Belgrano Cargas y Logística S.A., trading as Trenes Argentinos Cargas, is an Argentine State-owned company which operates a freight rail network that includes Belgrano, Urquiza and San Martín railways. It is a subsidiary of Trenes Argentin ...
(TACyL) is a state-owned company created out of 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 nationalization o ...
network after the national government terminated the company's contract in 2013, returning it to state control while citing the lack of competitiveness in the private sector as a primary reason for the move."Estatizan el ferrocarril Belgrano Cargas", ''La Nación'', 23 May 2013
/ref> Later that year, the government revoked concessions from Brazilian company
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 territorie ...
citing "serious" contract violations and imposing heavy fines on the company for being in breach of contract. The services managed by this company were also integrated into the new TACyL holding company. Following the creation of TACyL, the national government began investing heavily in the country's freight network with an AR$12 billion investment to improve its infrastructure, renewing 30% of the rails over the following 2 years.Apuntan a recuperar los trenes de cargas con una inversión de casi 12.000 millones de pesos
- Telam, 16 November 2014.
This investment also included purchasing 100 locomotives and 3,500 freight cars from China for TACyL which are expected to arrive in 2015, while a separate investment saw the purchase of a further 1,000 cars from Argentine company
Fabricaciones Militares Fabricaciones Militares, the full name is Fabricaciones Militares Sociedad del Estado (Spanish for Military Industries State Corporation), is a state-owned Argentine arms manufacturer based in Buenos Aires. The company was a government agency und ...
.Fabricaciones Militares construirá más de 1000 vagones para el Belgrano Cargas
- Fabricaciones Militares
Further renovation of infrastructure for passenger lines, such as the complete replacement of rails on the
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 ...
-
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
- Córdoba - Tucumán route of the
General Mitre Railway A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...
, will aid private operators such as
Nuevo Central Argentino Nuevo Central Argentino S. A. (abbreviated NCA) is an Argentine company that utilises the operation and infrastructure of the national railway system of the former Mitre Railway division of Ferrocarriles Argentinos, by a concession granted on 23 ...
who use those segments. Soon after nationalisation, the government began looking to expand the fleet of the company and began making orders both domestically and abroad. One order consisted of 1000 freight wagons from Argentine state-owned company
Fabricaciones Militares Fabricaciones Militares, the full name is Fabricaciones Militares Sociedad del Estado (Spanish for Military Industries State Corporation), is a state-owned Argentine arms manufacturer based in Buenos Aires. The company was a government agency und ...
. The company also ordered 100 locomotives and 3,500 carriages from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
as part of a plan that also included the purchase of 30,000 rails to repair parts of the line. In September 2015, it was announced that the original Chinese investment of US$2.4 billion in the Argentine freight network was being doubled to US$4.8 billion and new purchases and infrastructure projects would ensue.


Rolling stock

Prior to the deterioration of the rail network, Argentina had a greater number of rolling stock manufacturers which supplied trains and cars throughout the railways, however today only a few companies like
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 ...
, Grupo Emepa, TecnoTren and
Fabricaciones Militares Fabricaciones Militares, the full name is Fabricaciones Militares Sociedad del Estado (Spanish for Military Industries State Corporation), is a state-owned Argentine arms manufacturer based in Buenos Aires. The company was a government agency und ...
remain. While Materfer make the
CMM 400-2 The CMM 400-2 is a diesel multiple unit produced by Materfer in Córdoba Province, Argentina. The units are produced in Argentina's three primary track gauges and the standard gauge variants were the first to be produced for General Urquiza Ra ...
diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s and the MTF-3300 diesel cargo locomotives, Emepa manufacture the Alerce EMU/DMU which is to be used on the
Belgrano Norte Line 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 ...
. At the same time, Fabricaciones Militares only makes freight cars, such as those used in 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 nationalization o ...
network, though in the past they made electric trains for suburban and underground lines. There have been signs that the industry is reviving and expanding, while at the same time there are many workshops around the country which refurbish and modernise older rolling stock. Though the industry is being revived, the country no longer has the capacity to manufacture long-distance locomotives and EMUs for suburban lines, so these are mostly imported from China and are made by companies such as CSR Corporation Limited and
China CNR Corporation China CNR Corporation Limited (CNR) was a primary manufacturer of locomotives and rolling stock for the Chinese market. The company has also exported to over 80 countries and regions, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Hong Kong, Ne ...
, with CSR planning to open a factory in Argentina and purchasing the Argentine company
Emprendimientos Ferroviarios Emprendimientos Ferroviarios S.A. (Emfer) was an Argentine rail rolling stock manufacturer based in San Martín, Buenos Aires. The company also remodelled and repaired rail vehicles and had previously manufactured rolling stock for the Sarmiento ...
, which is now its subsidiary. File:Emepa Alerce train.jpg, An
Emepa Alerce The Alerce is an Argentine railcar produced by the Emepa Group in Chascomús, Buenos Aires Province. , the units are produced for the General Belgrano Railway's narrow gauge network and are currently used on commuter rail services, though a broad ...
DMU File:Sarmiento line rolling stock.jpg, Commuter rail rolling stock File:Tren 0km entre Neuquén y Cipolletti 1.jpg, A
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 ...
CMM 400-2 The CMM 400-2 is a diesel multiple unit produced by Materfer in Córdoba Province, Argentina. The units are produced in Argentina's three primary track gauges and the standard gauge variants were the first to be produced for General Urquiza Ra ...
on the
Tren del Valle Tren del Valle is a commuter rail service that connects cities of Plottier, Neuquén and Cipolletti, in the Río Negro and Neuquén Provinces of Argentina, running on Roca Railway tracks. In a second stage, the line would be extended to Genera ...
File:Trenesarg cyl locomot.jpg, EMD locomotives are widely used for freight File:Long distance passenger train.jpg,
CNR CKD8 The CNR CKD8 is a diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by China CNR Corporation from 2013 onwards for use in Argentina by state-owned Trenes Argentinos, a subsidiary of Ferrocarriles Argentinos S.E. The CKD8G variant is used primarily on th ...
long distance rolling stock File:San Martin Line CSR SDD7.jpg, A CSR SDD7 train on 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 ...
File:CNR DMU Belgrano Sur.jpg, A
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 ...
CNR DMU File:Trenurbano1.jpeg, A Tecnotren
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 ...


International rail links to adjacent countries

*
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
- gauge both countries. Two rail connections between (
Villazón Villazón is a town in southern Bolivia, on the border with Argentina. It sits directly across La Quiaca River from La Quiaca in Argentina. The town is a busy trading hub, with large quantities of goods flowing north. It is also a heavily used ...
, Bolivia -
La Quiaca La Quiaca is a small city in the north of the , on the southern bank of the La Quiaca River, opposite the town of Villazón, Bolivia. It lies at the end of National Route 9, from San Salvador de Jujuy (the provincial capital), and at an altitude ...
, Argentina) and ( Yacuiba, Bolivia -
Salvador Mazza Salvador Mazza (June 6, 1886November 9, 1946) was a noted Argentine physician and epidemiologist, best known for his strides in helping control American trypanosomiasis, an endemic disease among the rural, poor majority of early 20th century Sou ...
, Argentina). *
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
- break of gauge, gauge in Argentina and gauge in Brazil. Bridge over Uruguay River linking Paso de los Libres (Argentina) and Uruguaiana (Brazil). *
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
-
South Trans-Andean Railway The Trans-Andean railways provide rail transport over the Andes. Several are either planned, built, defunct, or waiting to be restored. They are listed here in order from north to south. Colombian Railways * Feb 2011 - The Chinese Government p ...
was a proposal of a link between
Zapala Zapala is a city and touristic destination in the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina with about 32,000 inhabitants according to the . The city is located at the geographic center of the province at the confluence of national and provincia ...
, Argentina and
Lonquimay Lonquimay is a town and commune in the Malleco Province of southern Chile's Araucanía Region. Transport It is the terminus of an abandoned broad gauge railway project which supporters cited as the most practical railway route through the An ...
, Chile. gauge in both countries. *
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
-
Transandine Railway The Transandine Railway ( es, Ferrocarril Trasandino) was a combined rack ( Abt system) and adhesion railway which operated from Mendoza in Argentina, across the Andes mountain range via the Uspallata Pass, to Santa Rosa de Los Andes in Chi ...
between Mendoza and Santa Rosa de Los Andes, now defunct, but under reconstruction. This
mountain railway A mountain railway is a railway that operates in a mountainous region. It may operate through the mountains by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes, or it may climb a mountain to provide transport to and from the sum ...
of gauge with
rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...
sections had a break of gauge / at either end. *
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
- Salta–Antofagasta railway, single gauge linking
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
to Antofagasta. The ''
Tren a las Nubes The Tren a las Nubes ( en, Train to the Clouds) is a tourist train service in Salta Province, Argentina. The service runs along the eastern part of the Salta–Antofagasta railway line of the Belgrano Railway (also known as the "C-14" line) t ...
'' is a tourist service running for 217 km on the Argentine side. *
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
- Posadas-Encarnación gauge both countries, service began in 2014. **
San Roque González de Santa Cruz Bridge The San Roque González de Santa Cruz Bridge is a long cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Paraná River between the cities of Posadas, capital of Misiones Province, Argentina and Encarnación, capital of Itapúa, Paraguay. The main bridge is ...
*
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
- Tren de los Pueblos Libres in both countries, a short-lived service made to re-open the once closed link. It ceased operation after all concessions to the private company
TBA To be announced (TBA), to be confirmed (TBC), to be determined or decided or declared (TBD), and other variations, are placeholder terms used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a ...
were revoked following the
Once Tragedy The 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster, also known as the Once Tragedy, occurred on 22 February 2012, when a train crashed at Once Station ( es, link=no, Estación Once de Septiembre; ) in the Balvanera neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Th ...
.


Incidents

The worst rail accident in Argentina in terms of fatalities occurred on 1 February 1970 when two trains collided near
Ingeniero Maschwitz Ingeniero Maschwitz, known simply as Maschwitz, is a town in the Escobar Partido of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It forms part of the urban conurbation of Greater Buenos Aires. This is the small town where International evangelist Luis P ...
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 ...
.''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', Tuesday, 3 February 1970; pg. 7; Issue 57784; col A
This due to a passenger train carrying 700 people coming to a halt with mechanical problems, while a long distance
General Mitre Railway A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...
train carrying 500 passengers from Tucumán crashed into it from behind.La Bajada 71
- Autorneto, 22 September 2009.
The total death toll was 142 people, with 368 injured. From 2008 to 2012, there were a series of rail accidents which eventually led to the re-nationalisation of the rail network. Before dawn on 9 March 2008, a passenger train slammed into a bus at a rural Argentine
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
, near
Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...
, some south 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 ...
, killing 18 people and leaving at least 47 others injured. The bus driver ignored the warning lights and lowered crossing gates. On 13 September 2011, a passenger train operated by Trenes de Buenos Aires hit a bus on a
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
at
Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...
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 ...
during the morning
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...
, killing 11 people and injuring 265. The train derailed, and crashed into a train standing at the platform in the adjacent station. The bus driver had ignored warning lights and a partly lowered barrier. The second-worst rail accident in terms of fatalities occurred on 22 February 2012 a passenger train operated by
TBA To be announced (TBA), to be confirmed (TBC), to be determined or decided or declared (TBD), and other variations, are placeholder terms used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a ...
crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stations, along with some Alternativ ...
into the solid buffers at the
Once station Once railway station ( es, Estación Once de Septiembre, translation=Eleventh of September Station, ; informally known as ) is a large railway terminus in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the ''barrio'' of Balvanera. The station, inaugurated ...
near downtown Buenos Aires, killing 51 people and injuring over 700 others. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called for two days of national mourning following the accident. Following these accidents, all of
TBA To be announced (TBA), to be confirmed (TBC), to be determined or decided or declared (TBD), and other variations, are placeholder terms used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a ...
's concessions were revoked and the national government began restoring rail infrastructure and purchasing brand new rolling stock for Buenos Aires' commuter rail lines, as well as huge investment across the country. These moves eventually led to the complete re-nationalisation of the country's railway network, with safety concerns under private operation being one of the primary reasons.Oficial: el Gobierno promulgó la ley de estatización de los ferrocarriles
- La Nacion, 21 May 2015.


See also

*
Transportation in Argentina Transport in Argentina is mainly based on a complex network of routes, crossed by relatively inexpensive long-distance buses and by cargo trucks. The country also has a number of national and international airports. The importance of the long-di ...
* Buenos Aires Underground * Ferrocarriles Argentinos (2015) *
Rail transport by country This page provides an index of articles on rail transport by country. International railway organisations * International Union of Railways (UIC) * International Union of Public Transport (UITP) * Association of American Railways (AAR) Afri ...
*
State-owned Argentine Railway Companies In Argentina, State-owned railway companies run both, passenger and freight services within the country. The first State-owned company was Argentine State Railway ("Ferrocarriles del Estado"), formed in October 1909 while José Figueroa Alcorta was ...
*
List of secondary, industrial and Decauville railways in Argentina The list of secondary, industrial and Decauville railways in Argentina includes narrow-gauge railway lines that operated in Argentina, which used tracks, sleepers, or vehicles manufactured by French company Decauville.United States. Bureau of For ...


References


Bibliography

* Pendle, George. "Railways in Argentina" ''History Today'' (Feb 1958) 8#2 pp 119-125.
Latin Tracks
(Latin-American railway magazine) * Mario J. López and Jorge A. Waddell, Nueva Historia del Ferrocarril en la Argentina – 150 años de Politica Ferroviaria ''(A New History of Railways in Argentina – 150 Years of Railway Policies)'' - Ediciones Lumiere (2007) -


External links




Asociación Amigos del Tranvía official site
(Spanish)

* ttp://www.trendelfindelmundo.com.ar/tfm_base_en.htm Tren del Fin del Mundo official site
Historia del Ferrocarril
(Spanish) * Ing. Livio Dante Porta's First Locomotive
"Argentina"
{{South America in topic, Rail transport in *