The Ferrocarril Compañía General de Buenos Aires (CGBA) (in French: Compagnie Général de Chemins de Fer dans la Province de Buenos Aires) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

–owned company, formed in 1904, which operated a metre gauge

Metre gauge

Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

 railway network in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

In 1904 the company took over a concession to build lines

Main line (railway)

The Mainline or Main line of a railway is a track that is used for through trains or is the principal artery of the system from which branch lines, yards, sidings and spurs are connected....

 between the ports of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 and Rosario

Rosario

Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....

, and to La Plata

La Plata

La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....

, together with other branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

s in the west and south of Buenos Aires Province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

. These lines were built as detailed in Table 1.

Timeline

Table 1   Building of the CGBA

Section	Length, km	Date Opened
Buenos Aires - Rosario	395	25/01/1908
Villars - 9 de Julio	202	01/03/1909
Gonzalez Catán - La Plata La Plata La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....	88	27/07/1910
Pergamino Pergamino, Buenos Aires Pergamino is an Argentine city in the Province of Buenos Aires. It has a population of about 104.922 inhabitants as per the and is the seat of the partido of the same name. Its UN/LOCODE is ARPGO.-History:...  - Vedia	122	05/12/1910
Patricios - Plaza Plaza Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...	224	07/12/1911
9 de Julio - General Villegas General Villegas General Villegas is a town in General Villegas Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.UN/LOCODE is ARVGS....	232	01/12/1912

Competition

The company always faced tough competition from the various large British-owned railway companies operating in the Province who had already built lines in those areas where most profit was to be made. As a result of this competition, plans to build a line between Buenos Aires and Bahía Blanca

Bahía Blanca

Bahía Blanca is a city located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It has a population of 274,509 inhabitants according to the...

, and other branch lines were abandoned.

Nationalisation

When the entire Argentine railway network was nationalised

Railway Nationalisation in Argentina

In 1948, during President Juan Perón’s first term of office, the seven British-owned and three French-owned railway companies then operating in Argentina, were purchased by the state...

 in 1948, during Juan Peron's presidency, the CGBA became part of the state-owned company Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano

Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano

Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano , named after the Argentine politician and military leader Manuel Belgrano, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

. During the later privatisation it was taken over by Transportes Metropolitanos - Belgrano Sur S.A.

Metropolitano

Metropolitano S.A. was a privately owned consortium formed in 1994 to take over concessions granted by the Argentine government, through the state-owned company FEMESA as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem for the operation of commuter rail services in Buenos Aires...