Rail transport in Argentina - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Argentine railway network comprised 47000 km (29,205 mi) of track at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in South America. 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

Ferrocarriles Argentinos

Ferrocarriles Argentinos was a public company that managed the entire Argentine railway system for nearly 45 years. It was formed in 1948 when all the private railway companies were nationalised during Perón's first presidential term, and transformed into the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado...

(FA), the state railroad corporation. Since that time several private and provincial railway companies

Railway Privatisation in Argentina

Following a prolonged period of hyperinflation in the 1980s, accompanied by a steep increase in fiscal deficit and a sharp fall in reserves, the Argentine government, under the presidency of Carlos Menem from 1989, initiated a series of neoliberal reforms which included the privatisation of...

have been created and have resurrected some of the major passenger routes that FA once operated. The railroad network today, with its 34059 km (21,163 mi) of track, is now far smaller than it once was.

The railways of Argentina operate over track of the following five rail gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

Main line gauges:

Indian gauge

Indian gauge is a track gauge commonly used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina and Chile. It is also the gauge that is used on BART , in northern California.- Scotland :...

: – 24481 km (15,212 mi)

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

: – 2765 km (1,718 mi)

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...

: – 11080 km (6,885 mi)

Secondary gauges:

Narrow gauge: – 409 km (254 mi)

Minimum gauge

Minimum gauge railway

Minimum gauge railways have a gauge of less than or , most commonly , , or . The notion of minimum gauge railways was originally developed by estate railways and by the French company of Decauville for industrial railways....

: – 8 km (5 mi)

History

Development

The building of the network began in 1855 at first with Argentine finance. Major development of the Argentine rail network occurred between 1870 and 1914, primarily financed by the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, and to a lesser degree, French, German and Argentine investors. The Argentine rail network attained significant growth during this period which positioned the country as the tenth largest rail network in the world in 1914. Its expansion accelerated greatly due to the need for the transport of agricultural products and cattle in 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...

. 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. In 1946, the Argentine government started the nationalisation process of its rail network.

RAILROAD NETWORK GROWTH AND EXPANSION
Source:
Years	1860	1870	1880	1890	1900	1910	1920
System length (kilometres)	9.8	722	2,516	9,397	16,500	29,094	47,000
Passengers transported (millions)	–	–	3	–	18	–	145
Cargo transported (x 1,000,000 tonnes)	–	–	1.0	–	11.8	–	45.5

Nationalization

Following what was then a worldwide trend, the private companies were nationalised in 1948. These companies, together with those that were already state-owned, were grouped according to their track gauge and locality into the following six state-owned companies:

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...
Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre
Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre
Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre , named after the former Argentine president Bartolomé Mitre, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...
Ferrocarril General Roca
Ferrocarril General Roca
Ferrocarril General Roca , named after the former Argentine president Julio Argentino Roca, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...
Ferrocarril General San Martín
Ferrocarril General San Martín
Ferrocarril General San Martín , named after the former Argentine general José de San Martín, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...
Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
The Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento , named after the former Argentine president, statesman, educator, and author Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the Argentine railway network in 1948...
Ferrocarril General Urquiza
Ferrocarril General Urquiza
Ferrocarril General Urquiza , named after the Argentine general and politician Justo José de Urquiza, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

These would later become divisions of the state-owned holding company Ferrocarriles Argentinos

Ferrocarriles Argentinos

Although at the beginning the state-owned railways were able to provide a good standard of passenger and freight service, political factors soon entered the equation and began to interfere with the economic and administrative aspects of the rail business.

Privatisation

Between 1992 and 1995, the government decided to privatise into segments the state-owned company Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA), which comprised the six relatively independent divisions, Sarmiento

Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

The Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento , named after the former Argentine president, statesman, educator, and author Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the Argentine railway network in 1948...

, Mitre

Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre

Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre , named after the former Argentine president Bartolomé Mitre, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

, Urquiza

Ferrocarril General Urquiza

Ferrocarril General Urquiza , named after the Argentine general and politician Justo José de Urquiza, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

, San Martin

Ferrocarril General San Martín

Ferrocarril General San Martín , named after the former Argentine general José de San Martín, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

, 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...

and Roca

Ferrocarril General Roca

Ferrocarril General Roca , named after the former Argentine president Julio Argentino Roca, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

, and granted concessions to private companies for their operation through competitive bidding. The decision was taken by the former President Carlos Menem

Carlos Menem

Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...

and formed part of his neoliberal reforms.

At the start of the concessions, service quality greatly improved, and traffic began to grow again. However, as more locomotives and rolling stock were needed the private companies became increasingly reluctant to make the investment required to increase capacity and service quality began to decline again.

In addition, automobile industry interests seeking the demise of the railway, purchased lines for far less than their real value. As with other privatization schemes under Menem, members of Congress in both the Peronista and Radical Parties, as well as railway union officials, received monetary favors for allowing the dismantling of Ferrocariles Argentinos. The closing of most of the rail system led to the emptying of many towns of the interior, 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 more expensively and inefficiently by individual trucks.

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

Néstor Kirchner

Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...

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 are now little more than managers of government contracts rather than true entrepreneurs.

Commuter network

Buenos Aires, Resistencia

Resistencia, Chaco

Resistencia is the capital and largest city in the province of Chaco, in northeastern Argentina. At the 2001 census, the population of the Resistencia city proper was 274,490 inhabitants. It is the anchor of a slightly larger metropolitan area, Greater Resistencia, which comprises three more...

and soon to be inaugurated; Metrotranvía of Mendoza

Metrotranvía of Mendoza

The Metrotranvía of Mendoza will be 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...

in the city Mendoza

Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...

, are the only cities in Argentina to offer suburban passenger services; most other cities rely on bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

and trolleybus

Trolleybus

A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

transportation.

Commuter rail in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires City's metropolitan rail system is the second most extensive in the Americas after New York's commuter rail system, with about 259 stations, covering 813 kilometres (505 mi) and 7 rail lines serving more than 445 million commuters annually in the Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...

region. Commuter rail service from the suburbs is operated by several agencies. These rail systems converge at five rail terminals, all of them in Buenos Aires, with two, Retiro and Constitución rail terminals being the busiest train station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

s in Argentina.

{| align=left class="wikitable"
|+ METROPOLITAN RAILWAY PASSENGER TRANSPORT
Source
|-
!Line
! Operator
! Line length (kilometres)
! Number of stations
! Annual ridership (1998)
! Annual ridership (2008)
|-
| Mitre
| Trenes de Buenos Aires

Trenes de Buenos Aires

Trenes de Buenos Aires is a privately-owned company which, on 27 May 1995, took over the concession, granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem, for the operation of commuter rail services in Buenos Aires, Argentina over the broad...

| 185,5
| 55
| 84,081,493
| 73,207,048
|-
| Belgrano Norte
| Ferrovías

Ferrovías

Ferrovías S.A.C. is a privately owned company which, on 1 April 1994, took over the concession, granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem, for the operation of the 1,000 mm metre gauge Belgrano Norte Line commuter rail service in...

|54,3
| 22
| 35,931,801
| 45,830,200
|-
| Belgrano Sur
| UGOFE

Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia

Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia is a temporary consortium of Argentine companies formed on 7 January 2005 by Ferrovías, Metrovías and Trenes de Buenos Aires to take over the running of commuter railway services in Buenos Aires after concessions granted to Metropolitano in...

| 66,3
| 30
| 16,219,806
| 11,472,416
|-
| Roca
| UGOFE

Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia

|237,2
| 70
| 152,082,063
| 125,556,026
|-
| San Martín
| UGOFE

Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia

| 56,3
| 19
| 25,581,310
| 46,647,676
|-
| Sarmiento
| Trenes de Buenos Aires

Trenes de Buenos Aires

| 184,1
| 40
| 113,218,819
| 118,143,006
|-
| Urquiza
| Metrovías

Metrovías

Metrovías S.A. is a privately owned company which, on 1 January 1994, took over the concession, granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem, for the operation of the standard gauge Urquiza Line commuter rail service in Buenos Aires,...

| 29,9
| 23
| 25,581,310
| 24,212,133
|-
| Totals:
| —
| 813
| 259
| 451,971,849
| 445,068,505
|-
|}
Buenos Aires City's commuter rail provides 1800 trains carrying over one million passengers each business day in the city 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...

, its suburbs in Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires

and several far-reaching satellite towns.
Service is provided by private companies and spreads out from five central stations in Buenos Aires: Retiro (the busiest), Constitución, Once, 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.
The Retiro and Constitución train stations are linked by the Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro

Buenos Aires Metro

The Buenos Aires Metro , locally known as Subte is a mass-transit system that serves the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first station of this network opened in 1913, the first of its kind in South America, the Southern Hemisphere and the entire Spanish-speaking world...

, Once is served by the Line A of the metro via its "Plaza Miserere

Plaza Miserere (Buenos Aires Metro)

Plaza Miserere is a station on Line A of the Buenos Aires Metro . The station is located between Alberti and Loria / Pasco stations on the A line metro....

" station and will also be served by the new Line H of the metro when construction is completed; and Federico Lacroze is served by B line. The smaller Buenos Aires Station is accessible by some city bus

Colectivo

Colectivo is the name given in Argentina and Paraguay to a type of public transportation vehicles, especially those of Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires...

services and it is the only railway terminus in Buenos Aires that has no access to the Buenos Aires Metro.

Most trains leave at regular 8- to 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 coin-operated machines at stations. Most of the lines are electric

Railway electrification system

A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...

, several are diesel-powered

Diesel locomotive

A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

, while some of these are currently being converted to electric, many of the lines share traffic with freight services.

Buenos Aires area commuter rail lines were privatised in the 1990s, and passengers have complained for years about poor commuter rail services on lines leading from Constitución station in downtown Buenos Aires to the capital's southern suburbs.

Other commuter rail services

The light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

Tren de la Costa

Tren de la Costa 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...

(Train of the Coast), which serves "tourist" and local commuters, runs from the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires to Tigre

Tigre, Buenos Aires

Tigre is a town in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, situated in the north of Greater Buenos Aires, north of Buenos Aires city. Tigre lies on the Paraná Delta and is an important tourist and weekend attraction, easily reached by bus and train services, including the scenic Tren de la Costa...

along the river for approximately 15 kilometres, the line connects directly to the Mitre line at Maipú–Bartolomé Mitre station in the northern suburb of Olivos

Olivos

Olivos may refer to:* Olivos, Buenos Aires, locality in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina* Los Olivos District, district of the Lima Province in Peru* Los Olivos, California, an unincorporated place in Santa Barbara County, California...

for direct access to Retiro terminus in the centre of the city.

An experimental project of a short run tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

way line, Tranvía del Este

Tranvía del Este

Tranvía del Este or “Puerto Madero Tramway ” is a 12-block "demonstration" tramway line in the Puerto Madero neighborhood of Buenos Aires operated by the rail company Ferrovías....

, has recently been inaugurated in the Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of the Argentine capital at Buenos Aires CBD, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city of Buenos...

district of Buenos Aires. The 2 km prototype line runs between the Córdoba and Independencia avenues, ridership has not been as expected, nevertheless, extensions are being planned.
Another tramway line, the PreMetro E2

PreMetro E2 (Buenos Aires)

PreMetroThe PreMetro or Line E2 is a tram line that connects with the Buenos Aires Metro line E, at Plaza de los Virreyes station and runs to General Savio and Centro Cívico. It is operated by Metrovías....

, operates as a feeder at the end of Metro Line E and a Historic Tramway

Heritage streetcar

Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...

operates on weekends and holidays in the Caballito

Caballito, Buenos Aires

Caballito is a barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only barrio in the administrative division Comuna 6....

neighbourhood of the capital.

Ticketing

Unlike the Buenos Aires Metro

Buenos Aires Metro

, which uses electronic fare cards, the Buenos Aires public transit

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

system still uses antiquated ticketing systems. All tickets are bought at ticket booths at railway stations and every once in a while, on board certain trains. There is also no single integrated fare payment system for users of bus, metro, and railway services. The designation of multiple operating entities in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area adds technical complexities to the Prepaid Fare System and represents a unique concept for public transport, nonetheless, the implementation of such a system is being studied. However, it has been argued that automatic ticket control systems may have certain disadvantages in that the presence of ticket sales and control personnel in the station adds more security to the passengers and to the property of the railroad.

Electrification plans

Although the first electric railway between Retiro and Tigre was inaugurated in 1916, major electrification projects were not adopted. Long distances, flat topography, and economic conditions did not merit major capital investments in this area, 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 modernization plan so as to provide much needed improvement in services, and the trend is towards electrification of several lines. The first line to receive this improvement is the cramped Roca line network on the southern part of the city, where work is already in progress, and several new routes have recently been approved for electrification covering the rest of the line. Work is also under way on the San Martín line, and there are plans to electrify the Belgrano Norte line.

, approximately 42.7%, 258KM (160 miles) from a total rail network of 604 km (375.3 mi) of the Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires

area (excluding outer-suburban satellite cities of Capilla del Señor, Lobos, Mercedes, Luján, Zárate and Cañuelas), but including the city of 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....

, is electrified

Railway electrification system

(both by locomotives

Electric locomotive

An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...

and multiple unit

Multiple unit

The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...

s).
Once the oft-mentioned Roca line (143 km) and San Martín Line (55 km) electrification projects are completed by the year 2014, 75.5% of the network would be electrified, if the Belgrano Norte is added to the equation (which is being planned); the total electrified network would work out to approximately 84.9%.

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

, the network was inaugurated in 1913 by the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company, being the first of its kind in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

and in the entire Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

.

In the city of Córdoba, Argentina

Córdoba, Argentina

Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...

, there is a project to build an underground system; the "Córdoba Metro

Córdoba Metro

The Córdoba Metro is a project that will, according to its proponents, serve the Argentine city of Córdoba through a metro network. The metro system would become the second in Argentina along with the Buenos Aires Metro.-Overview of system:...

", which would make it the second metro system in Argentina.

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

Trenes de Buenos Aires

, Ferrocentral

Ferrocentral

Ferrocentral is a private railway company in Argentina, its name being a combination of the Spanish words for "Central Rail." It operates long-distance passenger trains from its base at Retiro Station in Buenos Aires to several locations in northern Argentina...

, Ferrobaires

Ferrobaires

Ferrobaires S.A. is the commercial name of a public railway company which operates extensive long-distance passenger trains throughout Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. Its official corporate name is Unidad Ejecutora del Plan Ferroviario Provincial , or Executing Unit of the Provincial Railway...

, and Trenes Especiales Argentinos

Trenes Especiales Argentinos

Trenes Especiales Argentinos is a private railway company in Argentina set up during railway privatisation from 1991.From its base at Federico Lacroze Station in Buenos Aires, TEA operates long-distance passenger rail services into northern Argentina to the city of Posadas in Misiones Province on...

. The new services are not what passengers were used to and today, with the exception of the Buenos Aires, Rosario, Córdoba and Tucumán corridors, provide erratic and poor-quality services.
Nonetheless, a strong demand in farm commodities has helped the Argentine economy bounce back over recent years. The government intends to re-establish long-distance passenger services between vital centres in the agricultural and industrial regions with a project to build a high-speed railway that would join the three largest cities in Argentina; Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

, Rosario and Córdoba

Córdoba, Argentina

. This is expected to act as an essential component in the revival of railways in Argentina. Another project in the planning stages is the refurbishing and upgrading of the Buenos Aires-Mendoza corridor to operate trains at speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour and possibly another high-speed line to the coastal city of Mar del Plata

Mar del Plata

Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...

Routes

The following is a list of most of the current destinations operating from Estación Constitucion, Estación Once and Retiro rail terminus located in the centre of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

R= Restaurant car

D= Sleeping car

Constitución - Pinamar
Pinamar
Pinamar is an Argentine coastal resort town located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Buenos Aires Province. It has about 20,000 inhabitants as per the ....

: twice a week – R
Constitución - Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...

: three trains daily, other added Friday – R
Constitución - Miramar
Miramar, Buenos Aires Province
Miramar is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Buenos Aires Province, south of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of General Alvarado Partido...

: daily – R
Constitución - Ayacucho - Tandil: once a week
Constitución - Azul - Olavarría: five days a week – R
Constitución - 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...

(via Lamadrid): three times a week – R / D
Constitución - Bahía Blanca (via Coronel Pringles
Coronel Pringles
Coronel Pringles is a town in the south of the Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It is the head town of the Coronel Pringles Partido.The partido of Coronel Pringles was created in 1882 by the government of the Province of Buenos Aires who divided the territory of Tres Arroyos into the partidos of...

): twice a week – R
Constitución - Carmen de Patagones
Carmen de Patagones
- Geography :It is located 937 km from the city of Buenos Aires, on the north bank of the Río Negro , near the Atlantic Ocean, and opposite Viedma, capital of the province of Río Negro...

: once a week – R
Constitución - Saladillo - General Alvear: twice a week
Constitución - 25 de Mayo
Veinticinco de Mayo, Buenos Aires Province
Veintecinco de Mayo is a town situated in the centre of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina and has a population of 22,581 . Founded on 8 November 1836, it is the capital city of the partido of the same name...

- Bolívar: five days a week
Constitución - Daireaux: once a week
Once - Chivilcoy
Chivilcoy
Chivilcoy is a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, the head town of the Chivilcoy Partido. It has 60,762 inhabitants according to the ....

- Bragado
Bragado
Bragado is a city in the center-northwest province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the head town of Bragado Partido. The city is 210 km west-southwest from Buenos Aires City, not far from the Salado River.-Etymology and Legend:...

: daily
Once - Los Toldos - Lincoln: once a week
Once - 9 de Julio, Buenos Aires - Carlos Casares
Carlos Casares, Buenos Aires
Carlos Casares is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Carlos Casares Partido.-History:...

: four days a week
Once - Pehuajó: three times a week
Retiro - Junín: daily
Retiro - Rosario - Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...

: once a week
Retiro - Rosario - La Banda - Tucumán: twice a week – R / D
Retiro - Rosario - Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...

: twice a week – R / D
Federico Lacroze - Concordia
Concordia, Entre Ríos
San Antonio de Padua de la Concordia is a city in the north-east of the province of Entre Ríos in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It has about 142,000 inhabitants as of the , and is the head town of the department of the same name.Concordia lies on the right-hand shore of the Uruguay River, opposite...

- Monte Caseros - Posadas
Posadas, Misiones
Posadas is the capital city of the Argentine province of Misiones, located at the south of the province, on the left-hand shore of the Paraná River, opposite Encarnación, Paraguay. The city has an area of 965 km² and a population of 323,739 ....

: twice a week – R

Other province destinations:

Córdoba - Villa María
Villa María
Villa María is a city in Córdoba Province, Argentina, and the head town of the General San Martín Department. It is located in the center of rich agricultural land. The area leads the country in production of milk...

: twice a week
Viedma - San Antonio Oeste - San Carlos de Bariloche
San Carlos de Bariloche
San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche, is a city in the , situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake and is located inside Nahuel Huapi National Park...

: thrice weekly – R / D
Ing. Jacobacci - San Carlos de Bariloche: thrice weekly
Basavilbaso - Villaguay Central - Concordia: five days a week to Villaguay, twice weekly to Concordia.
Resistencia
Resistencia, Chaco
Resistencia is the capital and largest city in the province of Chaco, in northeastern Argentina. At the 2001 census, the population of the Resistencia city proper was 274,490 inhabitants. It is the anchor of a slightly larger metropolitan area, Greater Resistencia, which comprises three more...

- La Sabana - Los Amores: to La Sabana daily, to Los Amores three days a week
Roque Sáenz Peña - Pinedo - Chorotis: daily
Resistencia suburban service: several trains daily

High-speed rail

A new high-speed rail line

High-speed rail

High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...

between Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba, with speeds up to 320 km/h is being planned. This line is to be standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

Freight network

Argentine rail lines have not been well maintained over the past several decades, with many key segments inoperable today. Despite these challenges, Argentina's rail freight traffic has increased by more than 10 percent in each of the past five years. Recent estimates indicate that 20 percent of Argentina's grain production moves by rail at some point. As a result of improved utilization and efficiencies, the cost of rail transportation has dropped by 25 percent. Rail freight operators transported 25.2 million tons in 2007, roughly an eighth of the total.
Argentine rail operators expect business to increase dramatically over the next five years. In sum, Argentina is making great efforts to rejuvenate its rail systems. Modernization efforts seem to be resulting in significant performance improvements and a substantial shift in traffic from motor to rail service.

Freight operators

Nuevo Central Argentino
Nuevo Central Argentino
Nuevo Central Argentino S. A. is an Argentine company that exploits the operation and infrastructure of the national railway system of the former Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre division of Ferrocarriles Argentinos, by a concession granted on 23 December 1992 as part of railway privatisation...
Ferroexpreso Pampeano
Ferroexpreso Pampeano
Ferroexpreso Pampeano S.A. is a private company which, in August 1991, was awarded a concession, granted by the Argentine government, for the operation of freight services over a broad gauge rail network comprising sections which, before nationalisation of the railways in 1948, were operated by...
Ferrosur Roca
Ferrosur Roca
Ferrosur Roca S.A. is a private company which, in December1992, was awarded a concession, granted by the Argentine government, for the operation of freight services over part of the broad gauge rail network built by the British-owned company Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway and run by the...
América Latina Logística
Belgrano Cargas
Belgrano Cargas
Belgrano Cargas S.A. is a company which operates a gauge freight rail network in Argentina, built by the state-owned Ferrocarril Central Norte and the French-owned Ferrocarril Provincial de Santa Fe, which became part of Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano after railway nationisation in 1948...

Tourist railways

Buenos Aires

The "Tramway Histórico de Buenos Aires" is a Heritage Tramway
Heritage streetcar
Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...

inaugurated In 1980 in the Caballito neighborhood
Caballito, Buenos Aires
Caballito is a barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only barrio in the administrative division Comuna 6....

on existing vintage street tracks.

Córdoba

Tren de las Sierras (Train of the mountain range region) is a 150 km 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 line between Rodriguez del Busto station in the centre of the city of Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...

and Capilla del Monte
Capilla del Monte
Capilla del Monte is a small city in the province of Córdoba, Argentina, located by the Sierras Chicas mountain chain, in the northern end of the Punilla Valley...

. It's popular with tourists because of its scenic route through the "Sierras Chicas" of Córdoba Province.

Salta

Tren a las Nubes in the province of Salta
Salta Province
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...

crosses canyons and cliffs before arriving to the 3775 metres (12,385 ft) of San Antonio de los Cobres.

Mendoza

A heritage railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

or tourist railroad, "The Wine Train" (Tren del Vino) is being planned which will also provide transportation to locals, it will run along wine producing districts of Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...

.

Misiones

The Rainforest Ecological Train
Rainforest Ecological Train
The Rainforest Ecological Train or Waterfalls Train is an environmentally-friendly train that runs through the forest inside Iguazú National Park in the north of the province of Misiones of Argentina.- Characteristics :The train can transport between 120 and 150 passengers over seven kilometres ...

is a small environmentally-friendly train runs through the forest inside Iguazú National Park
Iguazú National Park
The Iguazú National Park 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:...

in the north of the province of Misiones
Misiones Province
Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamiсa region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest.- History :The province was...

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...

.

Patagonia

The narrow-gauge Old Patagonian Express
La Trochita
La Trochita, , 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 Narrow Gauge" in Spanish...

, (Viejo Expreso Patagónico) known locally as La Trochita, is a 402 km long narrow gauge heritage railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

in Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

, Argentina using steam locomotives. It is said to be the only narrow-gauge long-distance steam train in operation in the world.

Tren Histórico de Bariloche is a short run to Perito Moreno, 4-6-0 steam manufactured in Scotland in 1912 by the North British Locomotive Company
North British Locomotive Company
The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...

in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, the Cedar and Mahogany carriages were originally Made in England.

Tierra del Fuego

The "Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino", called Tren del Fin del Mundo - "The Train at the End of the World" or Southern Fuegian Railway, is the world's southernmost railway in the province of Tierra del Fuego, operating on narrow gauge , using steam locomotives. Presently being restored with modern steam by Eng. Shaun McMahon.

International rail links to adjacent countries

Bolivia

Rail transport in Bolivia

The Bolivian rail network has had a peculiar development throughout its history, owing to losses of land, prestige and credit rating due to the failure of the War of the Pacific, railway development came late to Bolivia. The demand for mineral wealth and communication to the inland city of La Paz,...

- gauge both countries. Between Villazón

Villazón

Villazón is a town in southern Bolivia, on the border with Argentina. It sits directly across a river from La Quiaca in Argentina. The town is a busy trading hub, with large quantities of goods flowing north....

, Bolivia and La Quiaca

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 , and at an altitude of above mean sea level.La Quiaca has 14,751 inhabitants as per the...

, Argentina Brazil

Rail transport in Brazil

Rail transport in Brazil began in the 19th century and there were many different railway companies. The railways were nationalised under RFFSA in 1957...

- break of gauge, gauge (Argentina)/ gauge (Brazil). Chile - IRJ

International Railway Journal

International Railway Journal is a monthly international trade magazine published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation . The magazine was first published in 1961....

of March 2005 reports construction started to build/restore South Trans-Andean Railway link between Zapala

Zapala

Zapala is a city 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 provincial roads, on a route to the Andes and Chile...

, Argentina and Lonquimay

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 Andes to Argentina, but which lacks a link between...

, Chile. gauge both countries. Chile - Transandine Railway between Mendoza

Mendoza, Argentina

and Santa Rosa de Los Andes

Los Andes, Chile

Los Andes, founded in July 31, 1791 as Santa Rosa de Los Andes, is a Chilean city and commune located in the province of the same name, in Valparaíso Region...

, now defunct, under reconstruction. This mountain railway

Mountain railway

A mountain railway is a railway that ascends and descends a mountain slope that has a steep grade. Such railways can use a number of different technologies to overcome the steepness of the grade...

of gauge with rack railway sections had a break of gauge / at either end. Paraguay

Rail transport in Paraguay

The Rail system in Paraguay consisted primarily of a 376 km main line of standard gauge between Asunción and Encarnación . The infrastructure was administered by Ferrocarriles del Paraguay S.A. , corporation established in 2002...

- gauge both countries. Uruguay

Rail transport in Uruguay

The Uruguayan railway network has approximately 2900 km of lines, all of gauge 1435 mm, diesel traction and only 11 km of double track...

- gauge both countries.

Incidents

A passenger train slammed into a bus at a rural Argentine railroad crossing

Level crossing

A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...

, near Dolores

Dolores, Buenos Aires

Dolores is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Dolores Partido.The town settlement was officially founded by Ramón Lara on August 21, 1817.-2008 March train disaster:...

, some 125 miles (201 km) south of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

, before dawn March 9, 2008, killing 18 people and leaving at least 47 others injured. The bus driver ignored the warning lights and lowered crossing gates.

External links

Heritage railways:

History:

Historia del Ferrocarril (Spanish)
Ing. Livio Dante Porta's
Livio Dante Porta
Livio Dante Porta was an Argentine steam locomotive engineer. He is particularly remembered for his innovative modifications to existing locomotive systems in order to obtain higher performance, energy efficiency and reduced pollution. He developed the Kylpor and Lempor exhaust systems...

First Locomotive – “Argentina”

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Development

Nationalization

Privatisation

Commuter network

Commuter rail in Buenos Aires

Other commuter rail services

Ticketing

Electrification plans

Buenos Aires Underground

Intercity passenger services

Routes

High-speed rail

Freight network

Freight operators

Tourist railways

International rail links to adjacent countries

Incidents

See also

External links