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76-602: The Belgrano Norte line service operates from Retiro station , in the centre of Buenos Aires, through the northern Buenos Aires suburbs to the town of Villa Rosa in Pilar Partido . The metre gauge line was built by the British-owned Córdoba Central Railway which was bought by the State in 1939 and was later integrated into Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano in 1948 when the entire Argentine railway network

152-476: A bunch of rail lines built and managed by the state but not connect between. They were FC Viedma- Nahuel Huapi , Comodoro Rivadavia Railway , Puerto Deseado Railway , all of them of broad gauge . Other railways were of narrow gauge, such as La Trochita , Gral. Vintter to Gral. Conesa (108 km) and Central Chubut Railway that connected Puerto Madryn with Playa Unión and Alto Las Plumas. Those lines were managed by state-owned Ferrocarriles Patagónicos with

228-525: A fleet of 21 English Electric locomotives arrived to replace Whitcomb and Werkspoor machines. In 1964, 27 coaches built by Aerfer , a subsidiary of FIAT Ferroviaria , were added to the line. Four years later, the fleet size was increased with the addition of 20 coaches built by local company Materfer , which replaced the old ones made in Tafí Viejo. Therefore, the English Electric locomotives worked with

304-638: A railway stop along the way. In 1913, when the San Martín Avenue was paved, a storage property of the Narciso Agüero & Cía company was established there. For that reason, the stop was named "Parada Agüero" for a period. In 1931, the Juan B. Justo station had its name changed to M.M. Padilla to avoid being confused with the station of the same name that belongs to the Mitre Line , only a few blocks away. During

380-474: A result, the English Electric locomotives operated alongside the Aerfer and Werkspoor coaches. In 1965 a group of residents raised the funds to build a new railway stop, named "Km. 42", which was then changed to "Manuel Alberti". In 1975 Materfer supplied more coaches ("FIAT IIIs") for the line. That same year, some stations (such as Padilla, Florida and Aristóbulo del Valle) were completely remodelled. One year later,

456-583: Is the first Belgrano Norte station since the inauguration of Tierras Altas in 1988, when the line was still operated by defunct company Ferrocarriles Argentinos . Companies that have operated the Belgrano Norte Line since it was established after the 1948 nationalisation are: Retiro Belgrano railway station Retiro-Belgrano , or simply Retiro , is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Buenos Aires , Argentina . Located in

532-797: Is the fourth-busiest train station in Argentina . Retiro Belgrano is the terminus for the General Belgrano Railway and is adjacent to the Retiro bus station ( Terminal de Omnibus ), the principal long-distance bus terminal in Buenos Aires, the Retiro Mitre station of Mitre Railway , and the Retiro San Martín station of the San Martín Railway . The complex is accessible by the C line of

608-541: The British Córdoba Central Railway that originally connected the cities of Rosario and Córdoba until in 1903 the Government allowed the company to extend its network to Buenos Aires, from north to south. In 1906 trains reached Villa Rosa in Pilar Partido and finally arriving in Buenos Aires in 1912. The terminal station, designed by architects Faure Dujarric (Louis Faure-Dujarric) and Robert Prentice,

684-466: The Buenos Aires Metro system and by numerous local public bus services. The station will also be accessible by both Line E and Line H of the metro once their extensions are complete. Retiro Belgrano has three entrances, the main one on Ramos Mejía avenue, another next to the main entrance (on the same avenue) and a lateral one (on Padre Mujica street, at the east). The building was built by

760-509: The Expreso del Sur . In 1951 the company acquired a total of 46 coaches from US manufacturer Budd Company . The rolling stock, originally built for standard gauge railways, had to be adapted to indian gauge used in Roca Railway. After a probationary period, trains began to run express services to Mar del Plata with a journey time of about 5 hours. Unlike old wooden coaches used until then,

836-510: The Lacroze Brothers , adding it to the standard gauge General Urquiza Railway network. In 1957 the new General Urquiza railway terminus in Buenos Aires was inaugurated, naming it "Federico Lacroze". The narrow gauge "Ferrocarril Depietri" railway (that connected cities of San Pedro and Arrecifes ) would be later added in November 1949. Nevertheless, trains would be never run again on

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912-688: The Puerto Madero and La Boca neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, a length of 24 km. However, the project was never carried out and the Alstom vehicles were sent to the Tren de las Sierras instead. In 2014 the national government began building the Ciudad Universitaria station. The new station, opened in August 2015, replaced Scalabrini Ortiz (located 700 metres to the south of it). Ciudad Universitaria connects

988-757: The Tafí Viejo workshops and 70 Whitcomb diesel locomotives were added to the Belgrano Norte's fleet, sharing duties with the Ganz railcars. Due to Córdoba Central Railway's financial problems, the Government of Argentina took over the company and began operating the trains. In 1949 the line was merged into the then recently created General Belgrano Railway , which incorporated all of the country's 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) rail lines. Local services were run by Ferrocarriles Argentinos under

1064-512: The University of Buenos Aires ' Ciudad Universitaria campus, Aristóbulo del Valle and terminates at Del Viso in Pilar Partido with prices ranging from AR$ 1.50 to AR$ 17 with a SUBE card and AR$ 3 to AR$ 34 without a SUBE card. The service's route was altered from its original plans, skipping the Boulogne Sur Mer station and the proposed new station at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport that

1140-517: The University of Buenos Aires (UBA) campus (known as " Ciudad Universitaria " from which it took the name) by a bridge which allows students to reach the University facilities without the risk of traffic accidents. It was initially announced that construction would be concluded by March 2015 at a cost of AR$ 48 million. However in June 2015 it was announced that it was "completed and awaiting its opening" by

1216-555: The Villa Ballester - Zárate and Victoria - Capilla del Señor sections of General Mitre Railway , then managed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos. Those light cars replaced Ganz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938. Materfer also produced coaches that looked like Werkspoor's that were used for long-distance services to Bariloche ( Los Arrayanes ), Tucumán ( Independencia ), Posadas ( Cataratas ), Mendoza ( El Libertador ) with international connections with Chile and

1292-758: The World Bank . Initially no bids were received for the Belgrano railway, and in October 1993 the government created a new state-owned corporation to continue its operation and to undertake improvements likely to make it a more attractive commercial proposition for a private buyer. Privatisation followed six years later when Belgrano Cargas took over the line. Following the failure of previous rationalisation efforts to curb Ferrocarriles Argentinos' financial deficit, on 10 July 1992 president Menem signed Decree 1168/92, introducing an emergency diagram for long distance services across

1368-635: The 1930s, the "Km. 18" station was established and many names were proposed (Ader, Drysdale, La Tahona, among others) until the National Academy of History suggested "Carapachay", which was chosen in 1946. While the line was operated by the State-owned company Argentine State Railway , in 1938 brand new Ganz Works railcars were acquired to serve on the Retiro-Villa Rosa and Don Torcuato-Campo de Mayo lines. Between 1947 and 1948, 50 coaches made at

1444-434: The Aerfer and Werkspoor coaches from then on. In 1962, the 7131, a railcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in the Villa Ballester - Zárate and Victoria - Capilla del Señor sections of Mitre Railway. Those light cars replaced Ganz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938. Modernisation included the purchase of brand-new diesel locomotives by American company Whitcomb in 1951 (with

1520-516: The American wagons were made of steel and came with comforts such as air conditioning and double glazing to insulate the passengers from noise, arm chairs, bars and restaurant carriage. In 1955, 30 Werkspoor locomotives made in The Netherlands were acquired for the Belgrano Norte line. As a result, FA sent the old Ganz Works vehicles to Córdoba to serve regional railways. Four years later,

1596-528: The Argentine government, under the presidency of Carlos Menem from 1989, initiated a series of neoliberal reforms which included the privatisation of public utility companies (telephones, gas, electricity and water) together with the entire railway network. The plan was to break up the network into segments and to grant concessions to private companies for their operation through competitive bidding. Freight and passenger services were separated and, since most of

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1672-573: The Argentine network, with a total extension of 41,400 km. That same year the military dictatorship led by Jorge Videla overthrew president Isabel Perón beginning the National Reorganization Process . During those years, another 6,300 km would be closed, apart from eliminating half of the passenger services and firing 40% of railway workers (the number of employees dropped from 156,000 to 96,000). The railway network went from 41,400 km to 31,110 in 1980, which resulted in

1748-407: The Argentine redundant network to 29,000 km) several lines and branches were closed continuing during the presidency of Arturo Frondizi . As a result, by 1959 the operative railway network had decreased to 44,000 km. i.e. 4,000 km of tracks and at least 6 workshops were closed and 6,000 workers laid off. Tracks were lifted and lands and infrastructure sold. Some of the lines closed were

1824-404: The Belgrano Norte line (along with all the other suburban railway lines) until it was given in concession to the private company Ferrovías in 1994, as part of the privatisation process carried out by President Carlos Menem . Some improvements made by Ferrovías included the acquisition of 17 railcars (built by Alstom in 1977) which were to serve from Vicente López and Avellaneda , crossing

1900-632: The Belgrano Norte's Don Torcuato-Campo de Mayo branch and the B. Mitre-Delta (that would remain closed until 1995 when it was completely remodeled and re-opened as " Tren de la Costa "). Although the Larkin Plan was not completely implemented due to a strike that lasted 42 days in 1961, a high number of lines and branches were closed such as the lines between Etcheverry and Mira Pampa and Carlos Beguerie to Azul and Olavarría, together with their respective branch lines, all of them part of Province of Buenos Aires Railway . About 200,000 workers gave their support to

1976-468: The Government led by President Arturo Frondizi closed several railway lines, with the Don Torcuato-Campo de Mayo line among them. In 1964, 27 coaches built by Aerfer , an Argentine subsidiary of FIAT Ferroviaria , were added to the line. Four years later, the fleet size was increased with the addition of 20 coaches built by local company Materfer , which replaced the old ones made in Tafí Viejo. As

2052-454: The Ministry of Transport of Argentina signed an agreement with Fiat Ferroviaria to acquire 210 brand-new railcars . Those machines were formed by 2 units powered by a FIAT diesel engine at 660 HP . The railcars could reach speeds of 115 km/h. Their low weight made them suitable to run on any railway line. The vehicles also had two driver cabins, one on each end of the car, which reduced

2128-451: The Ministry. Finally, the station was opened at the end of August 2015, providing rail access for the 40,000 people who attend the UBA campus each day. Another proposed station was "Aeroparque", which would join the railway station with Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport. The original project saw the addition of a pedestrian tunnel to be built between the station and the airport. However, in 2015 it

2204-573: The Retiro- Boulogne Sur Mer section, with only two intermediate stops, Ciudad Universitaria and Aristóbulo del Valle. For a second phase of the project, the service would be extended to Pilar. Construction of the first train was completed in the Grupo Emepa's workshops at Chascomús in March 2015. The new service with Alerce DMUs started operations on 13 July 2015 with three Alerce trains, with

2280-542: The United States and Belgium, more specifically Cockerill-Ougree , Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton . Also, Budd Company coaches that were previously used on the canceled C&O Chessie would be used in El Marplatense , an express service from Constitución to Mar del Plata with multiple luxury services. Despite the success of El Marplatense , FA did not acquire new material from Budd Co., Dutch company Werkspoor being

2356-580: The addition of 15 new ones by Werkspoor in 1955) for the Belgrano Sur line. In the late 1960s and early 1970s railcars by Hungarian company Ganz Works were sent to the Belgrano Sur. They had been acquired by the Argentine State Railway decades earlier and had been running in Northern Argentine railways since 1936. Some of them were used for local services to Libertad and the rest for

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2432-451: The ambassador Wladimir D'Ormesson for the sale of French companies in Argentina at a global price of A$ 182,796,173 (about US$ 45 million). That included Compañía General de Buenos Aires , Province of Santa Fe and Rosario and Pto. Belgrano Railways. Two weeks after the agreement signed with French companies, the Government made an offer of £ 125 million to British companies although

2508-477: The arrangements for the sale of their companies to the Argentine state. A commission led by Eady arrived in Buenos Aires during the winter of 1946. The Argentine Government approved the creation of a joint company to operate British railways, reestablishing the tax exemptions that had been in force during Law n° 5,315, also named " Mitre Law". On 17 December 1946, a contract was signed by Miguel Miranda, president of Instituto Argentino de Promoción del Intercambio and

2584-567: The case of Córdoba, the plan foresaw to unify the two stations in the city and to connect Ferreyra and Argüello districts. The project for Mendoza foresaw to build a new terminal near the El Plumerillo Airport . Nevertheless, the plans were never carried out. Privatisation began with the granting of long-term concessions (30 years with an optional 10-year extension) to six companies for the operation of freight services. These companies were responsible for all operations and maintenance and for

2660-475: The city and suburbs of Buenos Aires Province until the privatisation process was carried out, effectively breaking them from the national network. From then on, Ferrocarriles Argentinos only operated freight and long-distance passenger services until their concession to private companies. Projects not only included Buenos Aires but cities of Córdoba , Rosario and Mendoza with the idea of establishing urban services that included rapid transit transport. In

2736-470: The closure of a thousand stations out of a total of 2,400. "To shrink the State is to enlarge the Nation" Some of the railway lines closed and dismantled during that period were Comodoro Rivadavia , Puerto Deseado and lines from Carlos Beguerie to Mira Pampa (1974) and La Plata to Avellaneda (1977) of Province of Buenos Aires railways. After the rationalisation, the total extension of each railway division

2812-595: The closure, the National government had offered the provinces the possibility of reactivating intercity railway lines at their own expense. Few provinces expressed interest and even fewer did reach an agreement with the central government to resume services, among which were Buenos Aires (establishing its own company, Ferrobaires ), Tucumán (with Tucumán Ferrocarriles running trains since 1997), Río Negro ( Servicios Ferroviarios Patagónico , still operating), Córdoba, La Pampa (also with services by Ferrobaires) and Chubut. Likewise,

2888-483: The country as an intermediate step to facilitate the privatisation process, beginning on 1 August and effectively setting 31 December 1992 as the expiration date for all passenger operations. Luxury services were eliminated, frequencies were sharply reduced and most comforts done away with, causing a further drop in quality. In December, Menem granted a final extension until 10 March 1993, when all long-distance passenger services were definitely cancelled, stripping most of

2964-464: The early 1970s, FA acquired 128 electric units to Japanese consortium Marubeni to be used in Urquiza Railway metropolitan services. The units ran for the first time in 1974, replacing old American-made trams that had been used until then. Nevertheless, some railways were closed during those years, such as Ferrocarril Económico Correntino in 1969. By 1976, 3,000 km had been suppressed from

3040-464: The exception of Viedma-Bariloche and Jacobbacci-Esquel that had become part of General Roca Railway after nationalisation. The rest of the network would be added in 1956. Likewise, other branches were closed, such as the 1,9-km length to Basilica of Our Lady of Luján , where thousand of pilgrims arrived each 8th December. to celebrate Solemnity of the Virgin Mary . Services were cancelled in 1955 and

3116-420: The expectations and many units would be removed from circulations, remaining only a few locomotives serving at FA. In 1958 Sociedad Material Ferroviario ("Materfer") was established by Fiat Ferroviaria , through Fiat Concord, a consortium formed by many FIAT subsidiaries operating in Argentina. The company built a factory to manufacture rolling stock in the country to provide goods for FA. That same year

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3192-445: The first grade crossing signals and gates by General Railway Signal (GRS) were installed at the main level crossings of the line. In 1972, the first G22 diesel locomotives manufactured by General Motors ' Electro Motive Division were delivered to the Belgrano Norte line. These were the CU version, adapted to run on metre-gauge railways . From then on, the locomotives were built by

3268-584: The founder of the Socialist Party of Argentina . Between Juan B. Justo and Retiro, tracks had to cross over the Maipú Avenue in Vicente López Partido , so a railway bridge was built. This bridge was named "Puente Saavedra". A short time after that, a new station, "Km. 12" was built near the bridge and renamed "Aristóbulo del Valle" in the 1920s. The current Florida station was initially opened as

3344-410: The government also transferred jurisdiction over some branches to the provinces, such as Viedma-Bariloche and Ingeniero Jacobbaci-Esquel to Río Negro and Chubut (as the railway crossed both provinces); Córdoba-Cruz del Eje to Córdoba Province. Salta received the Tren a las Nubes and Mendoza took over Transandine Railway . In all the cases, the procedures were ruled by Law n° 2.873. On 7 July 1995

3420-407: The implementation of the investment programme detailed in their bid. The fixed assets remained the property of the state and the operators had to pay for their use and to rent rolling stock. Freight tariffs were deregulated but were subject to state approval. The concessionaires were expected to hire as many FA employees as were required and redundancies were financed by the government with the help of

3496-491: The intercity passenger services were not commercially attractive to the private sector, the government offered these to the provinces. The remaining passenger services in the city of Buenos Aires, including the five lines of the Metro , were potentially more viable and were treated separately. By Decree 520/91, a new state-owned company, Ferrocarriles Metropolitanos S.A. (FEMESA) was created in 1991 to operate metropolitan services in

3572-521: The line because the Provincial Railway did not show interest in the 68-km length line. The recently created Belgrano Railway did not take over the line. Therefore, the Argentine state returned the line to "Ferrocarriles y Elevadores Depietri" company. Depietri decided to bid the railway infrastructure as scrap. The state finally compensated Depietri for the deterioration of the line and the stolen material in 1975. In Patagonia region there were only

3648-653: The line was finally opened. Trains departed from Rosario, finishing the journey in Villa Adelina , named in honour of Adelina Munro Drysdale , the General Manager's granddaughter. The trains stopped at the other four stations in existence at the time: Villa Rosa, Del Viso , Los Polvorines and Don Torcuato . In 1912, the line was extended to Retiro in central Buenos Aires. Other stations were opened, such as Munro (named in memory of Duncan McKay Munro) and "Kilómetro 14", later renamed "Juan B. Justo" in commemoration of

3724-542: The local licensee Astarsa at its factory in San Fernando . To strengthen local services to Villa Rosa, 20 brand new G22 were purchased in 1980. These locomotives were built by the Argentine company Astarsa , replacing the English Electric locomotives which were sent to the Belgrano Sur Line . The last station to be inaugurated was Tierras Altas in 1990. In 1991, the state-owned company FEMESA temporarily took over

3800-478: The long-distance service to Carhué , departing from Buenos Aires station . At the beginning of the 1960s, FA acquired brand new Hitachi electric multiple units , equipped with air conditioning for the metropolitan section of Mitre Railway. By 1955 the reduction of the network was implemented through the so-called "Larkin Plan" (named because of American General Thomas B. Larkin who proposed for efficiency to reduce

3876-513: The metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. The company was broken up under the government of Carlos Menem following the privatisation of the railways ; however in 2015 the government of Cristina Kirchner revived the brand for use on state-owned railways. In April 1946 some British companies executives, such as Reginald Leeper (then ambassador in Argentina) and Wilfred Eady, representative of several railway companies in Argentina, started to make

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3952-473: The name "Belgrano Norte" to distinguish it from the Belgrano Sur Line . In 1955, 30 Werkspoor locomotives were acquired and, as a result, Ferrocarriles Argentinos removed the Ganz vehicles from service on the Belgrano Norte line, sending them to Córdoba to serve local railways there. Four years later, a fleet of 21 English Electric locomotives arrived to replace the Whitcomb and Werkspoor locomotives. In 1961

4028-741: The nationalisation, the Argentine network continued expansion until 1954, when it reached a peak of 47,000 kilometres (29,000 mi) length, the most in its history. The Argentine network was also the biggest in Latin America . After the nationalisation all the Argentine network was grouped into six railway divisions named after distinguished Argentine presidents and national heroes (such as José de San Martín , Manuel Belgrano , Domingo Sarmiento , Justo José de Urquiza , Bartolomé Mitre and Julio A. Roca ) according to their track gauge and locality. Apart from former British and French companies, Argentine ones also became part of "Ferrocarriles Argentinos",

4104-477: The neighborhood of Retiro , it serves as terminal station for the Belgrano Norte Line that runs local trains to the northern suburbs of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area . It also functions as terminal station for the national cargo train General Belgrano Railway . Built in 1912 , its Beaux-Arts design makes it one of the most recognizable landmarks of french neoclassicism in the country. The terminal

4180-576: The new locomotives, coaches and railcars suppliers. The Werskpoor rolling stock was used for services to Mendoza, Córdoba and Tucumán. Other companies like Ganz and Drewry being the new diesel railcars suppliers During those years the first diesel locomotive manufactured in Argentina and produced at Liniers workshops by national company Fábrica Argentina de Locomotoras ("FAdeL") was launched in October 1951 by President Perón and its designer and builder, engineer Pedro Sacaggio . That locomotive (officially, "CM1", and named Justicialista ) started to run in

4256-409: The number decreased to 264 million. Between 1991 and 1992 urban and intercity services were cancelled due to lack of locomotives to run. In San Martín and Roca lines trains had only two coaches in poor conditions. In addition, railway unions made sudden strikes that left passengers abandoned midway. During the last year of state administration there were 239,000 services cancelled or delayed. Before

4332-419: The other 17 trains added to the line at a rate of one per month as they were completed by Emepa. The trains run from Del Viso to Retiro with a journey time of 65 minutes. The Alerce DMUs' comfort features include HVAC and Wi-Fi . Unlike the rest of the line, the service is operated by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos rather than Ferrovías. The service begins at Retiro Belgrano railway station and stops at

4408-546: The provinces of their rail links with Buenos Aires. Such was the case of Mendoza, Salta, Jujuy, Entre Ríos, Corrientes, Misiones, Mendoza, San Juan, San Luis, Catamarca and La Rioja. The closure left many villages isolated from the main cities of Argentina, causing younger inhabitants to depart from their hometowns in search of better opportunities. This happened in cities such as La Banda, Laguna Paiva, San Cristóbal, Navarro, Las Marianas among many others. While in 1960 trains had carried 539 million of passengers, thirty years after

4484-535: The railways were finally acquired at £150 million. The acquisition would be paid by Argentina with exports of meat and cereal to Great Britain, which would transfer the money to the former owners of the rail companies. On 1 March 1948, the Argentine government led by president Juan Perón took over the British railways. The acquisition of the foreign railways was shown by the government as an act of sovereignty that would contribute to development of Argentine industry. After

4560-612: The rolling stock was renewed, acquiring EMD GT22 and G22 diesel locomotives from the US and units by Materfer manufactured in Córdoba. The EMD locomotives have been running on several railway lines of Argentina until today, such as Belgrano Norte and Belgrano Sur metropolitan services, Roca and Mitre railways long-distance services among others. In 1968 De Marchi was elected secretary of the Latin America Railway Association. In

4636-594: The state-owned company specifically created after the nationalisation to manage the entire railway network. The list of divisions that Ferrocarriles Argentinos was divided into was as follows: After the nationalisation, the Midland and Compañía General rail lines became part of Belgrano Railway while the Province of Buenos Aires Railway was transferred to the state in December 1951, operating as an independent unit until 1953 when it

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4712-426: The station demolished, while its tracks were lifted a year later. The Municipality of Luján built a park (named "Basílica") on the same land where the station stood. At the moment of being nationalised, most part of Argentine railways' locomotives still were steam-powered and long-distance trips were in wooden coaches. It was not until the 1950s when the Government acquired brand new diesel locomotives produced in

4788-503: The strike on 30 October, with several acts of rioting along the country. Frondizi's government forced workers back into work by threats of arrest and imprisonment by military courts. After the coup d'état that overthrew president Arturo Illia , General Juan Carlos De Marchi was named president of Ferrocarriles Argentinos. Marchi carried out a plan of modernisation and investments for the railway network that included to invest US$ 850 million within five years. During Marchi's administration

4864-475: The summer of 1952-53 serving in El Marplatense and completing the 400-km length in only 4 hours. The CM1 was also used for services to Bariloche and Mendoza at an average speed of 90 km/h. The second model by FADEL was the CM2 La Argentina , powered with diesel engines by Italian manufacturers FIAT Ferroviaria and Cantieri Riuniti Dell Adriático. Nevertheless, the project to produce 600 locomotives

4940-595: The time of manoeuvres at termini stations, particularly in urban services. Railcars were built in the FIAT factories of Turin , Decauville and Córdoba . Although the first railcars were manufactured in Italy and France, most of them were made in Argentina, in a factory specially designed for that assignment located in Ferreyra, Córdoba and named "Materfer". In 1962, the 7131 , a railcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in

5016-528: Was a state-owned 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 Juan Perón 's first presidential term, and transformed into the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado Argentino (EFEA; lit.   ' Argentine State Railways Company ' ). FA managed both passenger and freight services, including long-distance and commuter rail trains in

5092-459: Was a local Italian-Argentine consortium named " Gruppo Aziende Italiane e Argentine " (mostly known for its acronym "GAIA"). The first 80 units and their engines were totally manufactured in Italy and the remaining 200 were built in Argentina between 1964 and 1970, using mostly national components. Despite the efforts to make a reliable locomotive for the Argentine railways, the GAIA machines did not satisfy

5168-530: Was aborted by the Revolución Libertadora that took the Government in 1955. FADEL was subsequently closed and the plan of construction dismissed. After the closure of FADEL, Ferrocarriles Argentinos committed a company the manufacturing of 280 locomotives that would be powered with the 280 engines that had been acquired to FIAT, originally intended to be used in the FADEL machines to built. The new manufacturer

5244-673: Was announced that this station's construction was cancelled with the Ministry of the Interior and Transport citing a possible increase in security concerns at the airport with the inclusion of a station. In March 2015, the Ministry of Transport announced the purchase of Alerce trains manufactured by the Emepa Group , the first train completely built in Argentina, to run on the Belgrano Norte Line. A fleet of 20 diesel multiple units were to be built and put into operation as an express service covering

5320-409: Was as follows: Raúl Alfonsín 's democratic administration sought to keep the services active, but the critical economic situation inherited from the National Reorganization Process's policies drove FA into recession. One of the achievements during Alfonsín's government was the electrification of Roca suburban branches from Constitución to Ezeiza and Glew . In addition, the entire fleet of trains

5396-439: Was finally added to Belgrano network. On 1 January 1954, a new state-owned company, "Ferrocarril Nacional Provincia de Buenos Aires" was established, inheriting the infrastructure and rolling stock from former French companies. The railway network formerly operated by Midland became "M" line, while the Compañía General line became "G" line. On 14 May 1949, the Argentine state acquired the Buenos Aires Central Railway , owned by

5472-420: Was nationalised . There are a total of 22 stations along the 55 km (34 mi) long railway line and the journey along the entire length of the line takes roughly one hour and twenty minutes for the regular service and one hour and five minutes for the differential service. During peak hours, trains run approximately every 8 minutes and an estimated 42 million passengers are transported each year. The line

5548-414: Was not built. In January 2024, a new station, "Cecilia Grierson" (named after the first woman to receive a Medical Degree in Argentina was opened in Pilar Partido . The station (which originally was given the name "Panamericana") is located on km 46 of Acceso Norte as an intermediate stop between Del Viso and Villa Rosa stations. The opening was delayed several times so works took more than 10 years. It

5624-554: Was part of the Córdoba Central Railway (CCR), specifically the branch from the city of Rosario to Retiro , Buenos Aires . The CCR would become part of General Belgrano Railway network when the Government of Argentina nationalised French and British companies in 1948. In 1903 the company was authorised to extend the railway to Boulogne Sur Mer in Greater Buenos Aires and work began three years later. In 1909

5700-535: Was remodeled and enlarged in 1914. One floor and a dome with a clock were added to the original construction. The building style has remained to present days. In 2011 the station was remodeled, repairing the external masonry, facade and dome. In May 2021, the station was declared National Historic Monument , along with other terminal stations such as Once, Constitución, and Federico Lacroze. Ferrocarriles Argentinos Ferrocarriles Argentinos (abbreviated as FA ; lit.   ' Argentine Railways ' )

5776-414: Was renewed, acquiring EMU by Japanese companies Nippon Sharyo , Kinki Sharyo , Tokyu Car , Kawasaki and Hitachi . The electrified rail system was opened to public in November, 1985. After electrification, the number of passengers carried increased considerably. Following a prolonged period of hyperinflation in the 1980s, accompanied by a steep increase in fiscal deficit and a sharp fall in reserves,

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