Mitre Line
The Mitre line is an Argentine broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province as part of Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre. The service is currently operated by State-owned company Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado after the Government of Argentina rescinded contract with Corredores Ferroviarios in March 2015.
History
Background
The first line was built and operated by the Buenos Aires Northern Railway, a British-owned company that ran trains from Central Station to Tigre, joining both cities in 1857. The company was then taken over by the Central Argentine Railway in 1888 due to financial problems.In 1891, Victoria station was inaugurated. Trains to Zelaya and Capilla del Señor departed from Victoria for the first time one year later. In 1916, the Retiro-Tigre line was electrified, becoming the first electrified railway system of South America. New British Thomson-Houston multiple units were acquired to run on the line. The CAR also installed the first crossbuck and manually-operated gates in the many level crossings existing by then.
During successive years, several new stations were built by the company, such as Beccar, La Lucila, Acassuso and Virreyes.
Ferrocarriles Argentinos
When the Government of Argentina led by Juan Perón nationalised British and French railway companies in 1948, state-owned company Ferrocarriles Argentinos took over all the railway lines in the country.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 Ferrocarril Mitre, then managed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos. Those light cars replaced Ganz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938.
The lack of maintenance of the FIAT 7131 coaches made some of them were out of service, so in 1987 Ferrocarriles Argentinos acquired new light railcars for the Zárate and Capilla del Señor branches. The company bought 8 units made by Materfer and soon nicknamed Pitufos. Nevertheless, the few capacity of seats and poor damping of those units made the 7131 remained active.
Privatisation: TBA
FA operated the trains until 1991 when residual company FEMESA temporarily took over all the urban services prior to be privatized. After the Government of Carlos Menem privatized the urban railways services private company Trenes de Buenos Aires took over Mitre Line.When the Government of Argentina decided to privatize all the urban railway services in 1992, the Mitre Line was given in concession to Trenes de Buenos Aires through Decree N° 730/95.
During the first two years of concession, TBA met the requeriments specified on the contract, about the frequency of the service, with an average of 98%. By February 1999 the consortium had invested US$200 million including the reconstruction of 220 Toshiba wagons, the remodelation of 13 stations and workshops. In addition, a new ticket selling system was introduced with the installation of vending machines.
One of the most notable improvements was the introduction of "Puma" coaches in the Retiro-Tigre branch. This coaches were built by local factory Emprendimientos Ferroviarios S.A. and featured air conditioning, ABS brakes and computer-supervising systems.
In 1997 the Government decided to modify the contracts of concession with a plan of modernization for US$2.5 billion. The future investments required to acquire 492 brand-new electric multiple units, refurbishing of more than 100 km of existing tracks, and the installation of new signalling, among other improvements.
Nevertheless, the Government of Fernando De la Rúa made changes to the original project, reducing the amount of the budget to US$1.3 billion. To a compensation to the companies, the State granted subsidies to TBA as a way to compensate the losses and avoid tariffs to increase.
Due to this politic and the lack of investments in Mitre Line, the quality of the service decreased considerably. TBA operated the line until the 2012 Once station rail disaster happened. As a result, the National Government revoked the concession granted to TBA and gave the Mitre and Sarmiento to State operator UGOMS, that run the line until 2014 when it was given under concession to Corredores Ferroviarios.
New concession
On February 12, 2014, the Government of Argentina granted the operation of the line to private company Corredores Ferroviarios. That same year the Government announced the acquisition of new coaches to increase the Mitre Line rolling stock. The coaches were manufactured by Chinese company CSR Corporation Limited, the first arrived in June 2014.In November 2014, the Retiro-Tigre section of Mitre Line renewed its fleet of electric trains, adding a total of 12 brand new trains for that service. The CSR trains replaced old Toshiba cars that had been brought to Argentina in the 1960s for the Mitre and Sarmiento lines. The purchase cost $ 250 million, all paid by the National Government.
Branch to José L. Suárez's fleet was renewed completely with the same Chinese trains in January 2015.
Renationalisation
took over Mitre line after the Government of Argentina rescinded the contracts signed with the company on March 2, 2015. The contract terms specified that the concession could be cancelled with no right to claim compensation. The agreements had been signed in February 2014, committing Argentren and Corredores Ferroviarios to operate the lines.Current works
In 2017, the Ministry of Transport announced the construction of a viaduct for the Retiro–Tigre branch of Mitre Line. The viaduct would extend along the city of Buenos Aires, from Dorrego Avenue in Palermo to Congreso Avenue in Núñez. Works began in September 2017, and when the viaduct is finished, eight level crossings will be removed. Trains will run elevated for a total of 3,9 kilometers. The project also includes a total refurbishment of Lisandro de la Torre and Belgrano C stations. The viaduct was opened to traffic on May 10, 2019 by President Mauricio Macri.Train services
Current Mitre Line services as of February, 2015:| Start | End | Km. | Type |
| Retiro | Tigre | 30 | Electric |
| Retiro | B. Mitre | 15 | Electric |
| Retiro | José León Suárez | 27 | Electric |
| Victoria | Capilla del Señor | 60 | Diesel |
| Villa Ballester | Zárate | 75 | Diesel |