Ferrocarriles Argentinos (abbreviated asFA;lit. 'Argentine Railways') was astate-owned company that managed the entireArgentine railway system for nearly 45 years. It was formed in 1948 when all the private railway companies werenationalised duringJuan Perón's firstpresidential term, and transformed into theEmpresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado Argentino (EFEA;lit. 'Argentine State Railways Company').
FA managed bothpassenger andfreight services, including long-distance andcommuter rail trains in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.
The company was broken up under the government ofCarlos Menem following theprivatisation of the railways; however in 2015 the government ofCristina Kirchner revived the brand for use on state-owned railways.[1][2][3][4]
In April 1946 some British companies executives, such asReginald Leeper (then ambassador in Argentina) and Wilfred Eady, representative of several railway companies in Argentina, started to make 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 the ambassador Wladimir D'Ormesson for the sale ofFrench companies in Argentina at a global price ofA$ 182,796,173 (about US$45 million). That includedCompañía General de Buenos Aires,Province of Santa Fe andRosario 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 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 presidentJuan 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.[5]
After 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.[6][7] The Argentine network was also the biggest inLatin America.
After the nationalisation all the Argentine network was grouped into six railway divisions named after distinguished Argentine presidents and national heroes (such asJosé de San Martín,Manuel Belgrano,Domingo Sarmiento,Justo José de Urquiza,Bartolomé Mitre andJulio A. Roca) according to theirtrack gauge and locality. Apart from former British and French companies, Argentine ones also became part of "Ferrocarriles Argentinos", 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:
| Division | Provinces covered |
|---|---|
| La Rioja,Catamarca,Córdoba,Tucumán,Formosa,Chaco,Santiago del Estero,Salta,Jujuy,Mendoza | |
| Buenos Aires,Santa Fe,Córdoba,Sgo. del Estero,Tucumán | |
| Buenos Aires,Santa Fe,Entre Ríos,Corrientes,Misiones | |
| Buenos Aires,La Pampa,Río Negro,Neuquén,Chubut,Santa Cruz | |
| Buenos Aires,Santa Fe,Córdoba,Mendoza,San Luis,San Juan | |
| Buenos Aires,La Pampa,Córdoba,San Luis,Mendoza |
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 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 androlling 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 theBuenos Aires Central Railway, owned by theLacroze Brothers, adding it to thestandard gaugeGeneral Urquiza Railway network. In 1957 the newGeneral Urquiza railway terminus in Buenos Aires was inaugurated, naming it "Federico Lacroze". Thenarrow gauge "Ferrocarril Depietri" railway (that connected cities ofSan Pedro andArrecifes) would be later added in November 1949.
Nevertheless, trains would be never run again on 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.[citation needed]
InPatagonia region there were only 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 ofbroad gauge. Other railways were of narrow gauge, such asLa Trochita, Gral. Vintter to Gral. Conesa (108 km) andCentral Chubut Railway that connectedPuerto Madryn with Playa Unión and Alto Las Plumas.
Those lines were managed by state-ownedFerrocarriles Patagónicos with the exception of Viedma-Bariloche and Jacobbacci-Esquel that had become part ofGeneral 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 toBasilica of Our Lady of Luján, where thousand of pilgrims arrived each 8th December. to celebrateSolemnity of the Virgin Mary. Services were cancelled in 1955 and 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.[8]
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At the moment of being nationalised, most part of Argentine railways' locomotives still weresteam-powered and long-distance trips were in wooden coaches. It was not until the 1950s when the Government acquired brand newdiesel locomotives produced in the United States and Belgium, more specificallyCockerill-Ougree,Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton. Also,Budd Company coaches that were previously used on the canceledC&OChessie would be used inEl Marplatense, an express service from Constitución toMar del Plata with multiple luxury services.
Despite the success ofEl Marplatense, FA did not acquire new material from Budd Co.,Dutch companyWerkspoor being the new locomotives, coaches and railcars suppliers. The Werskpoor rolling stock was used for services to Mendoza, Córdoba and Tucumán. Other companies likeGanz andDrewry being the new diesel railcars suppliers
During those years the first diesel locomotive manufactured in Argentina and produced at Liniers workshops by national companyFábrica Argentina de Locomotoras ("FAdeL") was launched in October 1951 by President Perón and its designer and builder, engineerPedro Sacaggio. That locomotive (officially, "CM1", and namedJusticialista) started to run in the summer of 1952-53 serving inEl 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 CM2La Argentina, powered withdiesel engines by Italian manufacturersFIAT Ferroviaria and Cantieri Riuniti Dell Adriático. Nevertheless, the project to produce 600 locomotives was aborted by theRevolución 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 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 the expectations and many units would be removed from circulations, remaining only a few locomotives serving at FA.
In 1958Sociedad Material Ferroviario ("Materfer") was established byFiat Ferroviaria, through Fiat Concord, a consortium formed by manyFIAT subsidiaries operating in Argentina. The company built a factory to manufacturerolling stock in the country to provide goods for FA.[9]
That same year the Ministry of Transport of Argentina signed an agreement withFiat Ferroviaria to acquire 210 brand-newrailcars. Those machines were formed by 2 units powered by aFIATdiesel engine at 660HP. 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 the time of manoeuvres at termini stations, particularly in urban services.
Railcars were built in the FIAT factories ofTurin,Decauville andCórdoba. 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, the7131, arailcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in theVilla Ballester-Zárate andVictoria-Capilla del Señor sections ofGeneral Mitre Railway, then managed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos. Those light cars replacedGanz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938.[10]
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 withChile and theExpreso del Sur.
In 1951 the company acquired a total of 46 coaches from US manufacturerBudd Company. The rolling stock, originally built forstandard gauge railways, had to be adapted toindian gauge used in Roca Railway. After a probationary period, trains began to run express services toMar del Plata with a journey time of about 5 hours. Unlike oldwooden coaches used until then, the American wagons were made ofsteel and came with comforts such as air conditioning and double glazing to insulate the passengers from noise, arm chairs, bars and restaurant carriage.[11]
In 1955, 30Werkspoor locomotives made in TheNetherlands were acquired for the Belgrano Norte line. As a result, FA sent the oldGanz Works vehicles toCórdoba to serve regional railways. Four years later, a fleet of 21English Electric locomotives arrived to replace Whitcomb and Werkspoor machines. In 1964, 27 coaches built byAerfer, a subsidiary ofFIAT Ferroviaria, were added to the line. Four years later, the fleet size was increased with the addition of 20 coaches built by local companyMaterfer, which replaced the old ones made in Tafí Viejo. Therefore, the English Electric locomotives worked with the Aerfer and Werkspoor coaches from then on.[10]
In 1962, the 7131, arailcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in theVilla Ballester-Zárate andVictoria-Capilla del Señor sections of Mitre Railway. Those light cars replacedGanz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938.[10]
Modernisation included the purchase of brand-newdiesel locomotives byAmerican companyWhitcomb in 1951 (with the addition of 15 new ones byWerkspoor in 1955) for the Belgrano Sur line. In the late 1960s and early 1970srailcars byHungarian companyGanz Works were sent to the Belgrano Sur. They had been acquired by theArgentine State Railway decades earlier and had been running in Northern Argentine railways since 1936. Some of them were used for local services toLibertad and the rest for the long-distance service toCarhué, departing fromBuenos Aires station.
At the beginning of the 1960s, FA acquired brand newHitachielectric 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 GeneralThomas B. Larkin who proposed for efficiency to reduce the Argentine redundant network to 29,000 km) several lines and branches were closed continuing during the presidency ofArturo 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.[12] Some of the lines closed were 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 ofProvince of Buenos Aires Railway. About 200,000 workers gave their support to 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.[13]
After thecoup d'état that overthrew presidentArturo 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.[14] During Marchi's administration the rolling stock was renewed, acquiringEMDGT22 andG22 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.[15] In 1968 De Marchi was elected secretary of the Latin America Railway Association.[16] In 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-madetrams that had been used until then.[17]
Nevertheless, some railways were closed during those years, such asFerrocarril Económico Correntino in 1969.
By 1976, 3,000 km had been suppressed from the Argentine network, with a total extension of 41,400 km. That same year themilitary dictatorship led byJorge Videla overthrew presidentIsabel Perón beginning theNational 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 the closure of a thousand stations out of a total of 2,400.
"To shrink the State is to enlarge the Nation"
— José A. Martínez de Hoz, Ministry of Economy during theNational Reorganization Process in Argentina[18]
Some of the railway lines closed and dismantled during that period wereComodoro Rivadavia,Puerto Deseado and lines from Carlos Beguerie to Mira Pampa (1974) and La Plata to Avellaneda (1977) ofProvince of Buenos Aires railways.
After the rationalisation, the total extension of each railway division was as follows:
| Division | Extension (km) |
|---|---|
| Sarmiento | 4,058 |
| Mitre | 5,490 |
| Roca | 6,827 |
| San Martín | 4,523 |
| Urquiza | 2,741 |
| Belgrano | 10,474 |
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 theelectrification of Roca suburban branches fromConstitución toEzeiza andGlew. In addition, the entire fleet of trains was renewed, acquiring EMU by Japanese companiesNippon Sharyo,Kinki Sharyo,Tokyu Car,Kawasaki andHitachi. The electrified rail system was opened to public in November, 1985.[19] After electrification, the number of passengers carried increased considerably.
Following a prolonged period ofhyperinflation in the 1980s, accompanied by a steep increase in fiscal deficit and a sharp fall in reserves, the Argentine government, under the presidency ofCarlos Menem from 1989, initiated a series ofneoliberal 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 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 theMetro, 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 inthe city andsuburbs ofBuenos 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 ofCórdoba,Rosario andMendoza with the idea of establishing urban services that includedrapid transit transport. In 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 theEl 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 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 theWorld Bank.[20]
Initially no bids were received for theBelgrano 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 whenBelgrano 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 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.[21] 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 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.[22]
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 the number decreased to 264 million. Between 1991 and 1992 urban and intercity services were cancelled due to lack of locomotives to run. InSan Martín andRoca 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 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 (withTucumán Ferrocarriles running trains since 1997), Río Negro (Servicios Ferroviarios Patagónico, still operating), Córdoba, La Pampa (also with services by Ferrobaires) and Chubut. Likewise, the government also transferred jurisdiction over some branches to the provinces, such as Viedma-Bariloche andIngeniero Jacobbaci-Esquel to Río Negro and Chubut (as the railway crossed both provinces);Córdoba-Cruz del Eje to Córdoba Province. Salta received theTren a las Nubes and Mendoza took overTransandine Railway. In all the cases, the procedures were ruled by Law n° 2.873.[23]
On 7 July 1995 the company was declared into a state of liquidation by decree n° 1039/95, ceasing operations that same day.[24]
After FA disappeared, the railway infrastructure of Argentina was taken over by a new agency, "Ente Nacional de Administración de Bienes Ferroviarios" (in English: National Board of Railway Properties Management - ENABIEF), then renamed "Organismo Nacional de Administración de Bienes del Estado" (National Agency of State Properties Management - ONABE) until 2008 when the "Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias S.E." (Railway Infrastructure Management -ADIFSE) replaced ONABE as administrator. ADIFSE's headquarters set up in the former FA building inAvenida del Libertador and Av. Ramos Mejía inRetiro, Buenos Aires.
In 2008, the national government createdOperadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado (SOFSE) in order to manage some of its newly acquired railway assets.[25] The state-owned company quickly began to grow, incorporating newly re-nationalised lines, purchasing new rolling stock and replacing long track segments.[26] In 2015, with the state increasingly widening the scope of its railway reformation, it began re-using the old Ferrocarriles Argentinos marque and soon after presented a proposal to theArgentine National Congress whereby the brand would be revived, incorporating SOFSE and potentially other companies which have yet to be re-nationalised.[27][28] This proposal was passed by overwhelming majority in April 2015 and made law by theArgentine Senate, effectively re-nationalising the country's railways, a move which saw support from all major political parties across the political spectrum.[1][2][3]
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