Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) (In English: Trains of Buenos Aires) was aprivate company that operatedcommuter rail services over the5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gaugeSarmiento andMitre lines of Buenos Aires. The company, owned by Claudio and Mario Cirigliano, also operated long-distance services on theGeneral Mitre Railway to central-western Argentina and on theGeneral Urquiza Railway to northern Argentina andUruguay on the internationalTren de los Pueblos Libres.
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 ASarmiento lineelectric train in 2007. | |
| Company type | Sociedad Anónima |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transport |
| Predecessor | FEMESA |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder | Claudio and Mario Cirigliano |
| Defunct | 2012; 13 years ago (2012) |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Successor | UGOMS |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | City of Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires |
| Services | Rail transport |
| US$135,1 million (1998) | |
| Owner | Grupo Plaza |
Number of employees | 4,340 |
| Divisions | Mitre Sarmiento |
From 2004 to 2012 TBA, a company which is a subsidiary of the Plaza Group controlled by the Cirigliano family,[1] was part of the consortiumUnidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia (UGOFE) which operated other commuter rail services in Buenos Aires. The company became synonymous with the collapse of therailways in Argentina underprivatisation and the company was subject to numerous investigations and legal proceedings.
History
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TBA was established in 1995 after theCarlos Menem's administrationprivatised all the railway network, giving the company a concession to operate themetropolitanMitre andSarmiento railway lines by Decree N° 730/95. The company took over both lines on 27 May 1995.
During the first two years of the concession, TBA met the requirements specified on the contract, regarding the frequency of the service, with an average of 98%. By February 1999 the consortium had invested US$200 million, which included the reconstruction of 220Toshiba carriages and the remodelling of 13 stations and workshops. In addition, a new ticket selling system was introduced with the installation of automated counters.
One of the most notable improvements was the introduction of "Puma" coaches on theRetiro-Tigre branch. Those coaches had been built by local factoryEmprendimientos Ferroviarios S.A. (EMFER) and featured air conditioning,ABS brakes and computer-supervising systems.[2]
In 1997 the Government decided to modify the contracts of concession with a plan of modernisation worth US$2.5 billion. The future investments required the acquisition of 492 brand-newelectric multiple units, refurbishing of more than 100 km of existing tracks, and the installation of newsignalling, among other improvements.
Nevertheless, the Government ofFernando De la Rúa (who had come to power in 1999) made changes to the original project, reducing the amount of the budget to US$1.3 billion. As compensation to the companies, the State provided subsidies to TBA and the other private operators.
In addition to the commuter rail services on Sarmiento and Mitre Lines, TBA also operated long-distance passenger trains on theGeneral Mitre Railway fromRetiro to the cities ofRosario,Santa Fe, and points between, in northern Argentina. Including all its commuter and long-distance services, the company ran approximately 1,000 trains per day and carried about 147.7 million passengers annually, or 500,000 daily[when?].
From 2004 the company also formed part ofUnidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia (UGOFE), a consortium with railway companiesMetrovías andFerrovías, which took over the running of commuter rail services onBelgrano Sur,Roca andSan Martín lines in Buenos Aires after concessions granted toMetropolitano S.A. for the operation of these services were revoked.
Revocation of concession
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Following acommuter train accident on 22 February 2012, atOnce Station,Buenos Aires, in which 51 people died and at least 703 people were injured,[3] TBA was placed underfederal intervention on 28 February. Its concessions to operate the Mitre and Sarmiento lines were revoked on 24 May.[4] After the cancellation of the contact, both lines were taken over by the consortiumUnidad de Gestión Operativa Mitre Sarmiento (UGOMS) and laterTrenes Argentinos, putting them back in state hands.
In October 2015, anexposé in the conservative daily newspaperLa Nación highlighted the firm's apparent mismanagement while in charge of the commuter rail lines. The article revealed large expenditures by the private company on luxury items including jewellery and champagne, as well as trips toDoha andDubai. At the same time, the company was still under investigation into theOnce Tragedy and still hadAR$ 70 million worth of unpaid fines as a result of its business practices.[5] It was also revealed that the company had bribed the former transport ministerRicardo Jaime, who was also under investigation.[6]
Sergio Cigliano, one of the owners of TBA, was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison for negligence surrounding the original accident which had resulted in the revocation of concession.[7][8]
Gallery
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Un imperio llamado familia Cirigliano", Agencia CNA, 4 Jun 2010
- ^Detalle de los coches Puma en sitio web de EMFER (Archive)
- ^"Argentina train crash in Buenos Aires kills dozens".BBC News. Retrieved2012-02-22.
- ^"Finalmente, el Gobierno le sacó las concesiones del Sarmiento y del Mitre a TBA".Clarín. 24 May 2012.
- ^Los gastos insólitos de TBA, la firma que tenía la concesión del tren Sarmiento - La Nacion, 4 October 2015.
- ^Ricardo Jaime admits to taking bribes - Buenos Aires Herald, 1 October 2015.
- ^"Una por una, las 21 condenas por la tragedia de Once" [One by one, the 21 convictions for Once's tragedy].clarin.com (in Spanish). December 29, 2012. RetrievedDecember 30, 2012.
- ^"Once tragedy: Schiavi, Jaime, Cirigliano, engine driver sent to prison in historic ruling". Buenos Aires Herald. 29 December 2015. Retrieved30 December 2015.
External links
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- Official website (Archive) 1 February 2012