| Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Railway | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Overview | |||
| Native name | Ferrocarril Sarmiento | ||
| Status | Active | ||
| Owner | Government of Argentina | ||
| Locale | Buenos Aires La Pampa San Luis Mendoza | ||
| Termini |
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| Service | |||
| Type | Inter-city | ||
| Operator(s) | Trenes Argentinos (passengers) Ferroexpreso Pampeano (freight) | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1948; 77 years ago (1948) | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | ||
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TheDomingo Faustino Sarmiento Railway (FCDFS) (Spanish:Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento), named after the former Argentine president, statesman, educator, and authorDomingo Faustino Sarmiento, is one of the six state-ownedArgentine railway divisions formed after PresidentJuan Perón'snationalisation of the Argentine railway network in 1948. The six companies were managed byFerrocarriles Argentinos which was later broken up during the process of railwayprivatisation beginning in 1991 duringCarlos Menem's presidency.
The principal lines departed fromOnce railway station inBuenos Aires to the west through the provinces ofBuenos Aires,La Pampa,Córdoba,San Luis andMendoza.
The railway was created after the nationalization of5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge lines on the British-owned companyBuenos Aires Western Railway on 13 February 1947. The state-owned company created with the nationalization,Ferrocarriles Argentinos took over all the English and French railway lines.
When Ferrocarriles Argentinos was dissolved and the long-distance services closed by the government of Argentina (withCarlos Menem as president), the freight lines of the FC Sarmiento were given in concession toFerroexpreso Pampeano. On the other hand, some passenger services were taken over byFerrobaires, a state-owned company established by the government of Buenos Aires Province.
The urban and suburban services were operated by transitional companyFEMESA until they were given in concession to localprivate companyTrenes de Buenos Aires (TBA), which was widely criticized due to the poor conditions of its services. After therail disaster of 2012, the government revoked its contract with TBA[1] and the services were taken over by a newly created state-owned company,SOFSE, which later renewed the urban parts of the network with new rolling stock and infrastructure.[2][3]
The interurban service of Ferrocarril Sarmiento is second in number of passengers afterFerrocarril General Roca.
The Ferrocarril Sarmiento was the successor ofBuenos Aires Western Railway, a company founded by a group ofporteño people from the "Sociedad del Camino de Hierro de Buenos Aires al Oeste". Initially a State company, this railway had been the first of Argentina, inaugurated on 29 August 1857. During its first years the service covered a 10 km path from the Plaza Del Parque station (where theTeatro Colón is located nowadays) toLa Floresta, then part ofSan José de Flores Partido. The railway expanded its service to the most productive zones ofBuenos Aires Province. During this period, the BAWR's main rival was theBuenos Aires Great Southern Railway so both companies were involved in a hard competition to extend their rails to the southwest territory of Buenos Aires.
In 1887 the Argentine state and provincial governments sold all the public companies, with the argument "The State is the worst administrator" (according to then presidentMiguel Juárez Celman's speech). Therefore, the BAWR was sold to British company "The Buenos Aires Western Railway Limited", mostly known for its Spanish form "Ferrocarril del Oeste". Once it was given to the British, the railway continued expanding along the country, reaching theLa Pampa,San Luis andMendoza Provinces. By 1914 the line extended to theAndes but the beginning ofWorld War I frustrated the plans to cross to neighborhoodRepublic of Chile.
After a brief period of prosperity during the decade of 1920, the situation becomes critical with the1929 crash and the economic depression. By 1945 the British and French companies were seriously affected by theWorld War II, beginning contacts with the Government of Argentina to sell their railway lines that still operated in the country. As a result, the railway assets were acquired by the State of Argentina between 1 November 1947 and 1 March 1948. PresidentJuan Domingo Perón signed the agreement whereby the government took over all the railway line.
That same year, a decree by the presidency stated that the railway lines would be named with names of national heroes or notable people of Argentina. The Ferrocarril del Oeste received the name "Domingo Faustino Sarmiento", honoring the memory of educator and former President of Argentina born in San Juan Province (one of the regions served by the railway). The branch Darragueira-Huinca Renancó ofBahía Blanca and North Western Railway, that had been administrated by the Great Western Railway) was also added to the FC Sarmiento.
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On 3 March 1949, a new service was opened on the initiative of Secretary of Transport Juan Castro. It was run through a tunnel by wooden-bodied coaches betweenCaballito and the recently inaugurated "1° de Marzo" station, located on the crossing of theBuenos Aires Port railway and Cangallo street, inPuerto Madero.
There were four daily services every 40 minutes. The length of the branch was 7.5 km with no stations between terminus, that allowed trains to run at 30 km/h. The most part of the voyage was underground. Finally, this branch was closed on 1 January 1951 due to the very few number of passengers transported. The causes of the lack of passengers were the few daily services and the risk of accidents although the most important reason for the closure was theLine A ofBuenos Aires Underground that offered a similar service but adding the possibility to combine with other services such as the branch to Moreno in Once de Septiembre station.
In 1951 the Liniers-Ingeniero Brian freight branch was definitely closed. The Perito Moreno Highway would be later built over the tracks. Other branches closed were Villa Luro-Versalles (on 5 October 1952) and the "Basílica de Luján"
In 1953 the firstelectronic warning devices were installed on the Boyacá street level crossing ofFlores district, having been the first in Argentina. In 1955 the works to improve the Once de Septiembre station began. One year later a newrailway signalling system was installed on the Once-Moreno branch.
On 30 June 1956, the first coaches byToshiba made their debut on the rail. The works on Once took a long time, having finished in 1972. Three years later the Floresta station (the first terminus of the railway) was also remodeled.
During the 80s the Government of Argentina reorganized the railway system ofGreater Buenos Aires railway system, creating the "Línea Metropolitana", formed by the respective suburban rail lines. This lasted only five years, having been dissolved before the end of the decade.
The performance of the Sarmiento line was to be greatly improved by drilling a new tunnel. Under plans announced in 2006, a 33 km tunnel would be bored between Moreno and Caballito in order to replace the surface alignment of the Sarmiento commuter route. According to the Minister of the Interior and Transport, the first stage was to cost 11·5bn pesos, removing many level crossings which would "avoid many accidents and much loss of life". The new underground alignment would increase the service frequency to every three minutes, increasing capacity from 100 million to 280 million passenger-journeys a year. The tunnel segment was to have 13 underground stations. Drilling took place for a few months in 2012, was suspended, resumed in 2016, had at Villa Lugo on 25 February 2019 the hole-through[4] and was suspended again few months later in July due to lack of funds. As of January 2020 the government was studying its options regarding contract cancellation.[5] During the construction, service on the surface line was continuing.[6] On 18 August 2025 the government announced the final stoppage of the whole project and the closing of the already done tunnel with a length of about 7 kilometres.[7]
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