Sarmiento Line

ACSR electric multiple unit that runs the line.
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
Status	Active
Locale	Buenos Aires Province
Predecessor	Buenos Aires Western Railway
First service	1948
Current operator	Trenes Argentinos Operaciones
Former operator	TBA
Ridership	53,005,152(2019)[1]
Website	argentina.gob.ar/sarmiento
Route
Termini	Once Moreno Lobos Mercedes
Stops	40
Distance travelled	167 km (104 mi)
Average journey time	Once–Moreno: 72 min. Merlo–Lobos: 90 min. Moreno–Mercedes: 130 min.
Service frequency	Once–Moreno: 10 min. Merlo–Lobos: 20 min. Moreno–Mercedes: 150 min.
Technical
Rolling stock	CSR EMUs
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Third rail,800 V DC
Track owner	Government of Argentina

TheSarmiento line is abroad gaugecommuter rail service inBuenos Aires Province,Argentina, run by the state-ownedTrenes Argentinos since 11 September 2013.^[2]

The line is part ofDomingo Sarmiento Railway, running trains departing fromOnce de Septiembre station in theBalvanera neighborhood ofBuenos Aires to the cities of Moreno, Lobos, and Mercedes in Buenos Aires Province. The 167-km long line has 40 stations. As of 2018, a total of 101,453 services had been run, with 85,946,312 passengers carried.^[3]

Sincenationalisation of the Argentine railways in 1948, the line was run by state-owned companyFerrocarriles Argentinos. In 1961, the old wooden coaches (that had debuted when the service was electrified in 1923) were replaced byToshiba multiple units, that would run on the line for more than 50 years.^[4][5]

FA operated the trains until 1991 when residual companyFEMESA temporarily took over all the urban services prior to be privatized. After the Government ofCarlos Menemprivatized the urban railways services, consortiumTrenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) took over the Sarmiento and Mitre lines.^[6]

TBA operated the line until the2012 Once station rail disaster happened.^[6] As a result, the National Government revoked the concession granted to TBA and gave the Mitre and Sarmiento toUGOMS, that operated the line until 2014 when it was re-privatised and given under concession to "Corredores Ferroviarios S.A."^[7][8][9]

In 2014 the Government announced the acquisition ofnew trains to replace the existing Sarmiento Line rolling stock. The cars were manufactured byChinese companyCSR Corporation, with the first arriving in June 2014.^[10][11] The incorporation of the rolling stock was also accompanied by the replacement of rails betweenOnce andMoreno.^[12]

During 2015 a series of improvement works were conducted and completed on the line. These included remodelling stations, new signaling and other infrastructure improvements such as replacing track and third rail segments, as well as the refurbishing of workshops.^[13] The works, which also included the installation of acommunications-based train control system, meant that the line was closed on Sundays from February to June of that year on its electrified segment, with replacement bus services operating during that time.^[12]

Entrance to the tunnel in Puerto Madero which extends to Once station

Freight train operated by Ferrosur Roca running on tracks in the Puerto Madero neighborhood area

The line has two underground segments not currently in use for passenger services. The first of these is an underground station within thePlaza MiserereBuenos Aires Underground station, which formerly provided a direct connection withLine A alongside its platforms, rather than passengers transferring fromOnce railway station to the line using underground passages. In May 2014, this connection was being restored with tracks replaced in order to restore the line's service to the Underground.^[14]

The second is a tunnel which runs directly from Once railway station toPuerto Madero in the centre of the city. Nowadays it is only used for freight to thePort of Buenos Aires, being operated by private companyFerrosur Roca; however, it was briefly used for passenger services in the 1990s.^[15] The tunnel is around 5 km (3.1 mi) long and runs through the middle of the city below Line A. Construction of the tunnel had been initiated by theBuenos Aires Western Railway in 1912; however, it was not completed until 1916 due to delays caused by theFirst World War.^[16] As of November 2015,Trenes Argentinos Operaciones was replacing pipes in the Puerto Madero tunnel with no plan of reopening it for passenger services.^[17]

Companies that have operated the Sarmiento Line since it was established after the1948 nationalisation are:

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 3 minutes, increasing capacity from 100 million to 280 million passenger-journeys a year. The tunnel segment would 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^[18] 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.^[19] During the construction, service on the surface line was continuing.^[20] 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.^[21]

v t e Sarmiento Line
Legend
toRetiro (freight only) Puerto Madero Plaza Miserere (underground) Once toUnderground Line A toPuerto Madero (freight only) Caballito Flores Floresta Perito Moreno Highway Villa Luro Liniers Avenida General Paz Ciudadela Ramos Mejía Haedo Roca Line toTemperley San Martín Railway toCaseros Morón Provincial Route 4 Castelar Ituzaingó San Antonio de Padua Merlo Reconquista River Paso del Rey Moreno KM 34,5 La Reja Agustín Ferrari Francisco Álvarez Mariano Acosta Ingeniero Pablo Marín Midland Railway Las Malvinas Marcos Paz Belgrano Sur Line General Rodríguez La Fraternidad Provincial Route 6 Zamudio Lezica y Torrezuri General Hornos Universidad de Luján National Route 5 Luján General Las Heras Jáuregui Speratti Olivera Zapiola Gowland Belgrano Railway Provincial Route 41 Mercedes Sarmiento Railway to Santa Rosa Roca Line toCañuelas Empalme Lobos Roca Line to 25 de Mayo Lobos Roca Line to Saladillo/Gral Alvear

^[22]

• 
  Fiat Materfer 7131 railcar, c. 1963
• 
  Materfer railcar inLobos
• 
  Villa Luro stations after being rebuilt
• 
  EMU calledToshiba PUMA-V2
• 
  Luján station facade

• Rail transport in Argentina
• Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Railway
• CSR EMU (Argentina)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSarmiento Line.

• Official website
• Tren Sarmiento

• Railway lines in Argentina
• Rail transport in Buenos Aires Province
• 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Argentina

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