Ferrocarriles Argentinos

After the nationalisation all the Argentine network was grouped into six railway divisions named after distinguished Argentine presidents and national heroes (such as José de San Martín, Manuel Belgrano, Domingo Sarmiento, Justo José de Urquiza, Bartolomé Mitre and Julio A. Roca) according to their track 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:

Map of the Argentine network during its maximum extension, c. 1954

The Justicialista model by FAdeL was the first diesel locomotive produced in Argentina, 1948

FIAT Materfer produced railcars, used for commuter rail services

GAIA was another locomotive manufacturer

At the moment of being nationalised, most part of Argentine railways' locomotives still were steam-powered and long-distance trips were in wooden coaches. It was not until the 1950s when the Government acquired brand new diesel locomotives produced in the United States and Belgium, more specifically Cockerill-Ougree, Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton. Also, Budd Company coaches that were previously used on the canceled C&O Chessie would be used in El Marplatense, an express service from Constitución to Mar del Plata with multiple luxury services.

Despite the success of El Marplatense, FA did not acquire new material from Budd Co., Dutch company Werkspoor being the new locomotives, coaches and railcars suppliers. The Werskpoor rolling stock was used for services to Mendoza, Córdoba and Tucumán. Other companies like Ganz and Drewry being the new diesel railcars suppliers

During those years the first diesel locomotive manufactured in Argentina and produced at Liniers workshops by national company Fábrica Argentina de Locomotoras ("FAdeL") was launched in October 1951 by President Perón and its designer and builder, engineer Pedro Sacaggio. That locomotive (officially, "CM1", and named Justicialista) started to run in the summer of 1952-53 serving in El 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 CM2 La Argentina, powered with diesel engines by Italian manufacturers FIAT Ferroviaria and Cantieri Riuniti Dell Adriático. Nevertheless, the project to produce 600 locomotives was aborted by the Revolución 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 1958 Sociedad Material Ferroviario ("Materfer") was established by Fiat Ferroviaria, through Fiat Concord, a consortium formed by many FIAT subsidiaries operating in Argentina. The company built a factory to manufacture rolling stock in the country to provide goods for FA.[9]

That same year the Ministry of Transport of Argentina signed an agreement with Fiat Ferroviaria to acquire 210 brand-new railcars. Those machines were formed by 2 units powered by a FIAT diesel engine at 660 HP. 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 of Turin, Decauville and Córdoba. 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, the 7131, a railcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in the Villa Ballester-Zárate and Victoria-Capilla del Señor sections of General Mitre Railway, then managed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos. Those light cars replaced Ganz 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 with Chile and the Expreso del Sur.

Some of the rolling stock imported in the 1950s, fltr (above): Ganz Works railcar served in Belgrano Sur Line; Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton locomotive acquired in 1953; (below): Budd Co. coaches that served the Mar del Plata line; Werkspoor locomotives acquired for the General Belgrano Railway

In 1951 the company acquired a total of 46 coaches from US manufacturer Budd Company. The rolling stock, originally built for standard gauge railways, had to be adapted to indian gauge used in Roca Railway. After a probationary period, trains began to run express services to Mar del Plata with a journey time of about 5 hours. Unlike old wooden coaches used until then, the American wagons were made of steel 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, 30 Werkspoor locomotives made in The Netherlands were acquired for the Belgrano Norte line. As a result, FA sent the old Ganz Works vehicles to Córdoba to serve regional railways. Four years later, a fleet of 21 English Electric locomotives arrived to replace Whitcomb and Werkspoor machines. In 1964, 27 coaches built by Aerfer, a subsidiary of FIAT Ferroviaria, were added to the line. Four years later, the fleet size was increased with the addition of 20 coaches built by local company Materfer, 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, a railcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in the Villa Ballester-Zárate and Victoria-Capilla del Señor sections of Mitre Railway. Those light cars replaced Ganz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938.[10]

Modernisation included the purchase of brand-new diesel locomotives by American company Whitcomb in 1951 (with the addition of 15 new ones by Werkspoor in 1955) for the Belgrano Sur line. In the late 1960s and early 1970s railcars by Hungarian company Ganz Works were sent to the Belgrano Sur. They had been acquired by the Argentine State Railway decades earlier and had been running in Northern Argentine railways since 1936. Some of them were used for local services to Libertad and the rest for the long-distance service to Carhué, departing from Buenos Aires station.

At the beginning of the 1960s, FA acquired brand new Hitachi electric multiple units, equipped with air conditioning for the metropolitan section of Mitre Railway.

Under the Carlos Menem's administration FA was closed and all services privatised

Following a prolonged period of hyperinflation in the 1980s, accompanied by a steep increase in fiscal deficit and a sharp fall in reserves, the Argentine government, under the presidency of Carlos Menem from 1989, initiated a series of neoliberal 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 the Metro, 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 in the city and suburbs of Buenos 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 of Córdoba, Rosario and Mendoza with the idea of establishing urban services that included rapid 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 the El Plumerillo Airport. Nevertheless, the plans were never carried out.

Freight train in Ingeniero Mauri, 1993

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 the World Bank.[20]

Initially no bids were received for the Belgrano 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 when Belgrano Cargas took over the line.

The Gran Capitán, long-distance service to Misiones province, circa 1990

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. In San Martín and Roca 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 (with Tucumán 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 and Ingeniero Jacobbaci-Esquel to Río Negro and Chubut (as the railway crossed both provinces); Córdoba-Cruz del Eje to Córdoba Province. Salta received the Tren a las Nubes and Mendoza took over Transandine Railway. In all the cases, the procedures were ruled by Law n° 2.873.[23]