Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Railway
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Railway | |||
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Trenes Argentinos (passengers) Ferroexpreso Pampeano (freight) | |||
History | |||
Opened | 1948 | ||
Technical | |||
Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | ||
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The Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Railway (FCDFS) (Spanish: Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento), named after the former Argentine president, statesman, educator, and author
The principal lines departed from
.The railway was created after the nationalization of 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
When Ferrocarriles Argentinos was dissolved and the long-distance services closed by the government of Argentina (with Carlos Menem as president), the freight lines of the FC Sarmiento were given in concession to Ferroexpreso Pampeano. On the other hand, some passenger services were taken over by Ferrobaires, a state-owned company established by the government of Buenos Aires Province.
The urban and suburban services were operated by transitional company
The interurban service of Ferrocarril Sarmiento is second in number of passengers after
History
The Ferrocarril Sarmiento was the successor of Buenos Aires Western Railway, a company founded by a group of porteño 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 the Teatro Colón is located nowadays) to La Floresta, then part of San José de Flores Partido. The railway expanded its service to the most productive zones of Buenos Aires Province. During this period, the BAWR's main rival was the Buenos 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 president
After a brief period of prosperity during the decade of 1920, the situation becomes critical with the
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 of Bahía Blanca and North Western Railway, that had been administrated by the Great Western Railway) was also added to the FC Sarmiento.
Branch Caballito-Puerto Madero
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 between
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 the
Branches closures
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"
Advances
In 1953 the first
On 30 June 1956, the first coaches by Toshiba 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 of Greater Buenos Aires railway system, creating the "Línea Metropolitana", formed by the respective suburban rail lines. This lasted only 5 years, having been dissolved before the end of the decade.
Sarmiento tunneling
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, and suspended again in July 2019 due to lack of funds; as of January 2020 the government is studying its options regarding contract cancellation.[4] During the construction, service on the surface line will continue.[5]
Train services
Urban
Suburban
- Moreno – Mercedes
- Lobos
References
- ^ "El Gobierno le quitó a TBA la concesión de los trenes Sarmiento y Mitre", Infobae, 24 May 2012
- ^ "Transfirieron a SOFSE las líneas Mitre y Sarmiento" Archived 19 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Después de Sarmiento, el turno de Mitre – Pagina/12, 22 July 2014
- El Pais. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Ceremony marks start of Sarmiento tunnelling". Railway Gazette International. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015.