Ferrocentral

Ferrocentral was an Argentine private railway company, with a name formed by a combination of the Spanish words for "Central Rail". It operated long-distance passenger trains from its base at Retiro station in Buenos Aires to several locations in northern Argentina, running on Ferrocarril Mitre's 5ft 6" in gauge railway|Indian gauge]] tracks.

Ferrocentral
TypePrivate
IndustryRailway
FateDefunct
PredecessorFerrocarriles Argentinos
SuccessorTrenes Argentinos
Founded2004
Defunct2014 (2014)
Headquarters
Buenos Aires
,
Argentina
Area served
Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Sgo. del Estero, Tucumán Provinces
ServicesPublic transport, Maintenance, repair, and operations
OwnerGrupo Emepa

The company also ran regional services (such as Tren de las Sierras) on Ferrocarril Belgrano's metre gauge tracks in Córdoba Province.[1][2] The National Government invested $ 10 million to re-open the line.[3]

History
Map with services operated.
Train in a level crossing in La Banda.
Ferrocentral train in Tucumán station.
Breakfast served in the train.
Tren de las Sierras in Cosquín.

All of the train routes managed by Ferrocentral had been previously operated by Ferrocarriles Argentinos, the country's now-defunct national passenger railroad corporation. After the privatisation of Ferrocarriles Argentinos starting in 1991, many train services across Argentina were indefinitely discontinued. Since the year 2005, however, Ferrocentral was formed and successfully resurrected some passenger lines.

Ferrocentral was established in 2005, being formed by two railway companies, Nuevo Central Argentino (concessionary of Ferrocarril Mitre's freight services) and Ferrovías (which operates the Belgrano Norte Line) with the purpose of running trains from Retiro station in Buenos Aires to the city of Córdoba.[4][5][6]

In 2006 Ferrocentral started to run trains to Tucumán, with stops in Rosario and La Banda, a city of Santiago del Estero Province.[7] Long-distance passenger trains were tractioned by GT22 diesel locomotives.[8] Most services operated in the late night and early morning hours as the rail lines are used for transporting cargo during the daytime.

One year later the company also re-opened the Tren de las Sierras ("Mountain Range Train") of Córdoba Province that connected the cities of Córdoba and Cosquín.

On 2013, Ministry of Transport of Argentina, Florencio Randazzo, signed a resolution transferring the services to Córdoba and San Miguel de Tucumán to State-owned companies SOFSE (also known as "Trenes Argentinos") and Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF).[9][10]

In addition, some problems with ticket sales were reported by users, accusing the company to give a poor service for online purchasing, as well as the virtually nil availability of seats.[11]

In November 2014, the Government of Argentina (through the State-owned company Trenes Argentinos S.A.) took over the services to Rosario, Tucumán and Córdoba, leaving Ferrocentral inactive.[12][13]

Services

Services operated as of October 2014:[14]

Start End Journey time (h) Days p.w. Opened
RetiroRosario Norte932005
Córdoba1442005
Tucumán2422005
CórdobaVilla María322004
Alta CórdobaCosquín272007

See also

References
  1. "Tren de las Sierras" on Córdoba Turismo website
  2. "Inauguracion Tren de las Sierras" on Plataforma 14
  3. "Mañana regresa el Tren de las Sierras", La Voz del Interior, 11 Aug 2007
  4. "Reinauguraron el tren Retiro-Córdoba" Clarín, 18 Mar 2005
  5. ""Volvió el tren a Córdoba... de la mano de Ferrocentral", sitio web Todo Tren". Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  6. "La vuelta del Rayo de Sol" (Archive)
  7. "Vuelve el tren a Tucumán", Riel FM, 12 Sep 2005 (Archive)
  8. "Las incansables GT-22 (II)" by Andrés J. Bilstein on Portal de Trenes, 23 Jun 2014
  9. Resolución N° 1093/13: "Ferrocentral pasa a la órbita de SOFSE", Official Bulletin of Argentina
  10. "El tren Tucumán-Retiro vuelve a mano estatal", La Gaceta, 20 Sep 2013
  11. "Ferrocentral y la imposible tarea de comprar un pasaje a Tucumán", La Noticia1, 23 Sep 2014
  12. "Estatizaron los trenes de pasajeros de larga distancia", Clarín, 8 Nov 2014
  13. "El Gobierno estatizó los servicios de ferrocarriles de larga distancia", Infobae, 7 Nov 2014
  14. "Servicios" on Ferrocentral website (Archive)
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