TecnoTren is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

manufacturer of

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar with an automotive engine. It shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels (2 axles) on a fixed base instead of on bogies. O ...

es. Its products are designed to be very low-cost vehicles intended for use in rural parts of the country where railway privatisation and the subsequent deterioration of the network left small rural villages isolated.

Overview

The TecnoTren units use readily available parts from the Argentine automotive industry, with the 1.7 litre engine being from a Fiat Duna, which doesn't necessarily have to be new. This makes them extremely economical both in price per unit and with regards to its fuel consumption, as well as maintenance costs.TecnoTren
/ref> As a result, the railbuses are ideal for low-traffic rural lines while being easily adapted to the country's three primary track gauges. The light weight of the units, as well as their low maximum speed, also mean that they can be used on tracks in very poor condition, making them well suited to parts of the country which have no current plans for track replacement under the recent modernisation efforts following renationalisation. The TecnoTren is available in 1, 2, and 3 carriage configurations, all of which have

disc brakes Disc or disk may refer to: * Disk (mathematics), a two dimensional shape, the interior of a circle * Disk storage * Optical disc * Floppy disk Music * Disc (band), an American experimental music band * ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby Other ...

, automatic gearboxes, and a maximum range of 700 km. All components of the railbus are disc brakes made in Argentina, with the exception of the engine, which is no longer in production.

History

TecnoTren was established by Jorge Beritich, a former car body manufacturer that conceived and built a vehicle to run on abandoned railway tracks. Beritich designed a prototype named "Microtren" in 2003 but it could not be tested until 2007, when the microtren made short trips in General Mansilla (renamed "Bartolomé Bavio" by its inhabitants), one of the stations of the line that joined La Plata with Las Pipinas in the south-east of

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

. The line had been closed in 1978."El tren de los pueblos viene marchando" by Gustavo Moure
Rumbos Digital Although Beritich died soon after the prototype was launched, the production of railbuses was continued by Tecnoporte, a factory in the El Talar district of

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires (, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of B ...

. The prototype was later modified and improved, resulting in the current TecnoTren. TecnoTren made its official debut in the

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a Center Region, Argentina, central provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires (so ...

, running on the line from Paraná to Colonia Avellaneda since 2010 and being operated by the Unidad Ejecutora Ferroviaria de Entre Ríos (UEFER), a state-owned company of the province. The journey time was 40 minutes with 25 stops along the way. In 2013, those services were transferred to the national company

Trenes Argentinos Trenes Argentinos is the name that has been given since 2014 to a group of state-owned companies of Argentina, responsible for the operation of passenger and freight trains, infrastructure, and personal management. Although all its components are ...

, which runs the trains to the present day. In 2013, the TecnoTren railbuses inaugurated the 4,6 km-long University train of La Plata service running on Roca Railway tracks along the university campus, joining the La Plata terminus with the polyclinic. They are also used in some specialist cases, such as for transport at the Tecnopolis exposition ground. - El Cronista, 24 November 2013. It was also announced that TecnoTren is going to run in

Santiago del Estero Province Santiago del Estero (), also known simply as Santiago, is a Provinces of Argentina, province in the north of Argentina. Neighboring provinces, clockwise from the north, are Salta Province, Salta, Chaco Province, Chaco, Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe, ...

under the name "Tren del Desarrollo" on Mitre Railway tracks. The service (meant for tourists) will cross the Puente Negro through Río Dulce.

References

External links

* {{Rolling stock manufacturers of Argentina Railway companies established in 2009 Rolling stock manufacturers of Argentina Argentine brands

Overview

History

See also

References

External links