Tren al Desarrollo (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: "Train to Development") is an

elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service between the cities of

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

(from the "Forum" station) and

La Banda La Banda is a city in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It has about 95,000 inhabitants as per the , making it the second largest in the province. It is the head town of the Banda Department. La Banda is located only 8 km away ...

(with also a new building) 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, ...

. Trains run on a track on a viaduct generally following the former Mitre Railway alignment. The line also crosses the ''Puente Negro'', a bridge that had been closed for over 40 years. In the beginning, the project only planned a 4 km-long line, then extended to 8 km. length to reach La Banda. The rolling stock used is

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 made by Argentine company

TecnoTren TecnoTren is an Argentine manufacturer of railbuses. 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 rur ...

. Each unit has a capacity of 100 passengers (70 seated). The journey time is about 25 minutes. Santiago Centro terminus station was inaugurated in May 2015. The route has a total of four stations, with three of them having been specially built for the occasion, Forum (terminus), Botánico (with access to the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

and

Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades The Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades is a association football, football stadium located in the city of Santiago del Estero in the Santiago del Estero Province, homonymous province of Argentina. The stadium was inaugurated on 4 March 2021, before ...

), and Nodo Tecnológico (in the

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

of the city). The path finishes in La Banda, which was refurbished for that purpose. The total path from Forum to Banda stations is a 5,10 metre-high

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

to avoid interfering with

road traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly and ...

."En un año estaría concluido y listo para inaugurar Tren al Desarrollo"
Nuevo Diario web, 13 May 2015 In September 2016, the first section of 4-km length (from Santiago to Nodo Tecnológico) was inaugurated. The next section of La Banda was opened in March 2017. There were also plans to reach

Termas de Río Hondo Termas de Río Hondo is a spa city in Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina. It has 27,838 inhabitants as per the . It is located on the banks of the Dulce River, 65 km north of the provincial capital Santiago del Estero, near the artific ...

, one of the main attractions of the Province, and another extension to

San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (), usually called simply Tucumán, is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Argentin ...

,"El Tren al Desarrollo unirá Santiago del Estero y Tucumán"
Cadena3, 20 Jun 2014 although it has not been carried out.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tren al Desarrollo d Railway services introduced in 2016 t t