Ferrocarriles Metropolitanos S.A. (also known for its acronym FEMESA) was a company set up by the Argentine government in 1991, during the presidency of

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. ...

, to oversee the

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of commuter rail services within the city of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. The company granted concessions to

Metropolitano Metropolitano S.A. was a privately owned consortium formed in 1994 to take over concessions granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem for the operation of commuter rail services i ...

Ferrovías Ferrovías S.A.C. is a privately owned company which, on 1 April 1994, took over the concession, granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem, for the operation of the 1,000 mm (3 ...

Metrovías Metrovías S.A. is an Argentine privately owned company that operates the Buenos Aires Underground and the Metropolitan services of the Urquiza Line. 90% of Metrovías' shares are held by Grupo Roggio. History On 1 January 1994, Metrovías took ...

, and

Trenes de Buenos Aires Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) (In English: Trains of Buenos Aires) was a private company that operated commuter rail services over the broad gauge Sarmiento and Mitre lines of Buenos Aires. The company, owned by Claudio and Mario Cirigliano, als ...

for the operation of services which had previously been run by state-owned companies since the nationalisation of the railways in 1948. With its task complete, FEMESA was wound up in 1997.PRIVATIZACIONES - Decreto 543/97
/ref>

Overview

FEMESA was created in 1991 to take over commuter rail services that had been operated by state-owned

Ferrocarriles Argentinos Ferrocarriles Argentinos (abbreviated as FA; ) was a state-owned company that managed the entire Argentine railway system for nearly 45 years. It was formed in 1948 when all the private railway companies were nationalised during Juan Perón's fir ...

(FA). The company was established as a transitional entity until those services were granted as concessions to private operators. Meanwhile, FA operated middle and long distance passenger services until 10 March 1993 when all those services were cancelled.La privatización y desguace del sistema ferroviario argentino
by Franco Pagano on Universidad de CuyoVolver a los ’90: el gobierno dejó sin trenes a más de 100 pueblos en 2016
on Tiempo Argentino, 11 Sep 2016 In 1994, FEMESA granted concessions to Metropolitano which, through three subsidiary companies, took over the operation of services on the Línea San Martín, Línea Roca and Belgrano Sur Line in Buenos Aires previously operated by the state-owned San Martín, Roca and

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Belg ...

Railway divisions, respectively. In spite of Metropolitano receiving large government subsidies, its services deteriorated to a point where, by 2007, the three concessions had all been revoked and their operation was taken over by the consortium Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia ( UGOFE). Concessions were also granted in 1994 to Ferrovías and Metrovías, for the operation of services on the

Belgrano Norte The Belgrano Norte line is a commuter rail service in Buenos Aires, Argentina run by the private company Ferrovías since 1 April 1994. This service had previously been run by the state-owned General Belgrano Railway since nationalisation of the ...

and Urquiza Lines, respectively, previously operated by the state-owned

, and Urquiza divisions of FA. Finally, in 1995, concessions were granted to Trenes de Buenos Aires for the operation of services over the

Mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

and Sarmiento Lines, previously operated by the state-owned

and Sarmiento divisions of FA. With all the commuter rail services in Buenos Aires privatised, FEMESA was wound up in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Femesa Defunct railway companies of Argentina Railway companies established in 1991 Railway companies disestablished in 1997 1991 establishments in Argentina