Ferrocentral was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

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 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 ...

to several locations in northern Argentina, running on Ferrocarril Mitre's Indian gauge tracks. The company also ran regional services (such as Tren de las Sierras) on Ferrocarril Belgrano's tracks in Córdoba Province. The National Government invested $10 million to re-open the line.

History

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 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 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 Nuevo Central Argentino S. A. (abbreviated NCA) is an Argentine company that utilises the operation and infrastructure of the national railway system of the former Mitre Railway division of Ferrocarriles Argentinos, by a concession granted on 23 ...

(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

to the city of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cordoba may ...

. In 2006 Ferrocentral started to run trains to Tucumán, with stops in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most po ...

and La Banda, a city of

Santiago del Estero Province Santiago del Estero (), also known simply as Santiago, is a province in the north of Argentina. Neighboring provinces, clockwise from the north, are Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán. History The indigenous inhabitant ...

. Long-distance passenger trains were tractioned by GT22 diesel locomotives. 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 A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

Train") of Córdoba Province that connected the cities of

and Cosquín. On 2013, Ministry of Transport of Argentina, Florencio Randazzo, signed a resolution transferring the services to

and

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, Rosario and ...

to State-owned companies SOFSE (also known as "Trenes Argentinos") and Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF). 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. In November 2014, the

Government of Argentina The government of Argentina, within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Preside ...

(through the State-owned company Trenes Argentinos S.A.) took over the services to

, Tucumán and

, leaving Ferrocentral inactive.

Services

Services operated as of October 2014:"Servicios" on Ferrocentral website
(Archive)

References

External links

Official website
(archived, 17 Dec 2008) {{Railway Companies in Argentina Defunct railway companies of Argentina Emepa Group Railway companies established in 2004 Railway companies disestablished in 2014 2004 establishments in Argentina 2014 disestablishments in Argentina Rail transport in Buenos Aires Province Rail transport in Córdoba Province, Argentina Rail transport in Santa Fe Province Transport in Tucumán Province Transport in Santiago del Estero Province

History

Services

See also

References

External links