Red De Expresos Regionales
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The Regional Express Network () was a planned commuter network system in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, which consisted in an underground connection among the 3 mainline railway stations of the city: Retiro, Constitucion and
Once Once may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Once'' (film), a 2007 Irish musical film by John Carney ** ''Once'' (musical), a 2011 stage adaptation of the film * ''Once'' (TV series), a 2017–2019 Argentine telenovela * Canal Once (Mex ...
, in the north, south and west respectively. The project was launched by then Chief of Government of Buenos Aires
Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...
in May 2015, and the first call for tender was made three years later. The RER system project was modelled on the Réseau Express Régional in
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. The tunnels would have had 2 new stations: the Central Station at Obelisco and the Correo Central underneath the old post office building. At Central Station there would have been an interchange with the Underground network in the stations of
Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
( A Line), Carlos Pellegrini ( B Line),
Diagonal Norte In geometry, a diagonal is a line segment joining two vertex (geometry), vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, when those vertices are not on the same edge (geometry), edge. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word ''diagonal'' ...
and
Avenida de Mayo May Avenue () is an avenue in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. It connects the Plaza de Mayo with Congressional Plaza, and extends in a west–east direction before merging into Rivadavia Avenue. History and overview Built on an initiati ...
( C Line) and 9 de Julio ( D Line), and the Metrobus BRT network. At Correo Central it would be possible to interchange with two stations: Leandro N. Alem on B Line and Correo Central on E Line. These tunnels were planned to reconnect the network, disconnected since 1897 with the closure after a fire of the Buenos Aires
Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
, constructed by the British company Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway few meters from
Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo (, ; ) is a city square and the main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time known as ''Pl ...
. Despite all the announcements, the project was never carried out so it never surpassed its bidding process. After the administration led by
Javier Milei Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist who has served as President of Argentina since 2023. Milei also served as a national deputy representing the City of Buenos Aires for the party La Libertad ...
suspended all the public works in Argentina, the Red de Expresos Regionales continues with no plans for its construction.


History

The idea of linking the main commuter rail lines of Buenos Aires through a tunnel dates back to 1969, resulting in a 1973 study which suggested creating a ''Red Expresa Regional''.Planificacion Y Estrategia En la región metropolitana
- Pagina/12, 20 October 2013.
While the original proposal sought to link the
Mitre Line The Mitre line is an Argentine broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province and is part of the Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre division. The service is currently operated by the state-owned company Operadora Ferroviaria Soci ...
and Roca Line through the centre of the city, more recent proposals suggested creating tunnels between Retiro railway station,
Once railway station Once railway station (, ; informally known as ) is a large railway terminus in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the ''Neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, barrio'' of Balvanera. The station, inaugurated on 20 December 1882, is located in the barr ...
and
Constitución railway station Constitución railway station () is a large railway station in Constitución, Buenos Aires, Constitución, a in central Buenos Aires, Argentina. The full official name of the station is (in English: Constitution Square Station) reflecting the fa ...
- the three biggest rail terminals of the city. Such a line would connect all urban and suburban commuter rail lines in the city, with the exception of the
Urquiza Line The Urquiza Line is a suburban electric commuter rail line in Buenos Aires, Argentina, operated by the former Buenos Aires Underground operator Metrovías. It runs from the Federico Lacroze terminus in the neighborhood of Chacarita, to Gener ...
which has access tunnels to Line B of the
Buenos Aires Underground The Buenos Aires Underground (), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the L ...
at Federico Lacroze railway station and the Belgrano Sur Line, whose inclusion in RER first depends on the current plans for the extension of the line to Constitución being completed.Elevarán las trazas del ferrocarril San Martín y del Belgrano Sur
- InfoBAE, 16 December 2014.
The current RER proposal was put forward by Buenos Aires mayor
Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...
in 2015. The project includes the construction of of tunnels to link the three main railway terminals and the construction of five new underground stations: one at each of the terminals, one underneath the Obelisco in the centre of the city and another in the
Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
underneath the Buenos Aires Central Post Office.Detalles del proyecto para conectar todos los ferrocarriles urbanos debajo del Obelisco
- Buenos Aires Ciudad, 12 May 2015.
The total cost of the project will be US$1.8 billion and will integrate the existing network through the tunnels.Macri promete una estación central debajo del Obelisco
- La Nacion, 9 May 2015.
The central station will connect with the Metrobus network, as well as the
Buenos Aires Underground The Buenos Aires Underground (), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the L ...
lines , , and , while the Correo Central station will also connect with . The first stage of the project will take four years to complete and consists of building the Obelisco station and the north–south tunnels from Retiro railway station to
Constitución railway station Constitución railway station () is a large railway station in Constitución, Buenos Aires, Constitución, a in central Buenos Aires, Argentina. The full official name of the station is (in English: Constitution Square Station) reflecting the fa ...
, integrating the
Mitre Line The Mitre line is an Argentine broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province and is part of the Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre division. The service is currently operated by the state-owned company Operadora Ferroviaria Soci ...
, Roca Line and
San Martín Line The San Martín line is a , 22-station commuter rail service in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Martín line operates from the city-centre terminus of Retiro San Martín railway station, Retiro station north-west to Doct ...
. The second stage will take a further two years and will see the building of the east–west tunnels connecting
Once railway station Once railway station (, ; informally known as ) is a large railway terminus in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the ''Neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, barrio'' of Balvanera. The station, inaugurated on 20 December 1882, is located in the barr ...
to the central station and the building of the Correo Central station, integrating the Sarmiento Line into the network. The final stage will take a further two years and will extend the Belgrano Sur Line to Constitución from its existing terminal using viaducts (a project already under way independently of RER) then build a new tunnel between Constitución and Retiro connecting the two
metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
railways after they are electrified.En campaña, Macri presentó un proyecto de RER
- EnElSubte, 9 May 2015.
Perhaps the most notable omission from the project is the inclusion of the
Urquiza Line The Urquiza Line is a suburban electric commuter rail line in Buenos Aires, Argentina, operated by the former Buenos Aires Underground operator Metrovías. It runs from the Federico Lacroze terminus in the neighborhood of Chacarita, to Gener ...
whose terminal as at Federico Lacroze railway station in the West of the city. The line is distinctive from the other lines due to its
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
configuration since it was originally intended to be part of Line B of the Buenos Aires Underground. Urquiza Line trains without any modification could use the access tunnel at the Federico Lacroze underground station and travel through the line's tunnels to Carlos Pellegrini station which is where Line B would combine with RER regardless of the inclusion of the Urquiza line.


Challenges

The main challenges to the implementation of the RER network were found in the differing track gauges and state of electrification found in the different lines in
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 ...
: Discounting the
Urquiza Line The Urquiza Line is a suburban electric commuter rail line in Buenos Aires, Argentina, operated by the former Buenos Aires Underground operator Metrovías. It runs from the Federico Lacroze terminus in the neighborhood of Chacarita, to Gener ...
which is not included in the project and which could easily be integrated into the
Buenos Aires Underground The Buenos Aires Underground (), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the L ...
, the problems are then found within the
San Martín Line The San Martín line is a , 22-station commuter rail service in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Martín line operates from the city-centre terminus of Retiro San Martín railway station, Retiro station north-west to Doct ...
and the two Belgrano lines of the General Belgrano Railway. The San Martín Line, while sharing the same as the majority of the network, currently uses diesel-electric CSR SDD7 rolling stock, however electrification of the line has now been planned for some time and the rolling stock would presumably be moved to other parts of the country. In 2015, the first studies on the line's electrification began, while the government announced that funding had been secured. The Belgrano Sur and Belgrano Norte perhaps provided the biggest challenge since both had a different track gauge to the rest of the network and neither are electrified, with no immediate plans to carry out electrification at the time the RER project was announced. However, both lines are having their rolling stock replaced with electrification in mind, with the Belgrano Sur line using new CNR DMUs which have been designed to be easily converted to electric power, while the Belgrano Norte has a similar case with its new Argentine-made Emepa Alerce DMUs which are also designed to be easily converted. Converting the gauge of the lines was out of the question, so there would have been a separate north–south tunnel between Retiro and Constitución for the two lines. Since both lines have the lower traffic than the Sarmiento,
Mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...
and Roca lines and given the current lack of electrification, difference in gauge and necessary extension of the Belgrano Sur line to Constitución, the connection of these two lines to the RER network will be left to the third and final stage of its construction. Conversely, those three lines are the most straight forward especially considering that they all share the same CSR rolling stock.


Existing tunnels and connections

As noted, the
Urquiza Line The Urquiza Line is a suburban electric commuter rail line in Buenos Aires, Argentina, operated by the former Buenos Aires Underground operator Metrovías. It runs from the Federico Lacroze terminus in the neighborhood of Chacarita, to Gener ...
already has a connection to both future stations in the centre of the city through the use of Line B, though currently this connection is not made use of since services terminate at Federico Lacroze railway station and do not continue on underground. Likewise, the Sarmiento Line and
San Martín Line The San Martín line is a , 22-station commuter rail service in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Martín line operates from the city-centre terminus of Retiro San Martín railway station, Retiro station north-west to Doct ...
are connected by a one-track tunnel which runs through the city from the Sarmiento Line's terminus at
Once railway station Once railway station (, ; informally known as ) is a large railway terminus in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the ''Neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, barrio'' of Balvanera. The station, inaugurated on 20 December 1882, is located in the barr ...
in what would be RER's trajectory to
Puerto Madero Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a Barrios and Communes of Buenos Aires, ''barrio'' of Buenos Aires in the Buenos Aires Central Business District, Central Business District. Occup ...
, while a double-track segment connects the former Puerto Madero station with the San Martín Line's terminus at Retiro railway station. This route between the two lines has been traditionally used for freight services, though it was briefly used for passenger services to the centre of the city on the Sarmiento Line during the 1990s.Desde Puerto Madero a Castelar en 20 minutos
- La Nacion, 8 August 1997.
Similarly, the tracks of what was the Buenos Aires and Ensenada Port Railway and the Tranvia del Este provide a north–south connection through the Puerto Madero district, though today these areas have heavy road traffic and would be unsuitable for overground commuter rail.


See also

* Rail transport in Argentina *
Buenos Aires Underground The Buenos Aires Underground (), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the L ...


References


External links

* {{Urban public transport in Argentina Underground rapid transit in Argentina Proposed railway lines in Argentina Rail transport in Buenos Aires Underground commuter rail Cancelled projects in Argentina