Tren Patagónico (in English: "Patagonian Train") is a state-owned company of Río Negro Province in Argentina which operates an 827 km broad gauge railway line between Viedma and San Carlos de Bariloche.
The train also runs a shorter distance service from Ing. Jacobacci to Bariloche.[2]
History
The railway line was originally built and operated by Ferrocarriles Patagónicos, the southern division of Argentine State Railway ("Ferrocarriles del Estado Argentino"). When the Government of Argentina led by President Juan Perón nationalised the French and English companies of Argentina in 1948, the line was taken over by the General Roca Railway, a division of then-recent state-owned Ferrocarriles Argentinos.
With the increase in popularity of the line with tourists, it was decided to improve the image of the company by using the name Tren Patagónico.
As part of a railway privatisation carried out during the presidency of Carlos Menem from 1991, a concession to operate the line was granted to the Provincial government and later transferred to "Servicios Ferroviarios Patagónicos" (SEFEPA) in September 1993.