Trenes Argentinos Operaciones

Background

After the railway privatisation in Argentina began in 1989, the railway assets that had not been given in concession were taken over by Ferrocarriles Argentinos before being dissolved.

From 1996 to 2000 those assets were administered by "Ente Nacional de Administración de Bienes Ferroviarios" (ENABIEF) created through a National Decree promulgated by the Presidency of Argentina. On June 1, 2000, ENABIEF merged to Dirección Nacional de Bienes del Estado.

From then on, the "Organismo Nacional de Administración de Bienes" (ONABE) began its activities as an organisation created to manage the assets not directly affected by State activities.[3]

Law 26.352 promulgated in 2008 re-organized the railway operations in Argentina, creating two State organisations, the "Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias" (ADIF) and the "Operadora Ferroviaria" (SOFSE). Decree N° 752/08, sanctioned in May 2008, has regulated the activities of the then recently established company from that point onwards.

Further operations

Although established in 2008, SOFSE became active two years later, when the organisation took over the railway services in Chaco Province left by Servicios Ferroviarios del Chaco (SEFECHA). In 2011 the organisation added the regional services of Salta and Buenos Aires Provinces. When the Ministry of Transport was created in 2012, SOFSE took over all the urban services not granted in concession of Greater Buenos Aires. The society also began to operate interurban services such as train services to Córdoba, Tucumán cities and other services previously operated by the Government of Entre Ríos Province.

In June 2013, SOFSE took over the Tren de la Costa when the Government decided the company would be managed by the Argentine State after revoking the contract with Sociedad Comercial del Plata.[4]

In September 2013, the Government of Argentina designed SOFSE to operate the Mitre and Sarmiento lines, after their contracts of concession were revoked to Trenes de Buenos Aires. This decision was officially promulgated through Resolution N° 1083/13.[5][6][7][8][9]

SOFSE temporarily operated the Mitre line until the Government of Argentina re-privatised it, giving the line concession to "Corredores Ferroviarios S.A." (a private company part of Emepa Group) on February 12, 2014.[10][11][12]

In December 2014, brand new trains acquired by the Government of Argentina from Chinese company CNR Dalian, started to run luxury services from Constitución to Mar del Plata.[13][14] The classic service continued to be operated by Ferrobaires.[15]

In February 2015, services from Buenos Aires to Rufino, Santa Fe were reestablished after 22 years. The service runs with brand-new trains acquired from China on Ferrocarril San Martín tracks. Trains make stops at Chacabuco, Junín, Vedia and Alberdi, among other stations.[16][17]

In March 2015, SOFSE started to run the CNR CKD8 trains from Retiro to Córdoba. Due to the poor condition of the tracks, trains took 19½ hours to run the 700 km. This was more than twice the time that it took in 1938, when services operated by Central Argentine took 9 hours to connect both cities with two intermediate stops.[18][19]

Commuter rail renationalisation

SOFSE took over Belgrano Sur and Roca (operated by Argentren) and Mitre and San Martín (operated by Corredores Ferroviarios) lines after the Government of Argentina rescinded the contracts signed with both companies on March 2, 2015. The contract terms specified that the concession could be cancelled with no right to claim compensation.[20] The agreements had been signed in February 2014, committing Argentren and Corredores Ferroviarios to operate the lines.[21][22][23]

Latest news

In January 2016, the Ministry of Transport ceased operations over services to La Pampa Province. The Government took the decision based on the low demand of the Santa Rosa–General Pico line and the poor conditions of some bridges that had deteriorated after the flooding in August 2015.[24][25][26]

In June 2016, the Buenos Aires–Rosario service extended operations to Rosario Norte Station (located at the north of the city, closer to the downtown) instead of Rosario Sur, which had been terminus until then.[27]

In March 2023, Trenes Argentinos announced the return of passenger services to Mendoza Province, which had been interrupted since 1993 during the Carlos Menem presidency.[28] As the former Mendoza railway station had been converted into a tram stop and added to the Metrotranvía network, the terminus was set in Palmira, distant 5 km from the city of Mendoza.[29] A test ride was run in March, nevertheless it was severely criticized due to the excessive journey time (27 hours) alleging that in the 1960s the travel took only 13 hours.[30][28] After a delay that took more than two months,[31][32] the service (that had terminus in Justo Daract, San Luis Province) was finally reestablished to reach Palmira in June 2023.[33]

Nevertheless, in successive years several railway lines were closed by Trenes Argentinos, in most of the cases the company alleged increasing maintenance costs, lower demand, and infrastructure problems as causal factors.[34] Some of the closed services were the tourist service Mercedes–Tomas Jofré (after an accident where a truck destroyed one of its bridges in 2024;[35] the line had been reopened only one year before.[36] As the bridge was never repaired, the service continues inactive),[37] Retiro–Justo Daract, Retiro–Palmira,[38] and the Bragado–Pehuajó (2024)[39] and General Guido–Pinamar (April 2025) branches.[40][41]

In 2025, several services were indefinitely suspended by Trenes Argentinos such as trains to Córdoba and San Miguel de Tucumán, both in December 2025. The company explained that the suspension was due to track repair work that has been underway since a previous derailment in September.[42]

Metropolitan

Commuter rail services within the Buenos Aires Province:[43]

• Notes

Long distance

Inter-city services along Argentina, As of [44]

• Notes

Regional

International

Maps of services operated

As of October 2024