THE Argentine government has announced that it will not renew the contract held by operator Ferrovías for the 54km metre-gauge Belgrano North commuter line from Retiro Belgrano station to Villa Rosa despite Ferrovías’ application for a contract extension.
Regional editor Ian Thomson-Newman reports from the Rail LatAm conference held in Santiago in November, on the latest developments in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.
ARGENTINA’s Ministry of Transport published a resolution in the Official Gazette of the Republic on December 29 confirming its intention to award CRRC Qingdao Sifang a $US 316.5m contract to supply 200 EMU cars for the Buenos Aires suburban network.
TRANSMASHHOLDING (TMH) moved a step closer to entering the Argentinean rail market on December 20, when the Russian company’s local subsidiary signed an agreement with Argentinean Trains Infrastructure to lease the disused Mechita workshops in Buenos Aires province for a minimum of three years.
ELECTRIC services on Buenos Aires’ suburban Roca Line were finally extended to the state capital La Plata on October 18 following the completion of electrification works on the 9.6km branch from City Bell.
ARGENTINA’s Ministry of Transport has launched an international tender for a contract to supply 1500 EMU cars for the Buenos Aires RER network, which will bring high-frequency services to suburban lines in the capital.
THE Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $US 400m loan to support signalling and telecommunications upgrades and electrification of the 76km San Martin commuter railway in Buenos Aires, the only suburban line in the city not to be electrified.
POSE, Argentina, has awarded a €10m sub-contract to Alstom to supply signalling equipment for a project to resignal four stations on the Merlo - Lobos branch of the Sarmiento Line in Buenos Aires for Argentinean Trains Infrastructure (TAI).
REGULAR passenger services between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata resumed on July 3 following a two-year hiatus.
ARGENTINA’s transport minister Mr Guillermo Dietrich and the chief of government of Buenos Aires Mr Rodríguez Larreta officially launched construction on a project to elevate part of the city’s San Martín Line on June 8.
