Ferrocentral
{{Short description|Defunct Argentine railway company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Ferrocentral
| logo = Ferrocentral logo.png
| logo_size = 200
| logo_alt =
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| image = Argentine train - Ferrocentral - Buenos Aires - Tucuman.jpg
| image_size = 250
| image_alt =
| image_caption = A train in Tucumán station (2006)
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| type = Private
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| industry = Railway
| fate = Defunct
| predecessor = Ferrocarriles Argentinos
| successor = Trenes Argentinos
| founded = 2004
| founder =
| defunct = {{end date and age|2014}}
| hq_location =
| hq_location_city = Buenos Aires
| hq_location_country = Argentina
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| area_served = Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Sgo. del Estero, Tucumán Provinces
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| services = Public transport, Maintenance, repair, and operations
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| owner = Grupo Emepa
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}}
Ferrocentral was an Argentine private railway company, with a name being a portmanteau of the Spanish words for "Central Rail". It operated long-distance passenger trains from its base at Retiro Mitre station in Buenos Aires to several locations in northern Argentina, running on Ferrocarril Mitre's {{track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} Indian gauge tracks.
The company also ran regional services (such as Tren de las Sierras) on Ferrocarril Belgrano's {{Track gauge|1m|allk=on}} tracks in Córdoba Province.[http://www2.cordoba.gov.ar/turismo/tren-de-las-sierras/ "Tren de las Sierras" on Córdoba Turismo website]{{Cite web |url=http://www.plataforma14.com.ar/trensierras1.html |title="Inauguracion Tren de las Sierras" on Plataforma 14 |access-date=2015-02-06 |archive-date=2009-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203114307/http://plataforma14.com.ar/trensierras1.html |url-status=dead }} The National Government invested $10 million to re-open the line.[http://archivo.lavoz.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=99324 "Mañana regresa el Tren de las Sierras", La Voz del Interior], 11 Aug 2007
History
File:La Banda Mirando a Tucumán.jpg.]]
File:Provincia de Tucumán - San Miguel de Tucumán - Interior estación Tucumán Mitre.JPG]]
File:Formación del Tren de las Sierras en Estación Cosquín.JPG in Cosquín]]
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 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 (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 Buenos Aires to the city of Córdoba.[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/03/18/um/m-941504.htm "Reinauguraron el tren Retiro-Córdoba"] Clarín, 18 Mar 2005{{Cite web |url=http://www.todotren.com.ar/trenesturisticos/arg_fcc_2.htm |title="Volvió el tren a Córdoba... de la mano de Ferrocentral", sitio web Todo Tren |access-date=2015-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220082305/http://www.todotren.com.ar/trenesturisticos/arg_fcc_2.htm |archive-date=2013-12-20 |url-status=dead }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20080123183259/http://www.geocities.com/faxsiempre_2/Ferrocentral.htm "La vuelta del Rayo de Sol"] (Archive)
In 2006 Ferrocentral started to run trains to Tucumán, with stops in Rosario and La Banda, a city of Santiago del Estero Province.[http://www.rielfm.com.ar/2005.09.12,vuelve-el-tren-a-tucuman,3193,imprimir.htm "Vuelve el tren a Tucumán", Riel FM], 12 Sep 2005 (Archive) Long-distance passenger trains were tractioned by GT22 diesel locomotives.[http://portaldetrenes.com.ar/articulos/426/las-incansables-gt-22-ii "Las incansables GT-22 (II)" by Andrés J. Bilstein] on Portal de Trenes, 23 Jun 2014 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 Train") of Córdoba Province that connected the cities of Córdoba and Cosquín.
On 2013, Ministry of Transport of Argentina, Florencio Randazzo, signed a resolution transferring the services to Córdoba and San Miguel de Tucumán to State-owned companies SOFSE (also known as "Trenes Argentinos") and Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF).[http://www.boletinoficial.gov.ar/Inicio/Index.castle Resolución N° 1093/13: "Ferrocentral pasa a la órbita de SOFSE"], Official Bulletin of Argentina[http://www.lagaceta.com.ar/nota/560902/economia/tren-tucumanretiro-vuelve-mano-estatal.html "El tren Tucumán-Retiro vuelve a mano estatal"], La Gaceta, 20 Sep 2013
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.[http://www.lanoticia1.com/noticia/ferrocentral-y-la-imposible-tarea-de-comprar-un-pasaje-tucuman-57202.html "Ferrocentral y la imposible tarea de comprar un pasaje a Tucumán"], La Noticia1, 23 Sep 2014
In November 2014, the Government of Argentina (through the State-owned company Trenes Argentinos S.A.) took over the services to Rosario, Tucumán and Córdoba, leaving Ferrocentral inactive.Argentine government takes control of FerroCentral International Railway Journal October 2013 page 9[http://www.ieco.clarin.com/economia/Estatizaron-trenes-pasajeros-larga_distancia_0_1244875628.html Estatizaron los trenes de pasajeros de larga distancia] Clarín 8 November 2014[http://www.infobae.com/2014/11/07/1607276-el-gobierno-estatizo-los-servicios-ferrocarriles-larga-distancia El Gobierno estatizó los servicios de ferrocarriles de larga distancia] Infobae 7 November 2014
Services
Services operated as of October 2014:[https://web.archive.org/web/20140625062659/http://ferrocentralsa.com.ar/servicios.htm "Servicios" on Ferrocentral website] (Archive)
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left"
! width=120px| Start ! width=120px| End ! width=60px| Journey time (h) ! width=60px| Days p.w. ! width=60px| Opened | ||||
| rowspan=3| Retiro | Rosario Norte | align=center| 9 | align=center| 3 | align=center| 2005 |
| Córdoba | align=center| 14 | align=center| 4 | align=center| 2005 | |
| Tucumán | align=center| 24 | align=center| 2 | align=center| 2005 | |
| Córdoba | Villa María | align=center| 3 | align=center| 2 | align=center| 2004 |
| Alta Córdoba | Cosquín | align=center| 2 | align=center| 7 | align=center| 2007 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081217205509/https://www.ferrocentralsa.com.ar/ Official website] (archived, 17 Dec 2008)
{{Railway Companies in Argentina}}
Category:Defunct railway companies of Argentina
Category:Railway companies established in 2004
Category:Railway companies disestablished in 2014
Category:2004 establishments in Argentina
Category:2014 disestablishments in Argentina
Category:Rail transport in Buenos Aires Province
Category:Rail transport in Córdoba Province, Argentina
Category:Rail transport in Santa Fe Province