View source for Mitre Line

{{Short description|Broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province}}
{{About|the commuter rail line|the national railway company|General Bartolomé Mitre Railway}}

{{Infobox rail service
| box_width       = 250 
| name            = Mitre Line
| logo            = Trenes Argentinos - Línea Mitre.svg
| logo_width      = 200 
| image           = Ferrocarril Mitre EMUs at Retiro.jpg
| image_width     = 250 
| caption         = [[CSR EMU (Argentina)|CSR electric multiple units]] <br> in [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]], February 2015.
| type            = [[Commuter rail]]
| status          = Active
| locale          = [[Buenos Aires Province]]
| predecessor     = [[Central Argentine Railway|Central Argentine]]
| first           = {{Start date and age|1948}}
| last            = 
| successor       = 
| operator        = [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado|SOFSE]]
| formeroperator  = [[Corredores Ferroviarios]]
| ridership       = 
| ridership2      = 
| website         = [https://www.argentina.gob.ar/transporte/trenes-argentinos/horarios-tarifas-y-recorridos/areametropolitana/lineamitre Mitre Line]
| start           = [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]]
| stops           = 57
| end             = {{collapsible list|
* [[Tigre, Buenos Aires Province|Tigre]]  
* [[Olivos, Buenos Aires|B. Mitre]]
* José L. Suárez
* [[Zárate, Buenos Aires|Zárate]] 
* [[Capilla del Señor]] 
}}
| distance        = {{convert|180|km|abbr=on}}
| journeytime     = {{collapsible list|
* 75' {{efn|name=tigre|Retiro-Tigre}} 
* 50' {{efn|name=mitre|Retiro-B.Mitre}}
* 65' {{efn|name=suarez|Retiro-J.L. Suárez}}
* 120' {{efn|name=zarate|J.L. Suárez-Zárate}}
* 70' {{efn|name=Capilla|Victoria-Capilla del Señor}}
}}
| frequency       = {{collapsible list|
* 20' {{efn|name=tigre}}
* 30' {{efn|name=mitre}}
* 20' {{efn|name=suarez}}
* 70' {{efn|name=zarate}}
* <small>7 trains per day</small> {{efn|name=Capilla}}
}}
| trainnumber     = 
| line_used       = 
| class           = 
| access          = 
| seating         = 
| sleeping        = 
| autorack        = 
| catering        = 
| observation     = 
| entertainment   = 
| baggage         = 
| otherfacilities = 
| stock           = [[CSR EMU (Argentina)|CSR EMUs]] (electric) <br> [[Materfer CMM 400-2]] (diesel)
| gauge           = {{RailGauge|1676mm|lk=on}}
| el              = 
| speed           = 
| owners          = [[Government of Argentina]]
| routenumber     = 
| map             = [[File:Mitre line map.jpg|250px]]
| map_state       = collapsed
}}
The '''Mitre line''' is an [[Argentina|Argentine]] [[Indian gauge|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 [[Government owned corporation|State-owned company]] [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado]] after the [[Government of Argentina]] rescinded its contract with [[Corredores Ferroviarios]] in March 2015.

==History==

===Background===
[[File:Buenos Aires - Retiro - Estación Retiro FCCA a fines del siglo XIX.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Old Retiro station, c. 1890s. Current building was inaugurated in 1915]]
The first line was built and operated by the [[Buenos Aires Northern Railway]], a British-owned company that ran trains from [[Central Station (Buenos Aires)|Central Station]] (then from [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]]) to [[Tigre, Buenos Aires Province|Tigre]], joining both cities in 1857. The company was then taken over by the [[Central Argentine Railway]] in 1888 due to financial problems.

In 1891, [[Victoria, Buenos Aires|Victoria]] station was inaugurated. Trains to Zelaya and [[Capilla del Señor]] departed from Victoria for the first time one year later. In 1916, the [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]]-[[Tigre, Buenos Aires Province|Tigre]] line was [[Railway electrification system|electrified]], becoming the first electrified railway system in South America. New [[British Thomson-Houston]] (BTH) [[electric multiple unit|multiple units]] were acquired to run on the line. The CAR also installed the first [[crossbuck]] and manually-operated gates on the many existing level crossings.

During successive years, several new stations were built by the company, including [[Beccar, Buenos Aires|Beccar]] (1913), [[La Lucila]] (1933), [[Acassuso]] (1934) and [[Virreyes, Buenos Aires|Virreyes]] (1938).

===Ferrocarriles Argentinos===
[[File:Ferrocarriles Argentinos - Metropolitan Vickers.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A [[Metropolitan Vickers]] in B. Mitre (1990).]]
When the [[Government of Argentina]] led by [[Juan Perón]] [[Railway Nationalisation in Argentina|nationalised British and French railway companies]] in 1948, the state-owned company [[Ferrocarriles Argentinos]] took over all the railway lines in the country.

In 1962, the FIAT [[Fiat Materfer 7131|7131]], a [[railcar]] manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in the [[Villa Ballester]]-[[Zárate, Buenos Aires|Zárate]] and [[Victoria, Buenos Aires|Victoria]]-[[Capilla del Señor]] sections of [[Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre|Ferrocarril Mitre]], then managed by [[Ferrocarriles Argentinos|Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA)]]. These light railcars replaced [[Ganz Works]] railcars that had run on those lines since 1938.<ref name=bernasconi>''Historia del Ferrocarril al Norte del Gran Buenos Aires: Ferrocarriles Mitre y Belgrano'' by Ariel Bernasconi - Dunken Editorial (2012) - {{ISBN|978-9870257691}}</ref>

The lack of maintenance of the FIAT 7131 coaches meant that some of them went out of service, so in 1987 Ferrocarriles Argentinos acquired new light railcars for the Zárate and Capilla del Señor branches. The company bought 8 units made by Materfer which were soon nicknamed ''Pitufos'' (a Spanish translation for "[[The Smurfs|Smurfs]]" due to their small size). Nevertheless, the limited seating capacity and poor [[Shock absorber|damping]] of those units mean that the 7131 coaches continued to be used.<ref name=bernasconi/>

===Privatisation: TBA===
[[File:Estación Colegiales Ferrocarril Mitre 2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Toshiba]] [[electric multiple unit|multiple unit]] at [[Colegiales]].]]
[[File:Estación Garín.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A [[Materfer]] [[railcar]] (''Pitufo'') in [[Garin, Buenos Aires|Garín]].]]
FA operated the trains until 1991 when [[FEMESA]] temporarily took over all the urban services prior to the services being privatised. After the Government of [[Carlos Menem]] [[Railway privatisation in Argentina|privatised the urban railways services]] private company [[Trenes de Buenos Aires]] (TBA) took over the Mitre Line.

When the Government of Argentina decided to [[Railway privatisation in Argentina|privative all the urban railway services]] in 1992, the Mitre Line was given the concession for TBA (which also took over [[Sarmiento Line (Buenos Aires)|Sarmiento Line]]) through Decree N° 730/95.

During the first two years of the concession, TBA met the requirements specified in the contract regarding the frequency of service, with an average of 98%. By February 1999 the consortium had invested US$200 million including the reconstruction of 220 [[Toshiba]] wagons, and the remodelling of 13 stations and workshops. In addition, a new ticket selling system was introduced with the installation of vending machines.

One of the most notable improvements was the introduction of "Puma" coaches on the Retiro-Tigre branch. These coaches were built by local factory [[Emprendimientos Ferroviarios S.A.]] (EMFER) and featured air conditioning, [[Anti-lock braking system|ABS brakes]] and computer-supervising systems.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101209234609/http://www.emfer.com.ar/puma.htm Detalle de los coches Puma en sitio web de EMFER] (Archive)</ref>

In 1997 the Government decided to modify the contracts of concession with a plan of modernisation worth US$2.5 billion. The future investments included acquiring 492 brand-new [[electric multiple unit]]s, the refurbishing of more than 100&nbsp;km of existing tracks, and the installation of new [[Railway signalling|signalling]], among other improvements.

Nevertheless, the Government of [[Fernando De la Rúa]] (which had come to power in 1999) made changes to the original project, reducing the amount of the budget to US$1.3 billion. The State granted subsidies to TBA (and the rest of the private operators) as a way to compensate for the losses arising from the change in plans and to avoid fare increases.

Due to the lack of investment in the Mitre Line, the quality of the service decreased considerably. TBA operated the line until the [[2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster|2012 Once station rail disaster]] happened. As a result, the National Government revoked the concession granted to TBA and gave the Mitre and Sarmiento lines to the State operator [[Unidad de Gestión Operativa Mitre Sarmiento|UGOMS]], that then ran the lines until 2014 when it was transferred under concession to [[Corredores Ferroviarios]].<ref name=privat1/><ref name=privat2/><ref name=privat3/>

===New concession===
[[File:Martinez Mitre.jpg|200px|thumbnail|[[Martínez, Buenos Aires|Martínez]] station with new CSR rolling stock.]]
On 12 February 2014, the [[Government of Argentina]] granted the operation of the line to the private company [[Corredores Ferroviarios]].<ref name=privat1>[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1663435-el-gobierno-vuelve-a-privatizar-la-operacion-de-los-trenes-mitre-san-martin-belgrano-sur-y-r "Trenes: le dan a Roggio el Mitre y el San Martín y a Emepa, el Roca y el Belgrano Sur", ''La Nación'', 12 Feb 2014]</ref><ref name=privat2>[http://www.clarin.com/politica/privadas-volveran-operar-mayoria-ferroviarias_0_1083491853.html "Las privadas volverán a operar la mayoría de las líneas ferroviarias", ''Clarín, 12 Feb 2014]</ref><ref name=privat3>[http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201402/51395-el-gobierno-establecio-un-nuevo-regimen-de-operaciones-de-las-lineas-ferroviarias.html "El Gobierno estableció un nuevo régimen de operaciones de las líneas ferroviarias", Telam, 12 Feb 2014]</ref> That same year the Government announced the acquisition of new coaches to increase the Mitre Line's rolling stock. The coaches were manufactured by the [[China|Chinese]] company [[CSR Corporation Limited]], with the first coaches arriving in June 2014.<ref>[http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/csr-fleet-enters-service-in-buenos-aires.html "CSR fleet enters service in Buenos Aires", Railway Gazette International, 10 June 2013]</ref><ref>[http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201401/47267-randazzo-la-renovacion-de-la-flota-del-sarmiento-y-mitre-estara-lista-a-mediados-de-ano.html "Ya está en viaje la primera de las 25 formaciones para la línea Sarmiento", Telam, 7 Jan 2014]</ref>

In November 2014, the Retiro-Tigre section of Mitre Line renewed its fleet of [[Electric multiple unit|electric trains]], adding a total of 12 brand new trains for that service. The [[CSR EMU (Argentina)|CSR trains]] replaced the old [[Toshiba]] cars that had been brought to Argentina in the 1960s for the Mitre and [[Sarmiento Line (Buenos Aires)|Sarmiento]] lines. The purchase cost [[US Dollar|$]]250 million was paid by the National Government.<ref>[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1744302-llega-el-nuevo-tren-mitre-en-diez-dias-ya-circularan-doce-formaciones-chinas "Llega el nuevo tren Mitre: en diez días ya circularán doce formaciones chinas"], ''La Nación'', 16 Nov 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.clarin.com/ciudades/tren-mitre-tigre-nuevos-chinos-asombro-pasajeros-comodos-viajes_0_1255674460.html Clarin.com "Los nuevos trenes del Mitre: asombro en los pasajeros y viajes más cómodos"], ''Clarín'', 26 Nov 2014</ref>

The branch line to José L. Suárez's fleet was renewed completely with the same Chinese trains in January 2015.<ref>[http://www.infobae.com/2015/01/26/1623007-a-partir-hoy-el-mitre-ramal-suarez-tiene-trenes-nuevos "A partir de hoy, el Mitre ramal Suárez tiene trenes nuevos", Infobae], 26 Jan 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.clarin.com/ciudades/desde-hoy-corren-trenes-nuevos-ramal-suarez-mitre-chinos-transporte_0_1292270804.html "Desde hoy corren trenes nuevos en el ramal Suárez del Mitre"], ''Clarín'', 26 Jan 2015</ref>

===Renationalisation===
[[Government owned corporation|State-owned company]] [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado]] took over the Mitre line (operated by [[Corredores Ferroviarios]]) on 2 March 2015 after the [[Government of Argentina]] rescinded the contracts that had been signed with the company. The contract terms specified that the concession could be cancelled with no right to claim compensation.<ref name=ley>[http://www.ieco.clarin.com/economia/Nueva-ley-trenes-esta-lista_0_1315068533.html "Ya está lista la ley que prevé más control estatal sobre los trenes"], ''Clarín'', 5 Mar 2015</ref> The agreements had been signed in February 2014 and had committed Argentren and Corredores Ferroviarios to operate the lines.<ref>[http://www.ambito.com/noticia.asp?id=780856 "Estado rescindió contrato de trenes a privados y avisó que no pagará indemnizaciones"], ''Ambito Financiero'', 2 Mar 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/buenos-aires-commuter-routes-renationalised.html "Buenos Aires commuter routes renationalised"], ''Railway Gazette'', 3 Mar 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.boletinoficial.gov.ar/Avisos/VerPDF.castle?f=20150302&s=01&pd=9&ph=0&sup=False Resolution N° 171/2015 - Official Bulletin of Argentina] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721222449/http://www.boletinoficial.gov.ar/Avisos/VerPDF.castle?f=20150302&s=01&pd=9&ph=0&sup=False |date=2015-07-21 }}</ref>

===Current works===
In 2017, the Ministry of Transport announced the construction of a viaduct for the Retiro–Tigre branch of Mitre Line in Buenos Aires. The viaduct would extend from Dorrego Avenue in [[Palermo, Buenos Aires|Palermo]] to Congreso Avenue in [[Núñez, Buenos Aires|Núñez]] for 3.9 kilometres. Works began in September 2017.  The project also included a total refurbishment of Lisandro de la Torre and Belgrano C stations.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/2059794-como-es-la-obra-del-viaducto-mitre-que-presento-mauricio-macri-en-belgrano Cómo es la obra del viaducto Mitre que eliminará ocho barreras en Belgrano, Núñez y Palermo], ''La Nación'', 5 Sep 2017</ref> The viaduct was opened to traffic on 10 May 2019 by President Mauricio Macri leading to the removal eight level crossings.

=== Historic operators ===
{{Mitre Line}}
Companies that have operated the Sarmiento Line since it was established after the [[railway nationalisation in Argentina|1948 nationalisation]] are:
{| class= wikitable
|-
! width=200px| Operator
! Period
|-
| [[Ferrocarriles Argentinos]] || 1948–1991 
|-
| [[FEMESA]] || 1991–1995
|-
| [[Trenes de Buenos Aires]] || 1995–2012
|-
| [[Unidad de Gestión Operativa Mitre Sarmiento|UGOMS]] || 2012–2013
|-
| [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado|SOFSE]] || 2013–2014
|-
| [[Corredores Ferroviarios]] || 2014–2015
|-
| [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado|Trenes Argentinos]] || 2015–present
|}

==Train services==
Mitre Line services as of February, 2015:

{| class="wikitable sortable" 
|-
! width=120px  | Start
! width=150px  | End
! width=40px  | Km.
! width=80px | Type
|-
| rowspan=3| [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]] || [[Tigre, Buenos Aires Province|Tigre]] || align=center| 30 || rowspan=3| [[Electric multiple unit|Electric]] 
|-
| [[Olivos, Buenos Aires|B. Mitre]] || align=center| 15
|-
| José León Suárez || align=center| 27
|-
| [[Victoria, Buenos Aires|Victoria]] || [[Capilla del Señor]]  || align=center| 60 || rowspan=2| [[Diesel locomotive|Diesel]]
|-
| [[Villa Ballester]] || [[Zárate, Buenos Aires|Zárate]]  || align=center| 75
|}

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="90px">
File:Saavedra_station_building.jpg|Saavedra station
File:Tigre train station.jpg|New [[Tigre, Buenos Aires Province|Tigre]] station, opened in 1995
File:Terminal de Retiro.JPG|Facade of [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]] station
File:Invierno del 2017 en Buenos Aires 12.jpg|Interior of Retiro station
File:Csr emu retiro.jpg|[[Electric multiple unit|EMU]] arriving at [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]]
File:Materfer Mitre 2.jpg|[[Materfer CMM 400-2]] used for diesel services
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[General Bartolomé Mitre Railway|Mitre Railway]]
* [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado|Trenes Argentinos]]
* [[Corredores Ferroviarios]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}}
* [https://trenesargentinos.net/horarios-del-tren-mitre/ Horarios del Tren Mitre] on Trenes Argentinos.net
* [https://www.trenmitre.com.ar/ Tren Mitre.com.ar] 

{{Buenos Aires Transit}}
{{Rail transport in Argentina}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linea Mitre (Buenos Aires)}}
[[Category:Greater Buenos Aires]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Buenos Aires Province|m]]
[[Category:5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Argentina]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]