SUBTE
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Buenos Aires,
the capital of Argentina, is one of South America's biggest cities with
3 million inhabitants (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires) and 12 million
in the larger metropolitan area (Gran Buenos Aires). For a city of this
size the metro network is still very small although it's by far the oldest
subway in South America.
After losing
many passengers during the 1980's, the Subte was privatised and
was then operated by Metrovías which immediately started
refurbishing stations and buying new rolling stock to replace older trains,
some of which had been running since the Subte opened. On 1 Dec
2021 (until 2033), the new operator became Emova Movilidad, a company
formed by Metrovías and Benito Roggio Transporte.
The total
network is approx. 54 km (06/2019) and totally underground.
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Línea
A |
9.8 km, 18 stations |
 The
first line of the metro, Line A, was built and initially operated
by a private company called Anglo Argentine Tramway Company and opened
already in 1913.
01/12/1913
- Plaza de Mayo - Plaza Miserere
01/04/1914 - Plaza Miserere - Río de Janeiro
01/07/1914 - Río de Janeiro - Primera Junta
23/12/2008 - Primera Junta - Carabobo
27/09/2013 - Carabobo - San Pedrito
More
Photos
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Línea
B |
12.5
km, 17 stations |
 Line
B was built by the Anglo's rival
Lacroze. Lacroze operated an interurban line from Chacarita to Campo de
Mayo, which later became General Urquiza railroad and is now owned by
Metrovías. That is one reason why Urquiza is the only railroad in Buenos
Aires that has 1435 mm gauge instead of broad gauge. It originally had
a catenary but was later changed to third rail and coaches are the same
width than those from broad-gauge railroads. Lacroze designed and built
Subte Line B to feed their suburban railroad. Since the only other Subte
line at the time was a competitor, compatibility wasn't an issue, so Line
B cars are wider and they use third rail, while all other lines use catenary.
17/10/1930
- Federico Lacroze - Callao
22/07/1931 - Callao - Pellegrini
xx/12/1931 - Pellegrini - L.N.Alem
09/08/2003 - Federico Lacroze - Los Incas
26/07/2013 - De
Los Incas/Parque Chas - Juan Manuel de Rosas (1.6 km)
More
Photos
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Línea
C |
4.4
km, 9 stations |
Line
C was built by Chadopyf (Compañía Hispano Argentina de Obras Públicas
y Finanzas) in 1933. The first section was opened in 1934 and it went
from Constitución to Diagonal Norte. In 1936, it was stretched to Retiro
and in 1937 San Martín station was opened. It currently uses Siemens cars.
09/11/1934
- Constitución - Diagonal Norte
06/02/1936 - Diagonal Norte - Retiro (General San Martín
opened 17/08/1937)
More
Photos
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Línea
D |
11
km, 16 stations |
Line
D was began in 1936 and the first section (Catedral - Tribunales)
was opened in 1937. In 1940, it was extended to Palermo. This line
was also built by Chadopyf. In 1987, it was extended to Ministro Carranza,
and during the late 1990s it reached its current terminus Congreso
de Tucumán. Line D has three different types of rolling stock:
Fiat-Materfer (which are maroon and white), Nagoya (the city that owned
them previously) and Alstom Metropolis (which were meant for Line A, which
has to be upgraded before they can be used there).
03/06/1937
- Catedral - Tribunales (1.7 km)
23/02/1940 - Tribunales - Palermo
29/12/1987 - Palermo - Ministro Carranza
31/05/1997 - Ministro Carranza - José Hernández
21/06/1999 - José Hernández - Juramento
27/04/2000 - Juramento - Congreso de Tucumán
More
Photos
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Línea
E |
11.2
km, 18 stations |
Line
E
was also built by Chadopyf. Work began in 1940 and the first section between
San José and the intersection at General Urquiza
was opened in 1944. Six months later, it was extended to a temporary platform
at Boedo, which remained in use until a definitive station was
opened in 1960. By 1966, it was extended from Bolivar to Avenida
La Plata, then in 1973 to José María Moreno, to Varela in
1985, and eventually to Plaza de los Virreyes in 1986. 33 years
later it reached Retiro.
20/06/1944
- San José (Plaza Constitución) - General Urquiza
(3 km)
16/12/1944 - General Urquiza - Boedo (temporary platform)
09/12/1960 - Boedo (new station)
24/04/1966 - Boedo - Av. La Plata and San
José - Bolívar
23/06/1973 - Av. La Plata - José María Moreno
07/10/1985 - José María Moreno - Emilio Mitre
31/10/1985 - Emilio Mitre - Medalla Milagrosa
27/11/1985 - Medalla Milagrosa - Varela
08/05/1986 - Varela - Plaza de los Virreyes
03/06/2019 - Bolívar - Retiro (2 km)
March 2013:
Entre Ríos station renamed into Rodolfo Walsh
More
Photos
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Línea
H |
8 km, 12 stations |
Line
H opened in October 2007, 63 years after the last subte line had been
brought into service. It was planned to run parallel to Line
C, from Retiro to Sáenz (11 km),
to be built in various stages. Construction on the first section between
Plaza Once and Inclán started in 2001. A fifth station,
Caseros, was added to the project in 2003.
18/10/2007:
Once - Caseros (2.9 km)
06/12/2010: Once - Corrientes (0.7 km)
04/10/2011: Caseros - Parque Patricios (0.6 km)
27/05/2013: Parque Patricios - Hospitales (0.8 km)
18/12/2015: Corrientes - Las Heras (2 km)
12/07/2016: Santa Fe station
17/05/2018: Las Heras - Julieta Lanteri-Facultad de Derecho
More
Photos
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Premetro |
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Apart from
the Subte there is a 7.4 km light rail line (called Premetro
and opened in 1987) which serves the southwestern part of the city from
Line E's terminus at Plaza de Los
Virreyes.

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Suburban
Railways |
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Besides
the Subte, Buenos Aires has numerous suburban railways, some operated
with diesel and some with electric trains:
1)
Ferrocarril Urquiza: standard-gauge with 3rd rail power supply, running
west from Federico Lacroze, operated by Metrovías
2) Línea
Mitre: broad-gauge with 3rd rail power supply, running north and northwest
from Retiro
3) Línea Belgrano Norte: non-electrified metre-gauge line running north
along the coast from Retiro; operated by FERROVIAS
4) Línea San Martín: non-electrified broad-gauge line running west from
Retiro
5) Línea Sarmiento: broad-gauge with 3rd rail power supply, running west
from Plaza Once; being put underground on inner section
6) Línea Belgrano Sur: non-electrified metre-gauge lines running west
from Buenos Aires and Puente Alsina terminals
7) Línea Roca: broad-gauge with overhead power supply, running south from
Plaza Constitución
8) Línea Tren de la Costa:
standard-gauge light rail line electrified with overhead catenary in the
north of the metropolitan area, connecting to the Bartolomé Mitre
branch of the Línea Mitre (TREN
DE LA COSTA)
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Projects
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Current
projects:
Line
H:
Southern extension from Hospitales to Saenz
Mid-term
projects:
Line
H -
northern section Facultad
de Derecho to Retiro
Long
term plans include several north-south routes to create a proper network
avoiding the city centre:
Line
F - 8.6 km - from Plaza Italia (Line D) to Constitución
(Line C); later south to Barracas.
Line G - 7.3 km - from Retiro to Cid Campeador; later northwest
to Villa del Parque.
Line I - 6.6 km - from Emilio Mitre (Line E) to Plaza Italia
(Line D); later north to Ciudad Universitaria.
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The former project to extend Line
D from Congreso de Tucumán to Manuel Pedraza,
was indefinitely postponed.
See
Map1
(thanks to Jordi Serradell) and map2 (thanks
to Mariano Hellmuth-Gómez) with possible future lines.
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Photos
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Links
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Metrovías
S.A. Subte Operator (Official Website)
Official
Integrated Map with Subte and Suburban Railways by Gagin Studio
Graphic Design
Trenes
Argentinos (Most Suburban Railways)
En
el Subte by Martín Machain
Subte
& Premetro
at Wikipedia.es
Ferrocarriles
Metropolitanos de Buenos Aires at Wikipedia.es
Allen Morrison's
BA Electric
Railways Map
Map
showing future extensions by Jordi Serradell
UrbanRail.Net
> B.A. Subte Photo Gallery
ALAMYS
- Asociación Latinoamericana de Metros y Subterráneos
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