Subways of Buenos Aires
Subterráneos de Buenos Aires (SBASE) is a State Company of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Said company is the legal owner of the entire subway network in Buenos Aires, including fixed installations and rolling stock, as well as natural operator and control body in case of concession. This company is also in charge of planning and executing network extension works.
Its origin dates back to 1963, when the National State decided to create "Subterráneos de Buenos Aires" from the disintegration of the General Administration of Transport of Buenos Aires. Said entity was converted into a State Company with full autonomy in 1977 and later transferred to the orbit of the then Municipality of the City of Buenos Aires in 1979. It directly operated the subway network until December 31, 1993, the year in that the provision of services was granted under the State reform plan of President Carlos Saúl Menem. Thus, the Buenos Aires subway network added the particularity of being the first in the world to be granted as a concession to a private company, Metrovías, which began operating it on January 1, 1994.
History
Unification of the Subway Network
The Buenos Aires subway, inaugurated on December 1, 1913 by the private company "Compañía de Tranvías Anglo Argentina" (C.T.A.A.), was the first in Latin America and the southern hemisphere. This would be followed by the Lacroze brothers' subway, inaugurated on October 17, 1930, known at that time as the "Ferrocarril Terminal Central de Buenos Aires" (F.T.C.B.A.), since it was an underground extension of the "Ferrocarril Central", belonging to the same company and therefore its construction was guaranteed by a national concession and not by the Municipality. Finally, the "Compañía Hispano-Argentina de Obras Públicas y Finanzas" (CHADOPyF), which manages to inaugurate 2 lines: Constitución - Retiro and Plaza de Mayo - Palermo, both built and inaugurated during the 1930s. A third line (Constitución - Parque Chacabuco) was half-built and was never operated by the CHADOPyF .
In 1936, the National Congress approved the Law for the Transport Corporation of the City of Buenos Aires. The purpose of this new joint venture would be to coordinate the collective passenger transport services of the City of Buenos Aires and its extensions outside the federal district, avoiding unnecessary and wasteful overlapping, and would also be in charge of organizing the new services that were considered necessary in the future. Based on this measure, the National State defined its position as the main actor in the formulation and implementation of transport policies.
All services would be managed under the same financial direction. Trams, subways, buses and collective cars would be included, with the exception of railways under national jurisdiction, tourism services and those that were not of a public nature.
All the firms dedicated to transportation and their respective assets would be absorbed by the Transportation Corporation. The former owners would be compensated with shares of the new Entity and would join the board of this macro-company, thus ending the era of "plural solutions".
The Corporation began operating on February 17, 1939, however, the complexity of the operation meant that the merger of the different companies would take time: for example, the Hispano-Argentina Company delivered its assets to the Transport Corporation only on January 5, 1941.
With all the underground lines in the hands of the Corporation, their nomenclature was unified (A, B, C, D and E) according to the inauguration date of each line. However, with the arrival of the Corporation, the expansion of the subway came to a complete standstill, with some exceptions such as the inauguration of Line E (1944), which after the CHADOPyF debacle had been half-built (Constitución - General Urquiza section).) and unable to enter service.
However, for various reasons, the unifying experiment fails and on October 1, 1948, the Corporation enters the liquidation process. Initially, the Government's objective is to deliver the provision of services to private concessionaires, but no bidder appears.
Finally, the State decides to take over the dying company through the Buenos Aires General Transport Administration (AGTBA), which began its operations on January 1, 1952, putting an end to the tensions between the different actors that had formed the former CTCBA (Nation, Municipality, national automotive capital, foreign tramway and underground capital), since now the National State assumed the direct provision of all transport services.
However, the growing structural deficit and the progressive social policy of full employment and price stability made the situation unsustainable. [citation required]
Given this situation, the State was forced to design a new policy for the transfer of ownership of the media to the private sector, contemplating the reduction of personnel and the elimination of services that were deficient.[citation required] ·
On July 9, 1955 (still in the Peronist government), the Liquidation Intervention of the State Transport Company of Buenos Aires was established. In this way, the AGTBA begins to get rid of the bus lines, which are gradually being re-privatized. In 1961 the buses were privatized and in October of that year, by Decree of the Executive Power, the suppression of the tram and trolleybus systems was also decided arguing obsolescence and enormous deficit.
At the same time, in 1957, the State concentrated on restarting the expansion works of the Subway, starting the construction of the “San José - Plaza de Mayo” tunnel (Line E). Essential work for this Line, since at that time its traffic was almost nil. Meanwhile, at the other end of the Line, work is restarting for the completion of the final station "Av. Boedo" and the construction of the next station begins: "Av. La Plata".
Creation of the company
By 1963 almost all trams and trolleybuses had been eradicated and the bus lines were already privatized. Only the subway network remained under the orbit of the National State, in charge of the Subway Department of the AGTBA. As this company is liquidated, in June 1963 the State creates a new public entity, the Subterráneos de Buenos Aires company (SBA).
After several years under construction, on April 24, 1966, Line E began operating between the stations “Av. La Plata” and “Bolívar”, using two new tunnel sections: one extended from “San José” to the Terminal "Bolívar" plus a small extension of about 250 meters (under Plaza de Mayo) that passed under the Line A tunnel and above the freight tunnel of the old Western Railway (today F.C. Sarmiento). The other section ran between “Av. Boedo” and “Av. La Plata”, at the west end of the line. With this new route inaugurated by President Arturo Illia, the tunnel reached a total length of 7,360 meters. It was the first extension carried out since 1944.[citation required] The old route (San José – Constitución) continued to be used as a garage and link tunnel with the rest of the network, while the "San José" station (old) was abandoned (later it would function as a workshop).
In 1969, a small tunnel built after the “Palermo” station, which was called “Palermo garage” was enabled in line D line. Meanwhile, the works begin to prolong their journey west of La Plata Avenue, and so on June 23, 1973, the new station " José María Moreno ". Despite the extension and the change of trace, the line E remained the one that transported the least passengers, registered peaks of 45,000 people per business day.
To highlight the hard blow that the appearance of the CTCBA and subsequent state management meant, it should be noted that almost five decades after the inauguration of Line A (1913) in Buenos Aires, Mexico City recent It begins the construction of its own underground network in 1969 and until then the Argentine capital was the only Latin American city with underground services. Mexico is followed by Brazil with the São Paulo Metro networks in 1974 and Rio de Janeiro in 1979. In Santiago de Chile, line 1 and in 1978 the Santiago Metro line 2 were inaugurated in 1975. In a few years all these new networks will exceed the stagnant and anachronistic underground of Buenos Aires.
In 1976, after a coup, the last military dictatorship assumed power in Argentina. The new government understands that automobile traffic is one of the main problems facing the Federal Capital and for this reason a comprehensive Urban Highway Plan is designed and the remodeling and expansion of the antiquated Subway Network is proposed.
The technicians of the Process argue that the inconvenience, the interruptions and the short duration of the service made the subway a deficient means of transportation. The numbers were compelling: while the taxis mobilized 1,500,000 people daily, the subway barely moved 700,000.
At that time, the Buenos Aires network was 34.7 km long and the government's idea was to modernize the existing infrastructure and incorporate, in a first phase, 40.6 km, bringing the total length to 75.3 km. The Government Plan also contemplated the transfer of the subways to the local level for their subsequent privatization.
Following these guidelines, in 1977, the government assigned SBA the character of a company with broad autonomy, thus constituting Subterráneos de Buenos Aires Sociedad del Estado (SBASE) and on September 17, 1979 (National Law No.: 22070/1979), its share package is transferred to the Municipality of the City of Buenos Aires, as the outcome of a long process of restitution of functions to the sphere of the Capital, which in the 1930s had been taken away by the Nation.
During these years, new rolling stock was incorporated and the expansion of existing lines began:
- In 1976, the company DYCASA was awarded the extension of the “Carchera Palermo” of Line D until the intersection of the Dorrego and Cabildo avenues where a new Transfer Centre with the Mitre Railway, called “Gral. Savio (today “Ministro Carranza” Station).
- In 1977, work began for the extension of Line E as part of the Urban Self Plan. As planned, the consortium builder of the new road works, was also responsible for the execution of a 3km long tunnel from “José María Moreno” to Av. Lafuente, running from the Chacabuco Park, under the path of the future May 25 motorway (AU-1). The project envisaged the construction of four new stations (“Emilio Mitre”, “Medalla Milagrosa”, “Varela” and “Plaza de los Virreyes”).[chuckles]required]
- Other unrealized plans also included the extension of Line B to the northwest, but unlike previous plans, the extension would not be carried out under Av. Triumvirate, but under the new Central Autopist (AU3), whose works would be executed simultaneously. Meanwhile, south of the city, facing the construction of Autopista 9 de Julio Sur also left a space for the future central viaduct of the projected Line G (Retiro – Avellaneda). Undoubtedly, it should be noted that for the first time in decades, a government was implementing integrated projects among the various means of transport.
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However, the crises of 1980 and 1982 caused the works to stagnate, and the expansion works started during the "Process" They could only be completed in the following decades.
In 1985, already in the government of President Raúl Alfonsín, given the low profitability produced by the famous and conflictive Urban Highways, the City of Buenos Aires took over its administration and with them also acquired the unfinished works of the Line E that were under the 25 de Mayo highway, which pass into the hands of Subterráneos de Buenos Aires. It took advantage of international agreements and subsidies to continue the aforementioned line to the southern area of the Flores neighborhood, which in turn would be connected to a Premetro network: a modern tram service that would link the subway terminal with the housing complexes in the extreme southwest. From the capital. The original idea was to build two Premetro lines: The “E1” branch that would start from the transfer center located in "Plaza de los Virreyes" and it would border the Ricchieri Highway, it would have a detour at Avenida Lacarra to access the projected Central Workshop, while the line itself would continue until it reached Av. General Paz, where a branch would reach the Barrio Cdte. Luis Piedrabuena and another branch would continue in the direction of Puente La Noria, where a transfer station would be built. The “E2” branch would also start from “Plaza de los Virreyes” and then move towards the southwest of the city. The E2 would combine with the Belgrano Sur Railway at the “Presidente Illia” station (Soldati Housing Complex), it would pass in front of the still populous "Parque de la Ciudad" (former Parque Interama), would cross entirely the Lugano I and II Housing Complex (later General Savio Neighborhood) making "loop" to return to the Plaza de los Vierreyes but by Avenida Roca instead of Avenida Fernández de la Cruz.
The works for the extension of the subway Line E restarted immediately and on October 7, 1985 a shuttle service was inaugurated between "José María Moreno" and "Emilio Miter" (Parque Chacabuco), extended to "Varela ” on the 31st of the same month, although the intermediate station "Medalla Milagrosa" it is enabled only on the following November 27. The service is extended to the "Plaza de los Virreyes" on May 8, 1986.
On June 11, 1986, the installation of the Premetro "E2" on Avenida Lafuente, between Zuviría and Balbastro streets. The laying of the double track took just over a year, which, starting from the “Intendente Julio C. Saguier” Transfer Station (Plaza de los Virreyes - Line E), continued in sections. On December 19, 1986, the official presentation trip took place on a route of about 900 meters along Lafuente street, to the Balbastro stop. On the following April 28, it was extended to the Ana María Janner stop and on August 27, 1987, the Premetro reached the Presidente Illia station on the Belgrano Sur railway line.
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On December 29, 1987, the E2 Premetro reached the “General Savio” and “Centro Cívico” terminals, both located in the Lugano I and II Housing Complex, covering an area of 7,400 m. The works on Line E1 and the extension of Line E2 were never carried out.
Meanwhile, the government reactivated the works for the extension of Line D to the new station called “General Savio”. However, on February 8, 1986, Engineer Roque Carranza died in unclear circumstances: Minister of Public Works and Services between 1983 and 1985 (position from which he promoted the extension of the subway network) and Minister of Defense since 1985, a particularly tense moment where rumors of a new Coup d'état were spreading due to the trial that was being carried out against the Military Juntas of the last de facto government. The unexpected death of Carranza led the radical government to name him after him as a tribute, discarding "General Savio".
So it was that on December 29, 1987, the service of Line D was extended, incorporating a thousand meters of travel to the provisional stop “Ministro Carranza”, with a platform located on the space that the northern track should occupy. A shuttle service was carried out on the southern route, which from the Palermo station allowed Carranza to be reached and to transfer passengers with the Miter line, whose homonymous station had been enabled in September 1986. The then President Raúl Alfonsín presided over the act of inauguration.
That same year, SBA planned, approved and tendered the construction of a new station to be located at the intersection of Cabildo and Federico Lacroze avenues. Construction of this extension began on November 1, 1988, and the completion period was 30 months. This means that, according to the plans, the new station should be finished by mid-1991.
In between, on July 10, 1987, Law 23,514, called the “Permanent Fund for the Expansion of the Subway Network”, was published in the Official Gazette, whose resources would be used to finance the works and guarantee a continuous expansion of network.
During those years SBASE promoted other measures that ultimately did not materialize or were partially materialized:
- Construction of a four-way tunnel between Caballito and Liniers, two tracks would be used for the Sarmiento Railway and the other two for the Subterranean Line A. As SBASE and Argentinian Railways were two state companies, management was facilitated and two long postponed objectives were achieved simultaneously: the extension of Line A and the Sombering of the Sarmiento Railway in the territory of the Capital. However, funding was never achieved and the project was forgotten.
- Allocation of a color to each line of the subway to facilitate identification: Line A was associated with the celestial color, the B with the green, the C with the violet, the D with the red and the E with the yellow. However, this assignment would be modified a few years later.
- In November 1988 the magnetic card system began to be tested, as a pilot test, at the Minister Carranza de la Línea D station, however, this system was not generalized until September 2000.
- Also in 1988 the “Subte bus” was launched, a motor service combined with the subway, which joined the Palermo station with Ciudad Universitaria. The ticket back was sold with a sublet tab.
- Implementation of the 10-sheet “blyster” system to expedite the expendium.
However, despite the good intentions, the subway was increasingly provided: in the last months of 1985 the service of line E began to end at 10:00 p.m. and the same measure was applied to all the Lines on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Shortly after, in 1988, because of the energy crisis suffered by the country, it was arranged that the business days, all lines should close at 22 hours. In this regard, it should be remembered, a fragment of the journalistic note of Tuesday, December 2, 1913 where the newspaper La Prensa reported on the services of the new subway line of the city:
“The underground line of the Anglo-Argentina will be delivered to the public service today.From 6.20 p.m. to 8 p.m. trains will march with interval of four minutes, and from 8 o'clock at night until 12.20 a.m. will run with equal interval, but the convoys will only be composed of two cars. ”
The first train will depart at 5.20 a.m. from Once station, and from that hour, three-car convoys will run every five minutes, until 6.20 p.m.
In July 1989, the city government assumed the new Justicialista administration and the work for the extension of Line D was paralyzed until October 1990 due to lack of financing. [citation required] Since then, the work has progressed slowly, with the economic support given by the new law 23,514, which created the Permanent Fund for the Expansion of the Subway, although the government did not provide any extra resources.
Finally, on December 1, 1993, the definitive station “Ministro Carranza” (Line D) was inaugurated, and direct service began on both tracks from “Catedral”. This would be the last work carried out by SBASE before the private concession of the services
The public administration left countless plans and proposals for posterity, although few concrete achievements. [citation needed]The most relevant works of this period had been carried out on Line E, while the others were constantly postponed. [citation required]In all the state administration, only 10 stations had been inaugurated, if the definitive Boedo station (1960) was taken into account, which already functioned as a temporary halt since 1944. That is, fewer stations than the fourteen built in the open air by the CTAA in just three years (1911-1914).[citation required]
The 1990s
In 1989, the then mayor of Buenos Aires, Carlos Grosso, made a decision that would again bring conflicts of jurisdiction: he decided to cede the subway network to the National Ministry of Economy to include them in the railway privatization process that the national government would undertake. In this way, the five underground lines and the Urquiza Railway would remain under the same business consortium.
The National Executive Power provided, through article 13 of Decree 2074/90, signed on October 3, 1990, the concession to operate the services provided by Subterráneos de Buenos Aires S.E. Through this decree signed by President Carlos Saúl Menem, the subway lines and the Premetro would be concessioned for 20 years (extendable for successive periods of 10 years) and including the operation of the General Urquiza Railway.
After studying the different offers, the operation of the service was awarded to the consortium formed by Benito Roggio e hijos S.A., Cometrans S.A., Burlington Northern RR. Co., Morrison Knudsen Corporation Inc. and S.K.F. SACCIFA., who would form the company Metrovías S.A. By concession contract, the new company would be in charge of various works that went beyond mere operation and maintenance of the network: Metrovías had to face the extension of Line E to Retiro and the construction of the “Mariano Acosta” Central Workshop. [citation required]
SBA or SBASE (Subterráneos de Buenos Aires Sociedad del Estado) would operate the network until December 31, 1993 and from then on the Society would remain as a residual company, owner of all the facilities, but with the sole purpose of designing, tender and build the extension works of the existing lines and the construction of new lines whose planning and execution would be the responsibility of the City Government.
The effective transfer of the network was made on January 1, 1994, when the company Metrovias S.A. became the concessionaire of all the lines of the Subway of the City of Buenos Aires, the Premetro and the Urquiza Railroad. The concession included the possibility of increasing rates for notable improvements in the service or for inflationary reasons.
The service concessionaire company would receive a monthly Subsidy for the operation of the system granted, which would be equal to one twelfth of the annual value quoted by the Concessionaire for the year of the Concession in question.
Simultaneously, the Government would also receive monthly from the Concessionaire an amount of money as Canon for the exploitation of the system granted. For its part, in 1997 the national government assumed responsibility for the civil and electromechanical works for the modernization of Line A, which would be covered for the most part thanks to a loan from the World Bank.
Initially, Metrovías made various investments to improve service quality: new cars were incorporated, existing ones were recycled, tracks and signaling systems were renovated, ventilation systems were incorporated, and several stations were modernized to improve their appearance and facilitate transfers. [citation needed]Simultaneously, an ambitious commercial development project was launched, since the Buenos Aires subway had greater exploitation potential than any shopping center. The plan began with the remodeling of the "Callao" of Line B and "Tribunales" de la D, where commercial premises and 28” televisions were installed hanging over the platforms to entertain passengers. [citation required]
Meanwhile, the progress of the subway, in charge of SBASE, had not yet started: with few budget items, the extension of Line D to Belgrano had already been making minimal progress for eight years. The works to finish the station "Olleros" they were restarted in June 1996.
The new impetus to extend the Subway Network was given recently by Dr. Fernando de la Rúa, the first Head of Government in the history of the Commune. The nascent Autonomous City debuted its independent budget with the extension of Line D to the Belgrano neighborhood: a tender was called to build four new stations. The works would be carried out by the companies Benito Roggio and Aragón.
The first advances were not long in coming: the majestic "Olleros" station, was inaugurated on Saturday, May 31, 1997. The new terminal was much larger and more modern than the stations built up to that time. Just seven blocks of tunnel and a single station were enough to temper impatience and bad moods caused by a decade of broken promises. Neighborhood satisfaction was evident.
Shortly after, on November 13, 1997, "José Hernández" and on June 21, 1999, the "Juramento" station began to serve, in the heart of Belgrano. The works for the extension of Line D culminated in the Núñez neighborhood, with the new terminal called "Congreso de Tucumán", which was enabled on April 27, 2000.
Meanwhile, in November 1999, construction began on the "Tronador" and "The Incas" of Line B. The work had been awarded to the companies Techint and Dickerhoff and Wydmann.
On October 24, 2000, the City Government, led by the young Dr. Aníbal Ibarra, finally awarded the Dycasa-Dragados company the construction of Section “B” (Once-Inclán) of the much-announced and long-awaited Line H. Work on this new Line began in April 2001. Meanwhile, the procedures to award the extension of Line A to Nazca Av. in the Flores neighborhood were advancing.
Finally, on November 8, 2001, the Legislature enacted Subway Law 670. As expected, the subway network would reach a total length of 100 km by 2010. The civil works would demand around 1,500 million pesos in those times of convertibility. This ambitious plan contemplated the expansion of the existing network and the construction of new lines. The novelty was that for the first time, an Expansion Plan was backed by Law.
In between, on April 21, 1999, the still president Carlos Saúl Menem signed PEN Decree no.. That same year, the National Government extended the concession of Metrovías S.A. until December 31, 2017.
By Law no. in the time.
After 2001
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The 2001 Crisis represented the closing of a cycle. The subway works slowed down again, although they did not come to a standstill: On August 9, 2003, the two new stations called "Tronador" and "The Incas" (Line B); In 2004 the works for the "Echeverría" and "Villa Urquiza" (Line B) and the extension of Line A from "Primera Junta" to the neighborhood of Flores, with four new stations; in 2005 the construction of the stations "Parque Patricios" and "Hospitals" and in 2006 the works of the "Corrientes" station began, all of the latter would expand the service of the new Line H, whose first section (Once-Caseros) would only be inaugurated in October 2007. Initially there was speculation With this line being operated directly by SBASE, however, the short distance and the complexity presented by the fact that two different companies operated the network, made the city government decide to grant the service to Metrovías S.A. for a term of at least 3 years. In 2003, the Manuela Pedraza garage-workshop on line D, 600 meters long, had also been completed. The works were carried out under the direction of SBASE and with the city government's own budgetary funds.
Meanwhile, the economic crisis and the subsequent devaluation forced the State to renegotiate the Metrovías Concession Contract: it was decided that the works of the Central Maintenance Workshop and the extension of Line E to Retiro would be the responsibility of the National Government. In this way, Metrovías was exempted from these obligations that it had acquired under the Concession contract. In turn, the company was compensated with an extension of the subsidies to cover the higher operating costs, and thus avoid an increase in rates.
At the end of 2003, President Néstor Kirchner relaunched the process for the modernization of Line A. In 2006 the State also began work to build the Central Workshop (Mariano Acosta) beginning with the tunnel that was to connect to the Plaza station de los Virreyes with the surface and, shortly after, on February 16, 2007, the execution of the civil works to extend Line E (Bolívar - Retiro section) was also awarded, both expansion works were in charge of the company Benito Roggio.
The demand of the workers to circulate in formations that comply with safety standards and maintenance levels forced the Ombudsman, Eduardo Mondino, to create in September 2007, a tripartite commission to solve this problem.
On February 4, 2009, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced the implementation of the Single Electronic Ticket System (SUBE), a rechargeable prepaid card, similar to the one implemented by Metrovías in the year 2000 (Tarjeta &# 34;Subtecard", then "Monedero") for the subway network. The SUBE card would allow paying for trips on buses, subways and train stations in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA).
On November 2, 2011, the then Minister of Economy of the Nation, Amado Boudou, the Minister of Federal Planning, Julio De Vido, and the Secretary of Transportation, Juan Pablo Schiavi, announced, as part of the measures of remove and reduction of subsidies, that the subways were going to stop being in the national orbit to go to the porteña. The head of government, Mauricio Macri, initially welcomes the decision. However, the situation includes facing several years of disinvestment, frozen and outdated rates, large subsidies and pending works. The National Government proposes to the City to finalize the transfer on December 1 and with 50 percent of the subsidy that was destined to the service.
After two months of negotiations, the transfer of the subway service and Premetro to the orbit of the Capital is announced. In the agreement, the Nation agrees to pay 50 percent of the subsidy for a period of one year, and a 90-day period was established for the formalization of administrative issues. The Buenos Aires government announces that as part of the process the subway ticket would increase by 127%, taking it from 1.10 pesos to 2.50 pesos. However, a month later, Macri announces the decision to suspend the work of the mixed commission between the City and the Nation for the transfer of the subways as a result of the decision of the Minister of National Security, Nilda Garré, to withdraw Federal Police stations.
In response to Macri's decision, the National Government sends a bill to Congress to demand that the subway, the Premetro, the Puerto Madero tramway and the 33 bus lines that make their entire route within the Capital, are transferred from the orbit of the Nation to that of the City of Buenos Aires. The law is approved at the end of March 2012.
Between 2008 and 2012, 36 used CAF 5000 Madrid Metro cars were purchased. The purchase of these electrical units was managed by different administrations, and would receive numerous complaints of corruption until its withdrawal in 2018, when asbestos was found that would claim the lives of two Madrid Metro employees.
The CAF 6000 cars, later also acquired from the Madrid Metro, turned out to be narrower than the platform and with a different electrical supply system. In turn, each used car cost approximately two thirds of the value of one 0 km. In July 2014, it was denounced that the Madrid metro trains were not suitable for the line.
Immediately after the transfer of the network to the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires in 2013, line A replaced the old La Brugeoise cars, built during the 1910s in Belgium, by units of Chinese origin, manufactured by the company CNR Corporation, which would be the first to have air conditioning throughout the network.