The Railway Magazine – August 2019

August2019 •TheRailway Magazine•97

ARGENTINApresidentMauricio
Macri officially opened the second
new elevatedcommuterrailway
in Buenos Aires on July 10.
It has replacedground-level
railwayswith newroutes on
viaducts,eliminating 11 level
crossings,and releasing some
land forredevelopment.
The5km section of the Linea
SanMartin line between and
Palermo and LaPaternal in the
city’ssuburbs has beenrebuilt
on an eight-metrehigh viaduct
comprising 780 prefabricated
concret esections,incorporating
morethan 25,000tonnes of steel.
Two220-tonne machineswere
usedto move each concrete
section horizontally into place.
Thework cost 3.1billionPesos
(£60million).
The6.3kmsection between
the RetiroSan Martin terminus
and Palermoisl argely already on
viaducts dating from between the
line’s opening in 1888 and later
work upto 1912.
Theagreementtob uild the new
elevatedline wasmade between

the Cityand Federal governments

in December 2014, although

construction did not begin until

2017.

Amajor road bridgeover the

railway in theVilla Crespo area

datesfromthe 1960s,but is in

need of majorrepair,and was

demolished as partoft he work

(the road is nowonthe surface

again with therailway aboveit).

Improved connections

Twonew elevatedstations have

been builtto replaceprevious

ground-level onesat La Paternal

andVilla Crespo (formerly

Chacarita), whereimproved

connectionsto the Subtemetro

system areoffered.

These new stations arenot yet

completeand will open inafew

months.

Services on the line areoperated

byTrenes Argentinos,largely

usin gaflee tofChine se-built SDD7

locos and Chinese-builtcoaches.

Around 90,000 passengers use the

services daily,operating on the

70kmroutebetween RetiroSan

FirstClass66worked

passengertrain in Sweden

HECTORRail Class 66 loco

T66402 hauled the first

Class 66workedpassenger train

in Sweden on July 7.

Thetype has been in use in

the countr yfor manyyears,

but therehad not been any

passengerworkings before.

Thetrain wasanenthusiasts’

charterthatvisited several

freight-only lines,organised by

aSwedish rail group. Electric

tractionwasused between

Stockholm andBorlänge.

Right: H ectorRail T66402 (still informer RushRail livery)at Vansbro

timberterminalwith the special trainon July 7.HOWARD LEWSEY

Martin andPilar/DrCabred.

Anew 2kmunderground

section of Buenos Aires’Subte

metrosystemopened on June 3.

It connectsBolivia metrostation

and Retiro, wherethereare three

railway te rmini.

Thenew extension of‘Line E’

had been underconstructionfor

over adecade.The new section

has twointermediate stations and

is expectedtobeused by 63,000

passengersaday.

TheSubtenetwork was

enlarged when north-south Line

Hopened in 2007.Tenders have

just been issuedto plan another

new north-south line,largely to

the east of Line H.

Thenew LineF, if built in the

next decade,will in terchange

will all six other Subtelines and

mainlinerail servicesat Plaza

Constitución.

Through trains

fromTehranto

Turkeyreinstated

IRANIANRailwayshas

reinstatedthrough trains

fromTehranto Van, in Turkey.

They weresuspended

following abombattack on

the railwayline in 2016.

Thefirst through trainran

on June 24.

SIDELINES

SubteEMUsatt he newRetiroLine Eterminus on June 23.TheFiatMaterfer EMUscurrently used on

theline were built inArgentina in the 1980s.DARIO SAIDMAN

ATrenesArgentinos LineaSanMartin train ,with Chinese-builtSDD7diesel B953 le ading, headingforPilar onthe newelevated li ne west of Palermo on July 15.DARIO SAIDMAN

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Newrailwaysopenin

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