Chascomús railway station (1865)

Chascomús
Inter-city

Chascomús station, North view (2014).
Location Libres del Sud and Mazzini, Chascomús, Buenos Aires Province[1]
Argentina
Operated by Ferrobaires (Standard services)
Trenes Argentinos (Luxury services)
Line(s) FC Roca
Distance 113 km
Tracks 2
Construction
Platform levels 2
History
Opened 1865 [2]
Closed December 19, 2014 (2014-12-19)
(replaced by Chascomús railway and bus station)

Chascomús is a railway station in the homonymous city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The station, built and opened in 1865 by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, fell into disuse in December 2014 when new Chascomús railway and bus station was opened.

History

The station in 1875.
Platform interior.
Location of the station.
Old railway signal controls.

In August 1861, Edward Lumb, a British entrepreneur, requested the concession of a railway line that would run from Constitución to the city of Chascomús, 120 km from Buenos Aires. Lumb offered $1,000,000 as guarantee to the Government of Buenos Aires. The initiative of Mr. Lumb was debated in the Chamber of Deputies, where it was concluded that railroad was necessary for the development of the Argentina nation. Juan B. Alberdi stated "The railroad will join the Argentine Republic better than all the congresses... without the 'iron road' that connects their extremes, the country will be always divisible and divided against all the Legislative decrees".[3]

Finally, on May 27, 1862, the Buenos Aires Legislature promulgated the Law that authorized President of Argentina, Bartolomé Mitre, to deal a contract with Edward Lumb. The Government demanded an interest rate of 7% on the costs of construction, during 40 years. On the other hand, the company was exempt of paying contributions, taxes and custom fees. The railway company had also to carry the post for free. The Government could expropriate the railway and its assets if the company did not plus a 20% as compensation. The track gauge should be the same than Buenos Aires Western Railway's and the company was able to build a tram line to Monserrat or any other strategic point of the city of Buenos Aires. The contract was officialized by the Government of Argentina on June 12, 1862.[3]

On November 12 the railroad route was approved, according to the maps proposed by the concessionary. The Government wanted the railway to cross San Vicente but the land was not in condition to build a line so the route was moved to La Paz (current Lomas de Zamora), where the field was more solid to extend the tracks. The route would extend from La Paz to Samborombón.[3]

On March 7, 1864, works began where the Constitución railway station is placed nowadays. By December 1865 the railway had reached Chascomús (113 km).

Chascomús was one of the main stations of the Constitución - Mar del Plata railway service. The BAGSR (then "Ferrocarril del Sud") operated the line until the Railway nationalization of 1948 when the Argentine state purchased all the British and French-owned railway companies. Since then, Ferrocarriles Argentinos ran all the services to Mar del Plata until 1993 when the Province of Buenos Aires took over the services through its company Ferrobaires and has been running services to date.[4][5]

Nevertheless, the original route to Mar del Plata crossed downtown Chascomús, with more than 17 level crossings.[6] That meant trains had to run at very low speed when crossing Chascomús in order to prevent accidents, generating significant delays. To end this, the local Government projected a new route for the tracks, moving them to a suburban area of the city, with only two level crossings projected.[7] Finally, four level crossings were allowed to be opened.[8]

Works to move tracks were committed to Spanish company COMSA EMTE in 2013.[8][9] When the new railway/bus terminus was concluded at the end of 2014, the old station was closed.[10]

In August 2016, it was announced that the historic station, considered one of the city landmarks, would be transfer to the Municipality of Chascomús.[11]

Operators

A CNR CKD8 diesel-electric locomotive to Mar del Plata.

Chascomús was an intermediate stop of the Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata railroad service. The companies that operated the line and station were:

Company Period
Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway 1865-1948
Ferrocarriles Argentinos 1948-1993
Ferrobaires 1993-2014
Trenes Argentinos 2014

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Comenzó a circular el nuevo tren 0km de los fines de semana que une Buenos Aires con Chascomús". Télam. December 13, 2014.
  2. ↑ Ferrocarril del Sud: Inauguración oficial de la Prolongación de Bahía Blanca al Neuquén. Buenos Aires. 1899.
  3. 1 2 3 Rögind, William (1937). Historia del Ferrocarril Sud, 1861-1936. Buenos Aires: Establecimiento Gráfico Argentino.
  4. ↑ "Constitución - Mar del Plata". Satélite Ferroviario.
  5. ↑ "Servicios, horarios y tarifas". Ferrobaires.
  6. ↑ "Randazzo: ramal rehabilitado tiene que dar buen servicio". Presidency of Argentina. December 13, 2014. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Propician sólo dos pasos a nivel en la nueva traza ferroviaria". El Cronista Diario. March 6, 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Tema solucionado: serán cuatro los pasos a nivel en Chascomús". VN24. May 15, 2014.
  9. ↑ "COMSA mejorará la conexión ferroviaria de Chascomús (Argentina)". COMSA Ente website. 2013. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Estación Chascomús - F.C. Sud (1865-2014)". Museo Ferroviario Ranchos.
  11. ↑ "Chascomús: La histórica estación pasará a manos del municipio", InfoZona, 23 Aug 2016
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Coordinates: 35°34′15″S 58°00′57″W / 35.5709°S 58.0159°W / -35.5709; -58.0159

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