Tren al Desarrollo

Tren al Desarrollo

La Banda station, terminus of the line.
Overview
Service type Commuter rail
Status Active
Locale Santiago del Estero
Predecessor Ferrocarriles Argentinos
First service September 19, 2016 (2016-09-19)
Route
Start Santiago del Estero
Stops La Banda
Distance travelled 8 km (5.0 mi)
Average journey time 25 min
Service frequency 30 min [1]
Line used Mitre Railway
On-board services
Class(es) Unique
Technical
Track gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Track owner(s) Government of Argentina

Tren al Desarrollo (in English: "Train to Development") is an elevated commuter rail service between the cities of Santiago del Estero (from the "Forum" station) and La Banda (with also a new building) in Santiago del Estero Province. Trains run on 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Mitre Railway tracks were disused. The line also crosses the Puente Negro, a bridge that had been closed for over 40 years.[2]

At the beginning, the project only planned a 4 km-long line, then extended to 8 km. length to reach La Banda.[3][4]

Rolling stock used are railbuses made by Argentine company TecnoTren.[5] Each unit has a capacity of 100 passengers (70 seated). The journey time will be about 25 minutes.[6] Santiago Centro terminus station was inaugurated in May 2015.[7]

A total of 3 new stations were projected to built, "Botánico" (with access to the botanical garden), "Parque Tecnológico" (in the industrial park of the city) and "Banda", terminus of the line.[8] The total path from Forum to Banda stations will be a 5,10 metre-high viaduct to avoid interfering with road traffic.[9][10]

A third phase of the project focuses on reaching the Termas de Río Hondo, one of the main attractions of the Province,[11] although it could be extended to San Miguel de Tucumán.[12]

In September 2016, the first section of 4-km length (from Santiago to Nodo Tecnológico) was inaugurated. The next section to La Banda is expected to be opened in March 2017.[13]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.