Retiro Mitre railway station

Retiro-Mitre, or simply Retiro, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the neighborhood of Retiro, it serves as terminal station for the Mitre Line that runs local trains to the northern suburbs of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. It also functions as terminal station for the national train General Mitre Railway.

Retiro Mitre
Terminal station
Station facade
General information
LocationAv. Ramos Mejía 1358, Buenos Aires
Argentina
Coordinates34°35′29″S 58°22′29″W
Owned byGovernment of Argentina
Operated byTrenes Argentinos
Line(s)Mitre
Platforms8
ConnectionsSubte
Retiro Belgrano
Retiro San Martín
Bus terminus
Other information
Fare zoneRetiro, Buenos Aires
History
OpenedAugust 1, 1915 (1915-08-01)
Location
Retiro Mitre is located in Buenos Aires
Retiro Mitre
Retiro Mitre
Location within Buenos Aires
Retiro Mitre is located in Argentina
Retiro Mitre
Retiro Mitre
Retiro Mitre (Argentina)
Retiro Mitre is located in South America
Retiro Mitre
Retiro Mitre
Retiro Mitre (South America)

Overview

It is one of Argentina's largest railway stations.

Retiro Mitre is accessible by the C line and Line E of the Buenos Aires Metro system and by numerous local public bus services. The station will also be accessible by Line H of the metro once its extension is complete. The station is also near Retiro bus station (Terminal de Omnibus), the principal long-distance bus terminal in Buenos Aires.

History

The first Retiro station with its pedestrian bridge, 1890s. The station was an intermediate stop by then

The Edwardian-style station building was designed by the British architects Eustace L. Conder, Roger Conder and Sydney G. Follet together with the engineer Reginald Reynolds. Building began in June 1909 and the station was opened on 1 August 1915 while being operated by the Central Argentine Railway. The steel structure for the building was made in Liverpool, England, and re-assembled in Argentina. For many years it was considered to be the most important example of structural engineering in South America and architecturally one of the finest buildings in the world. The train shed was supplied by the Butterley Company and closely resembles that at St Pancras in London.

Tickets office in the main hall, 1915

After the railway Nationalisation in Argentina, the station became part of the Bartolomé Mitre Railway, a division of state-owned Ferrocarriles Argentinos, which operated commuter rail and long-distance services to Tucumán (being the Estrella del Norte the most notable of them)[1] When the entire rail network was privatised in the early 1990s, Retiro Mitre was taken over by Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) for commuter services and Tucumán Ferrocarriles for long-distance journeys to the province, also crossing Rosario and Santiago del Estero.[2] Other private companies operating the station were Corredores Ferroviarios[3][4] and Ferrocentral.[5]

In 1997 the Retiro Mitre station was declared a National Monument.[6]

In 2015 plans were announced to expand the station with new platforms to accommodate long-distance services operated by Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado. The new part of the station would have new road access from Libertador Avenue, replacing land currently used for storage of rolling stock. The existing buildings are also currently being renovated, including restoration of the train shed.[7]

Services

State-owned Trenes Argentinos operates the commuter rail services calling at José León Suárez (General San Martín Partido), Tigre, and Bartolomé Mitre along its three branches. Long-distance services to Rosario and Tucumán cities are also operated by the same company.

In media

Several films have been filmed at the station, the most important of which are Evita and The Secret in Their Eyes. Also several novels take place in the station and its surroundings.

Historic operators

Operator Period Notes
Argentina Ferrocarriles Mediterráneos1999-2003 As part of a national railway privatisation plan, carried out under the presidency of Carlos Menem, a concession to operate the line was granted to the government of Córdoba Province in 1992 and was later transferred to FEMED, a cooperative composed of former rail workers, in January 1999.
United Kingdom Central Argentine Railway1915–48
Argentina Ferrocarriles Argentinos1948–91
Argentina FEMESA 1991–94 Temporary operator prior to the privatization of commuter rail services.
Argentina TBA1995–2012
Argentina UGOMS 2012–14 Temporary operator
Argentina Corredores Ferroviarios [n 1] 2014–15 Temporary operator after the Government revoked concession to Trenes de Buenos Aires
Argentina Trenes Argentinos2015–present

See also

Notes

  1. (TBA).

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.