The Buenos Aires Western Railway (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires), inaugurated in the city of Buenos Aires on 29 August 1857, was the first railway built in Argentina and the start of the extensive rail network which was developed over the following years. The locomotive La Porteña, built by the British Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds, was the first train to travel on this line. The Western Railway is currently owned by the Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento railway company.
The route initially measured 10 km, stretching from Plaza Del Parque station (now the site of the Teatro Colón) to Floresta station, which at that time was located in San José de Flores village, but is now within Buenos Aires city limits. The rails were laid along what are now calle Lavalle, Santos Discépolo, Avenida Corrientes and Avenida Pueyrredón, and then followed the route of the current Ferrocarril Domingo Faustino Sarmiento line towards Floresta.
Although the construction of this line was proposed by a group of private individuals known as the Western Railway Railroad Society, it was financed by the province of Buenos Aires, which was at that time an independent state of the Argentine Confederation. In 1863 the province became sole owner of the railway line.
The Western Railway was one of the greatest triumphs of Buenos Aires state, which justified its 27 years of ownership of the railway based on the wealth it brought to the city, its efficiency and its lower fares than those of the British-owned railway companies operating in the country. Pressure from British capital and the debts owed by the state of Argentina lead to its sale in 1890 to the British company Buenos Aires Western Railway.
Read more about Buenos Aires Western Railway: The Train of Death, Anecdotes, Quotations
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