Trenes de Buenos Aires

Trenes De Buenos Aires

Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) (In English: Trains of Buenos Aires) was a privately owned company which, on May 27, 1995, took over the concession, granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem, for the operation of commuter rail services in Buenos Aires, Argentina over the 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge Sarmiento Line and Mitre Line.

The company, part of the Plaza Group controlled by the Cirigliano family of Buenos Aires through the Cometrans holding company, also forms part of the consortium Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia (UGOFE) which operates other commuter rail services in Buenos Aires.

In addition to the commuter rail services on Sarmiento and Mitre Line, TBA also operated the long-distance passenger trains from Estación Retiro to the cities of Rosario, Santa Fe, and points between, in northern Argentina. Including all its commuter and long-distance services, the company runs approximately 1,000 trains per day and conveys about 147.7 million passengers annually, or 500,000 daily.

Since 2004 the company also formed part of UGOFE, a consortium with Metrovías and Ferrovías, which took over the running of commuter rail services on Belgrano Sur Line, Roca Line and San Martín Line in Buenos Aires after concessions granted to Metropolitano S.A. for the operation of these services were revoked.

Following a commuter train accident on February 22, 2012, at Once Station, Buenos Aires, in which 51 people died and at least 703 people were injured, TBA was placed under federal intervention on February 28; its concessions to operate the Mitre and Sarmiento lines were ultimately revoked on May 24. Both lines are currently operated by the consortium UGOMS.