View source for Ferrocentral

{{Short description|Defunct Argentine railway company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Ferrocentral
| logo = Ferrocentral logo.png 
| logo_size = 200
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption = 
| logo_padding =
| image = Argentine train - Ferrocentral - Buenos Aires - Tucuman.jpg
| image_size = 250 
| image_alt =
| image_caption = A train in [[Tucumán Mitre railway station|Tucumán station]] (2006)
| trading_name = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang =    <!-- Use ISO 639-1 code, e.g. "fr" for French. For multiple names in different languages, use {{lang|[code]|[name]}}. -->
| romanized_name = 
| former_name = 
| type = [[Private company|Private]]
| traded_as = 
| ISIN =
| industry = [[Railway]]
| fate = Defunct
| predecessor = [[Ferrocarriles Argentinos]]
| successor = [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado|Trenes Argentinos]]
| founded =  2004  
| founder = 
| defunct = {{end date and age|2014}}
| hq_location = 
| hq_location_city = [[Buenos Aires]]
| hq_location_country = [[Argentina]]
| coordinates = 
| num_locations = 
| num_locations_year =   <!-- Year of num_locations data (when known) -->
| area_served = [[Buenos Aires Province|Buenos Aires]], [[Córdoba Province (Argentina)|Córdoba]], [[Santa Fe Province|Santa Fe]], [[Santiago del Estero Province|Sgo. del Estero]], [[Tucumán Province|Tucumán]] Provinces
| key_people = 
| products = 
| brands = 
| production = 
| production_year =     <!-- Year of production data (when known) -->
| services = [[Public transport]], [[Maintenance, repair, and operations]]
| revenue = 
| revenue_year =        <!-- Year of revenue data (when known) -->
| operating_income = 
| income_year =         <!-- Year of operating_income data (when known) -->
| net_income =          <!-- or: | profit = -->
| net_income_year =     <!-- or: | profit_year = --><!-- Year of net_income/profit data (when known) -->
| aum =                 <!-- Only for financial-service companies -->
| assets = 
| assets_year =         <!-- Year of assets data (when known) -->
| equity = 
| equity_year =         <!-- Year of equity data (when known) -->
| owner = [[Grupo Emepa]]
| members = 
| members_year =        <!-- Year of members data (when known) -->
| num_employees = 
| num_employees_year =  <!-- Year of num_employees data (when known) -->
| parent = 
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| subsid = 
| slogan =              <!-- or: | slogans = -->
| module =              <!-- Used to embed other templates -->
| website =             <!-- or: | homepage = --><!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| footnotes = 
| intl =                <!-- Set positively ("true"/"yes"/etc) if company is international, otherwise omit -->
}}
'''Ferrocentral''' was an [[Argentina|Argentine]] private railway company, with a name being a portmanteau of the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] words for "Central Rail". It operated long-distance passenger trains from its base at [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro Mitre]] station in [[Buenos Aires]] to several locations in northern Argentina, running on [[Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre|Ferrocarril Mitre]]'s {{track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} [[Indian gauge]] tracks.

The company also ran regional services (such as [[Tren de las Sierras]]) on [[Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano|Ferrocarril Belgrano]]'s {{Track gauge|1m|allk=on}} tracks in [[Córdoba Province, Argentina|Córdoba Province]].<ref>[http://www2.cordoba.gov.ar/turismo/tren-de-las-sierras/ "Tren de las Sierras" on Córdoba Turismo website]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.plataforma14.com.ar/trensierras1.html |title="Inauguracion Tren de las Sierras" on Plataforma 14 |access-date=2015-02-06 |archive-date=2009-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203114307/http://plataforma14.com.ar/trensierras1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The National Government invested [[Argentine Peso|$]]10 million to re-open the line.<ref>[http://archivo.lavoz.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=99324 "Mañana regresa el Tren de las Sierras", ''La Voz del Interior''], 11 Aug 2007</ref>

==History==
[[File:Ferrocentral map.jpg|thumb|left|Map with services operated.]]
[[File:La Banda Mirando a Tucumán.jpg|thumb|right|Train in a level crossing in [[La Banda, Argentina|La Banda]].]]
[[File:Provincia de Tucumán - San Miguel de Tucumán - Interior estación Tucumán Mitre.JPG|thumb|right|Ferrocentral train at [[Tucumán Mitre railway station|Tucumán station]]]]
[[File:Formación del Tren de las Sierras en Estación Cosquín.JPG|thumb|right|[[Tren de las Sierras]] in [[Cosquín]]]]
All of the train routes managed by Ferrocentral had been previously operated by [[Ferrocarriles Argentinos]], the country's now-defunct national passenger railroad corporation. After the [[Railway Privatisation in Argentina|privatisation]] of Ferrocarriles Argentinos starting in 1991, many train services across Argentina were indefinitely discontinued. Since the year 2005, however, Ferrocentral was formed and successfully resurrected some passenger lines.

Ferrocentral was established in 2005, being formed by two railway companies, [[Nuevo Central Argentino]] (concessionary of [[Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre|Ferrocarril Mitre]]'s freight services) and [[Ferrovías]] (which operates the [[Belgrano Norte Line (Buenos Aires)|Belgrano Norte Line]]) with the purpose of running trains from [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro station]] in [[Buenos Aires]] to the city of [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]].<ref>[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/03/18/um/m-941504.htm "Reinauguraron el tren Retiro-Córdoba"] ''Clarín'', 18 Mar 2005</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.todotren.com.ar/trenesturisticos/arg_fcc_2.htm |title="Volvió el tren a Córdoba... de la mano de Ferrocentral", sitio web Todo Tren |access-date=2015-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220082305/http://www.todotren.com.ar/trenesturisticos/arg_fcc_2.htm |archive-date=2013-12-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080123183259/http://www.geocities.com/faxsiempre_2/Ferrocentral.htm "La vuelta del ''Rayo de Sol''"] (Archive)</ref>

In 2006 Ferrocentral started to run trains to [[Tucumán Mitre railway station|Tucumán]], with stops in [[Rosario, Santa Fe|Rosario]] and La Banda, a city of [[Santiago del Estero Province]].<ref>[http://www.rielfm.com.ar/2005.09.12,vuelve-el-tren-a-tucuman,3193,imprimir.htm "Vuelve el tren a Tucumán", Riel FM], 12 Sep 2005 (Archive)</ref> Long-distance passenger trains were tractioned by [[EMD GT22 Series|GT22]] [[diesel locomotives]].<ref>[http://portaldetrenes.com.ar/articulos/426/las-incansables-gt-22-ii "Las incansables GT-22 (II)" by Andrés J. Bilstein] on Portal de Trenes, 23 Jun 2014</ref> Most services operated in the late night and early morning hours as the rail lines are used for transporting cargo during the daytime.

One year later the company also re-opened the [[Tren de las Sierras]] ("[[Mountain Range]] Train") of [[Córdoba Province, Argentina|Córdoba Province]] that connected the cities of [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]] and [[Cosquín]].

On 2013, Ministry of Transport of Argentina, Florencio Randazzo, signed a resolution transferring the services to [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]] and [[San Miguel de Tucumán]] to State-owned companies [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado|SOFSE]] (also known as "Trenes Argentinos") and [[Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias]] (ADIF).<ref>[http://www.boletinoficial.gov.ar/Inicio/Index.castle Resolución N° 1093/13: "Ferrocentral pasa a la órbita de SOFSE"], Official Bulletin of Argentina</ref><ref>[http://www.lagaceta.com.ar/nota/560902/economia/tren-tucumanretiro-vuelve-mano-estatal.html "El tren Tucumán-Retiro vuelve a mano estatal"], ''La Gaceta'', 20 Sep 2013</ref>

In addition, some problems with ticket sales were reported by users, accusing the company to give a poor service for online purchasing, as well as the virtually nil availability of seats.<ref>[http://www.lanoticia1.com/noticia/ferrocentral-y-la-imposible-tarea-de-comprar-un-pasaje-tucuman-57202.html "Ferrocentral y la imposible tarea de comprar un pasaje a Tucumán"], La Noticia1, 23 Sep 2014</ref>

In November 2014, the [[Government of Argentina]] (through the State-owned company [[Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado|Trenes Argentinos S.A.]]) took over the services to [[Rosario Norte Station|Rosario]], [[Tucumán Mitre railway station|Tucumán]] and [[Córdoba Mitre railway station|Córdoba]], leaving Ferrocentral inactive.<ref>Argentine government takes control of FerroCentral ''[[International Railway Journal]]'' October 2013 page 9</ref><ref>[http://www.ieco.clarin.com/economia/Estatizaron-trenes-pasajeros-larga_distancia_0_1244875628.html Estatizaron los trenes de pasajeros de larga distancia] ''Clarín'' 8 November 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.infobae.com/2014/11/07/1607276-el-gobierno-estatizo-los-servicios-ferrocarriles-larga-distancia El Gobierno estatizó los servicios de ferrocarriles de larga distancia] ''Infobae'' 7 November 2014</ref>

==Services==
Services operated as of October 2014:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140625062659/http://ferrocentralsa.com.ar/servicios.htm "Servicios" on Ferrocentral website] (Archive)</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left" 
! width=120px| Start
! width=120px| End
! width=60px| Journey time (h)
! width=60px| Days p.w.
! width=60px| Opened
|-
| rowspan=3| [[Retiro Mitre railway station|Retiro]] || [[Rosario Norte Station|Rosario Norte]] || align=center| 9 || align=center| 3 || align=center| 2005
|-
| [[Córdoba Mitre railway station|Córdoba]] || align=center| 14 ||align=center|  4 || align=center| 2005
|-
| [[Tucumán Mitre railway station|Tucumán]] || align=center| 24 || align=center| 2  || align=center| 2005
|-
| [[Córdoba Mitre railway station|Córdoba]] || [[Villa María, Córdoba|Villa María]] || align=center| 3 ||align=center| 2 || align=center|  2004
|-
| Alta Córdoba || [[Cosquín]] ||align=center| 2 || align=center| 7 ||align=center| 2007
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081217205509/https://www.ferrocentralsa.com.ar/ Official website] (archived, 17 Dec 2008)

{{Railway Companies in Argentina}}

[[Category:Defunct railway companies of Argentina]]
[[Category:Emepa Group]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 2004]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 2014]]
[[Category:2004 establishments in Argentina]]
[[Category:2014 disestablishments in Argentina]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Buenos Aires Province]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Córdoba Province, Argentina]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Santa Fe Province]]
[[Category:Transport in Tucumán Province]]
[[Category:Transport in Santiago del Estero Province]]