Commute From Olivos To Downtown

DRSG

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Hi, I'm moving to BA in February and will be commuting from Olivos to Recoleta area. What can you tell me about the commuter rail? How long would such a commute take? How reliable/on time are trains? What are the frequencies? I assume I would transfer to the metro system after the commuter rail. Thanks!
 
It took about ten seconds to enter "train service Olivos to Retiro Buenos Aires" in a google search. The Wikipedia link provides good information. The ride to Retiro should take about 35 minutes. If the stops take longer for passengers to board add about ten minutes for the trip into the city.

The Olivos station of the Mitre line is 6.3 KM from the end of the line (Retiro). There is no stop in Recoleta but the Retiro station is very close and you should have very easy access by bus to your workplace. There is no direct metro (subte) service from Retiro into Recoleta, If you are working closer to Palermo you might want to get off the train at Lisandro de la Tore, but the bus service from there will be limited compared to the choices at Retiro.

The trains reliably run about every 20 minutes during rush hours but you will probably never get a seat on your way to work. Getting a seat for the trip back to Olivos from Retiro in the evening will depend on where you are in the boarding que. If you board at Lisando de la Tore you will most likely stand.
 
Olivos to either Retiro terminal or Lisandro de la Torre probably.
Should take about 40 mins depending on factors such as service breakdowns and/or strikes.
The trains are pretty regular, but it's best to allow some buffer time, so to speak.
 
Trains are almost never on time but run at such short intervals it rarely matters.
 
You wont be seated on your way to Retiro, from the Vicente Lopez station which is the next one down from Olivos, roughly 25-30 mins into Retiro. The trains most days arrive every 20 mins, and sometimes on the rare occasion you get two per 20 mins. The train is a disaster, but for 80 centavos per trip you can't expect any better. I would recommend that you take cologne with you or a spray of some kind, as once you get off at Retiro you most likely will have sweat patches.

Brace yourself for delays and no organisation.
 
Perhaps the most important reason to want to sit during the commute is to drastically reduce the chance of having your wallet stolen. Though (with fewer stops and fewer opportunities for the perps to flee) pick-pocketing is less likely on the train than the subte or bus, it is still a very real possibility.
 
What steveinbsas said is right on the money.

Depending on who you talk to, Recoleta is huge or not. Real estate people stretch Recoleta's boundaries to remote places. Other's don't.
http://mapa.buenosaires.gob.ar/

Recoleta is next to Retiro and your destination might be walking distance from the station.
Also depending on your your time schedule, buses will take you anywhere in Recoleta within 15' departing from Retiro.
 
The map Iznogud provided gives the "official" boundries for Recoleta. Few realize it does not extend all the way to 9 de Julio and does not include the Patio Bullrich shopping center. Even fewer know that the opposite border is Colonel Diaz, which actually borders the Alto Palermo shopping center. Most do know that one of the other borders is Av Cordoba but aren't aware that the official area of Recoleta also extends well past Libertador and Alcorta to the other side of the autopista.

If you can find you exact work location on a map you will be able to get a better idea of your options to get there from either Retiro or Lisandro de la Torre. I took the train a from Tigre to Lisandro de la Torre a number of times in 2006, but always continued on to my apartment in Palermo on Blvd Charcas and Guise - three blocks from Alto Palermo Shopping. That was when the taxi fare was always less than ten pesos. Today it might be about $40.
 
Don't take the belgrano north train. The A/C in the Mitre trains more than makes up for the short additional distance of retiro.
 
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