Railway System Neglected In Argentina

[bkoustav]

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/137627/railways--justice-or-argentine-slowness

Was reading above article on Argentine railway system.
Even 30 years back they had a working rail network as I read in Train to Patagonia.

I come from a country of similar size (India) with an excellent raiway network. Infact railways are one of the uniting forces in India. Why did the countrymen let railway network die in hands of politicians?

 

[Jaredberryman]

For answers to your question, just read all throughout all of the threads about Argentine corruption. The reasons why things like this happen should become clear.

 

[stapxeab]

Here's a short answer to a question that deserves better;
During the term of President Eisenhower in the US, then President Menem traveled to the US and saw the plans for an interstate highway project that would lower dependence on trains for hauling freight and passengers. Returning to Argentina, Menem proceeded to privatize the RR and most of it was liquidated. Surely many politicians gained from the process as is pointed out in the video "The Last Station" as it tells the story in Spanish. However, Menem and following administrations then forgot to build the impressive highway system he saw in the US.
Many of the large estancias had what amounted to 'company towns' that were supported by the RR. When the trains stopped running these towns began to die and those without work (and perhaps with no education) fled to the cities and the favelas began to appear. This coincided with the implementation of machinery which replaced many of the jobs on the farms and ranches.
Interestingly, the British designed much of the RR system here, as I suspect they did in India. In Argentina if you look at the layout of the track, they didn't run from production centers to fabrication centers. The train system was designed to siphon all the resources out of the country for shipment to Europe. England and other countries who were ahead in the manufacturing process and didn't particularly want any South American completion, would finish the products and ship them back to Argentina for sale. To this day, there is little manufacturing in Argentina or Latin America. A very good explanation of this appears in a book by Galliano; "Open Veins of Latin America."

 

[sergio]

Before the privatizations by Menem, Ferrocarriles Argentinos (the state company that ran the trains) was an incredibly personnel bloated and totally incompetent organization. I remember riding the train to Cordoba at that time. There was one 30 watt working lightbulb in my sleeping car room. The window was broken. Room filthy. Sheets had not been changed for a long, long time (slept in my clothes). The pillow was so old that when you touched it the foam fell apart in your hands. What remained of the train service when Menem took office was deplorable. Menem sold the lines off and permitted the companies to do what they wanted without any regulation. This was a mistake. Long distance trains were abandoned except for some to the Atlantic Coast. At first local BA commuter trains got a little better but over time they declined. Now they are a disaster. During the Ferrocarriles days passengers did not buy tickets for the local trains. There was no control. We are back to that, at least on the Tigre line. A friend said that he NEVER buys a ticket nowadays, rides free. Truckers have been a major force in preventing a revival of the railways. The trucking lobby is very powerful and does not want any competition. Ironically Nestor Kirchner made a big deal out of his desire to revive the passenger railways but they have continued to decline to the point that serious accidents occur. Subsidies paid by the state to the private railways have a way of disappearing....There is no accountability.

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/137627/railways--justice-or-argentine-slowness

Was reading above article on Argentine railway system.
Even 30 years back they had a working rail network as I read in Train to Patagonia.

I come from a country of similar size (India) with an excellent raiway network. Infact railways are one of the uniting forces in India. Why did the countrymen let railway network die in hands of politicians?

Uniting force of India, yeah, but the filth encountred all over India around the rail and people riding to the brim, atop the roofs of commuting hours are awesome to watch! But hopefully very soon, the consortium of Europe train manufacturers and or the divine train of Japan are to take on the Indian mass transportation railing transformation and bring India to 21st century!
https://www.google.com/search?q=railways+of+india,+the+filth&rlz=1G1SNNT_ENUS515&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CSYFUoezGsSciALo74G4BQ&ved=0CC8QsAQ&biw=1149&bih=627#bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=4edf65aa14c6d4ab&q=people+riding+atop+railways+of+india&sa=1&tbm=isch
https://www.google.com/search?q=railways+of+india,+the+filth&rlz=1G1SNNT_ENUS515&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CSYFUoezGsSciALo74G4BQ&ved=0CC8QsAQ&biw=1149&bih=627

 

[EdRooney]

Ever wonder why you can take a high speed train from China to Kazakhstan and beyond, but can barely get anywhere on Amtrak? The reason is the model.

Argentina started off with an excellent national rail system model that was promoted by Radical and Peronist governments (for those of you who live on Scalabrini Ortiz, look him up sometime). With successive coups, the country turned toward a privatised model, with more emphasis on cars and buses, in order to benefit private companies, following the US model. The biggest privatisations occurred under Frondizi (late 50's) and then later under Menem (90's), who utterly decimated the system.

There are moves afoot to recuperate the system, but I wouldnt expect anything positive in that regard from this government, or whichever one succeeds it.

 

[IABhutto]

Uniting force of India, yeah, but the filth encountred all over India around the rail and people riding to the brim, atop the roofs of commuting hours are awesome to watch!
https://www.google.c...iw=1149&bih=627

But they still have one of the best train network... in the world...

http://tinyurl.com/lftt63y

But that's common for yanks to cry over petty things...

 

[sergio]

Ever wonder why you can take a high speed train from China to Kazakhstan and beyond, but can barely get anywhere on Amtrak? The reason is the model.

Argentina started off with an excellent national rail system model that was promoted by Radical and Peronist governments (for those of you who live on Scalabrini Ortiz, look him up sometime). With successive coups, the country turned toward a privatised model, with more emphasis on cars and buses, in order to benefit private companies, following the US model. The biggest privatisations occurred under Frondizi (late 50's) and then later under Menem (90's), who utterly decimated the system.

There are moves afoot to recuperate the system, but I wouldnt expect anything positive in that regard from this government, or whichever one succeeds it.

The US model, AMTRAK, was created in 1971 to relieve private railways of their huge losses in passenger service. Overnight more than half of the national rail passenger network was eliminated. Although President Nixon in 1971 probably saw AMTRAK as a means of eliminating all passenger trains, at least outside the busy Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington Northeast Corridor, Amtrak has groped its way into a reasonably efficient national rail system. Most of the trains operate in the Northeast but there is an extensive transcontinental network and quite a few corridor trains in California, Illinois and other regions. Service is generally good and equipment modern, sometimes luxurious. In July I travelled from Fort lauderdale to New York (over 24 hours) on AMTRAK. The train was modern, clean and efficient. My room was well equipped, comfortably air conditioned with a good bed (no annoying "musica ambiental" as on the trains to Mar del Plata). Attendants were on hand to deliver room service for meals if you didn't want to use the dining car which was bright and cheerful. Food was good. Argentina would do very well to have a state subsidized national rail system like AMTRAK - I'd say that in this case the US model is not bad.

 

[EdRooney]

Sergio, I think you're missing my point. Argentina should have a rail system at least commensurate with its national wealth. The US rail system (which I have spent hundreds of hours on) is an embarrassment when compared to the country's GDP. The example I gave of Kazakhstan illustrates this. Or furthermore, to use your example, the trip you made from FL to NY used to take 24 hrs in the early 80s when I travelled on it. It now takes just as long, while other nations with less wealth are implementing highspeed rail. The reason is clear. There is too much money interested in having people use a highway system, and these monied interests block any type of change in Washington (aka corruption). Train travel is the least efficient, most expensive and most dangerous mode of transport in the US.

Successive Argentine governments made the rancid decision to follow this corrupt model instead of investing in the country's rail infrastructure, and you can see the price not only in the recent crashes, but by looking at the thousands of towns decimated by the destruction of the rail system and at the horrible environmental and economic damage of having everyone travel in micro.

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

_ Argentina would do very well to have a state subsidized national rail system like AMTRAK - I'd say that in this case the US model is not bad._

Yep, the subsidies...But Argentina 1st has to find the money to do all these up grades and social works.
The best is to borrow monies not tied to the IMF financial and credit lending countries..And that only leaves the People's Republic of China...In exchange of Argies all agro-products, Beefs, and of course the yacimiento petroliferos!