Argentina’s authorities intend to launch a tender for the purchase of 1,500 electric railcars for the train system of Buenos Aires’ metropolitan area, according to the Transport Ministry, which did not specify when the tender would be launched.
The new railcars will have Wi-Fi, security cameras, and air conditioning, and must be designed under the standards set by the International Union of Railways (UIC) and also the EN standards used by the European Union. Five new workshops will be installed for the maintenance of the new trains. Up to 20% of the components for the new trains will be fabricated locally, which would entail USD 300 million in investments within the country.
The project will cost USD 2 billion, not including maintenance and spare parts, and is part of the Regional Express Network (RER) initiative, which will overhaul Buenos Aires’ train system. The RER initiative includes three rail viaducts (San Martin, Belgrano Sur, Mitre), 160 underpasses, underground stations, the conversion of the Sarmiento line into an underground service and 20km of underground tunnels to connect all the main rail lines of the city.
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