MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina purchases Chinese equipment to improve the railway system

The railway system is in dilapidated condition with repeated accidents

Argentina approved a contract to purchase railway equipment from a Chinese firm, said the government gazette. The contract was signed by the Argentine Ministry of the Interior and Transportation and the Chinese firm CSR Qingdao Sifang Co, Ltd on May 23, 2013 and officially approved with Administrative Decision 584/2013.

The gazette said the contract will supply railway equipment, as well as technical services and training to renovate rails and wheels for the General Roca Line, which will link the capital city Buenos Aires with a populous metropolitan area to the south.

The Chinese-built trains ‘adopt the latest technology, assuring comfort, speed and safety’, the Argentine government said. The gazette added the purchase will be covered by credits granted to the ministry.

In February 2012, a train accident in Buenos Aires killed 51 passengers and left hundreds injured prompting the government to intervene in the privately-run operation and order the renovation of trains, an opportunity that had attracted the interest of Chinese firms

In related news President Cristina Fernández administration was expected to announce the takeover of three train lines, according to sources from the Interior and Transport Ministry headed by Florencio Randazzo.

The concessions for the San Martín, Roca and Belgrano Sur — three of the seven metropolitan railway lines — will be rescinded from the Railway Operations Management Unit SA (UGOFE), an emergency unit operated by companies Ferrovías and Metrovías financed by the national government, and will become part of state-run company SOFSE, said the sources.