1.
Rapid transit
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Rapid transit, also known as heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, or underground, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. The stations typically have high platforms, without steps inside the trains and they are typically integrated with other public transport and often operated by the same public transport authorities. However, some transit systems have at-grade intersections between a rapid transit line and a road or between two rapid transit lines. It is unchallenged in its ability to transport large numbers of people quickly over short distances with little use of land, variations of rapid transit include people movers, small-scale light metro, and the commuter rail hybrid S-Bahn. The worlds first rapid-transit system was the partially underground Metropolitan Railway which opened as a railway in 1863. In 1868, New York opened the elevated West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, china has the largest number of rapid transit systems in the world. The worlds longest single-operator rapid transit system by length is the Shanghai Metro. The worlds largest single rapid transit service provider by both length of revenue track (665 miles and number of stations is the New York City Subway. The busiest rapid transit systems in the world by annual ridership are the Tokyo subway system, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, the Moscow Metro, the Beijing Subway, Metro is the most common term for underground rapid transit systems used by non-native English speakers. One of these terms may apply to a system, even if a large part of the network runs at ground level. In Scotland, however, the Glasgow Subway underground rapid transit system is known as the Subway, in the US, underground mass transit systems are primarily known as subways, whereas the term metro is a shortened reference to a metropolitan area. In that vein, Chicagos commuter rail system, serving the area, is called Metra. Exceptions in naming rapid transit systems are Washington DCs subway system the Washington Metro, Los Angeles Metro Rail, and the Miami Metrorail, the opening of Londons steam-hauled Metropolitan Railway in 1863 marked the beginning of rapid transit. Initial experiences with steam engines, despite ventilation, were unpleasant, experiments with pneumatic railways failed in their extended adoption by cities. Electric traction was more efficient, faster and cleaner than steam, in 1890 the City & South London Railway was the first electric-traction rapid transit railway, which was also fully underground. Both railways were merged into London Underground. The 1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway was designed to use electric traction from the outset, budapest in Hungary and Glasgow, Chicago and New York all converted or purpose-designed and built electric rail services. Advancements in technology have allowed new automated services, hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro, which incorporate some of the features of rapid transit systems
2.
Buenos Aires Underground
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The Buenos Aires Underground, locally known as Subte, is a mass transit metro system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Currently, the underground networks six lines—A, B, C, D, E, the network is complemented by the 7.4 km long Premetro line, and the 26 km long Urquiza suburban line, with 17 more stations in total. As of 2015, the underground also has 4 closed stations, over a million passengers use the network, which also provides connections with the citys extensive commuter rail and bus rapid transport networks. The network expanded rapidly during the decades of the 20th century, by 1944 its main routes were completed. The pace of expansion fell sharply after the Second World War, in the late 1990s expansion resumed at a quicker pace, and four new lines were planned for the network. Despite this, the expansion has been largely exceeded by the transportation needs of the city and is said to be overcrowded. The entire network was nationalised in 1939, remaining in state hands, the Subte opened in 1913, becoming the 13th underground system in the world, as well as the first in Latin America, the Southern Hemisphere and the Hispanophone, followed by the Madrid Metro in 1919. The network was built and operated by three separate private companies and later nationalised in 1939. In 1952 it was absorbed by a state administration, in 1963 it became the property of a newly founded company. All the Underground lines, along with the Urquiza Line and Premetro were offered as 20-year concessions to interested private parties, by 1995, Metrovías took over the Subte under a $395 million plan. In this context, the first proposals for the building of a system were made, along with requests for government grants, first, in 1886. However, the Ministry of Interior denied the city administration the power to license building in the subsoil and for this reason. The first Underground line was opened on 1 December 1913 and was built by the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company and that line was made up of one of the existing sections of Line A, linking the stations of Plaza de Mayo and Plaza Miserere. 170,000 passengers took part in the lines first trip, on 1 April 1914 the line was to expand to Río de Janeiro station and on 1 July was extended to Primera Junta Station. In 1912 the Lacroze Hermanos company won a concession to build another Underground line, the company was a competitor to the Anglo-Argentine company, operating tramways in Buenos Aires as well as the Buenos Aires Central Railway, which later became part of the Urquiza Line. Construction began in 1927 and this line became Line B when it was inaugurated on 17 October 1930, during 17–18 December 380,000 passengers travelled on the lines then 32 cars. By this point, the AATC had only built 48 metres of what is today Line C, in 1933 a third company, the Hispano-Argentina Company of Public Works and Finances began construction of the other Underground lines. Line Cs first section, Constitución railway station-Diagonal Norte, was inaugurated on 9 November 1934 by Agustín P. Justo, then President of Argentina
3.
Catedral (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Catedral is a terminal station of the Line D of the Buenos Aires Underground. From here, passengers may transfer to the Perú station on Line A and it is located at the intersection of Roque Sáenz Peña Avenue and Florida Street, which gave the original name of the station. Its current name comes from the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, located in the vicinity of the station and this station had the name Florida, as recorded on maps of the network of 1955. The station was inaugurated on 3 June 1937, in 1997 it was declared a national historic monument. The station was used as a set in the 1996 Argentine science fiction film Moebius, plaza de Mayo Florida Street Buenos Aires Cabildo Avenida de Mayo Media related to Catedral at Wikimedia Commons
4.
Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
5.
Railway electrification system
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A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electrification has many advantages but requires significant capital expenditure, selection of an electrification system is based on economics of energy supply, maintenance, and capital cost compared to the revenue obtained for freight and passenger traffic. Different systems are used for urban and intercity areas, some electric locomotives can switch to different supply voltages to allow flexibility in operation, Electric railways use electric locomotives to haul passengers or freight in separate cars or electric multiple units, passenger cars with their own motors. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network, some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own lines, switches and transformers. Power is supplied to moving trains with a continuous conductor running along the track usually takes one of two forms. The first is a line or catenary wire suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings. Locomotives or multiple units pick up power from the wire with pantographs on their roofs that press a conductive strip against it with a spring or air pressure. Examples are described later in this article, the second is a third rail mounted at track level and contacted by a sliding pickup shoe. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the rails as the return conductor. In comparison to the alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions. Electric locomotives are usually quieter, more powerful, and more responsive and they have no local emissions, an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas. Different regions may use different supply voltages and frequencies, complicating through service, the limited clearances available under catenaries may preclude efficient double-stack container service. Possible lethal electric current due to risk of contact with high-voltage contact wires, overhead wires are safer than third rails, but they are often considered unsightly. These are independent of the system used, so that. The permissible range of voltages allowed for the voltages is as stated in standards BS EN50163. These take into account the number of trains drawing current and their distance from the substation, railways must operate at variable speeds. Until the mid 1980s this was only practical with the brush-type DC motor, since such conversion was not well developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, most early electrified railways used DC and many still do, particularly rapid transit and trams
6.
Overhead line
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An overhead line or overhead wire is used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses, or trains. Overhead line is designed on the principle of one or more overhead wires situated over rail tracks, the feeder stations are usually fed from a high-voltage electrical grid. Electric trains that collect their current from overhead lines use a device such as a pantograph and it presses against the underside of the lowest overhead wire, the contact wire. Current collectors are electrically conductive and allow current to flow through to the train or tram, non-electric locomotives may pass along these tracks without affecting the overhead line, although there may be difficulties with overhead clearance. Alternative electrical power transmission schemes for trains include third rail, ground-level power supply, batteries and this article does not cover regenerative braking, where the traction motors act as generators to retard movement and return power to the overhead. To achieve good high-speed current collection, it is necessary to keep the wire geometry within defined limits. This is usually achieved by supporting the wire from a second wire known as the messenger wire or catenary. This wire approximates the path of a wire strung between two points, a catenary curve, thus the use of catenary to describe this wire or sometimes the whole system. This wire is attached to the wire at regular intervals by vertical wires known as droppers or drop wires. It is supported regularly at structures, by a pulley, link, the whole system is then subjected to a mechanical tension. As the contact wire makes contact with the pantograph, the insert on top of the pantograph is worn down. The straight wire between supports will cause the wire to cross over the whole surface of the pantograph as the train travels around the curve, causing uniform wear. On straight track, the wire is zigzagged slightly to the left. The movement of the wire across the head of the pantograph is called the sweep. The zigzagging of the line is not required for trolley poles. Depot areas tend to have only a wire and are known as simple equipment or trolley wire. When overhead line systems were first conceived, good current collection was only at low speeds. Compound equipment - uses a second wire, known as the auxiliary
7.
Line A (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Line A is the oldest line of the Buenos Aires Underground. The line stretches 9.8 km from Plaza de Mayo and San Pedrito and runs all of the Avenida de Mayo and part of the Avenida Rivadavia. On the first day of service, it carried 220,000 passengers. Line A used the cars used at its inauguration for just under a century and these cars were built by Belgian company La Brugeoise starting in 1913 and were refurbished in 1927 when their wooden structure was modified for underground-only use. For this reason, Line A might also be considered the continents first light rail subway, the old wooden cars were removed in 2013, and replaced by modern cars. During the first decade of the 20th century in Buenos Aires, road traffic had sharply increased due to a growing population. In 1903 the city had 895,381 inhabitants and there were 4,791 horse-drawn carriages and 60 cars, while by 1913 there were 1,457,885 people, with 6,211 carriages and 7,438 automobiles. After a dispute, it was agreed that the Western Railway would the line for freight, thus, construction of the Anglo-Argentine Line began on 15 September 1911, with the German company Philipp Holzmann & Cia. as contractor. The total investment to build the line was m$n 17 million, m$n 3 million was invested in the excavation of the tunnel, m$n 7 million in construction, m$n 2.5 million in the initial 50 trains and m$n 2 million for the Polvorín Workshop. The Plaza de Mayo-Plaza Miserere section was inaugurated on 1 December 1913, on the following day it opened to the public, carrying 220,000 passengers. It was the first underground in South America, the Southern Hemisphere, each station had a length of 100 metres and had friezes of specific colours for easy identification. The construction of the Plaza Miserere station was performed by two companies, CTAA and FCO, at that time the station had two tracks for the railroad in the middle, and two pairs of lines for the underground, which were on the laterals. The outside southern track of the subway was eliminated in 1926, the route was extended to Río de Janeiro Station on 1 April 1914 and on 14 July of that year to Caballito, renamed Primera Junta in 1923. This 2 km route has been used since 1980 by Asociación Amigos del Tranvía to run the Buenos Aires Historical Tramway, in 1997 the Plaza Miserere station was declared a national historic monument. Over the years, most stations on the line have also declared part of the national patrimony of Argentina. Unlike other lines, the original stations preserve much of their original appearance, in the first expansion of the line since 1914, Puán and Carabobo stations were opened in December 2008. As part of the ceremony for the two stations Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri drove one of the La Brugeoise trains. That same year, the line was converted from 1100 volts to 1500 volts to match the rest of the network
8.
Line E (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Opened in 1944, the Line E was the last completely new line to be added to the Buenos Aires Underground, until 2007 when Line H was opened. The line has a history of being re-routed and extended due to having been historically the line with the lowest passenger numbers on the network. Line E was opened on 20 June 1944, after construction began in 1938, soon after, it was decided to abandon the terminus at Constitución and instead reroute the line towards the Plaza de Mayo. Work began in 1957, and in 1966 the San José, Independencia, Belgrano, for many years, the two stations closed during the re-route remained unused until the mid 1990s when one was converted into a workshop to service the rolling stock of the line. The line was extended in 1973 to José María Moreno. The PreMetro E2 tramway was completed in 1987 and was linked to Line E with the intention of connecting a larger Premetro network to the line, under the private operation of the Subte by Metrovías, the colour of the line was changed from yellow to purple during the 1990s. Purple had previously used for Line C, while yellow is now used for Line H. As of 2014, all major works have been completed on the three new stations and are only missing their tracks and signalling systems. The city will complete the work required in this time. In 2006,64 of the CAF-GEE cars were to be refurbished, there are two ghost stations on the line - San José vieja and Constitución. These formed part of the original trajectory towards Constitución railway station until the line was re-routed in 1966. Both stations have used as workshops and storage areas for the lines rolling stock. San José vieja was used as a set for the 1996 Argentine film Moebius and served as the fictional Dock Sud, Buenos Aires PreMetro Rail transport in Argentina Subterráneos de Buenos Aires Metrovías S. A. Subte Operator Subterráneos de Buenos Aires, E Line System map
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Line B (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Line B of the Buenos Aires Underground runs 11.75 kilometres from Leandro N. Alem to Juan Manuel de Rosas in Villa Urquiza. Line B opened to the public on 17 October 1930 and it was the first line in Buenos Aires whose stations had turnstiles and moving stairways. Its gauge of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in is the same as the rest of the Buenos Aires underground system, the rolling stock currently used on the B line are former Tokyo Metro 300/500/900 stocks, which was used on Marunouchi Line and CAF5000 stock. These Japanese units were acquired in the early 1990s, and offer less sitting room than the previous setup, the Japanese trains are being phased out and replaced by newer CAF5000 and CAF6000 rolling stock acquired from the Madrid Metro.7 km tunnel. The Act provided that the works would clear in part the traffic in the area of the city. This will grant the concession of the line for passengers, parcels, the construction was done by the Argentine builder Dwight P. Robinson & Cía, and the line was called Ferrocarril Terminal Central de Buenos Aires. The first section between Federico Lacroze and Callao opened on 17 October 1930 and measured 7.021 km, the maiden voyage was made by President de facto José Félix Uriburu. On 22 June 1931, it was extended to Carlos Pellegrini station, finally, the line was completed on 1 December 1931 when the subway reached the station Leandro N. Alem. These three sections were carried out entirely below Corrientes Avenue, including 19 curves and 13 stations, according to the depth of the line, some sections were made by open ditch or gallery or tunnel. As so were performed mainly at open skies the stations Federico Lacroze, Dorrego, Canning, Río de Janeiro, when you reach the tunnel at Maipu Street the maximum depth reached 17 metres. Underneath the Rancagua park, in Chacarita, a workshop and a 10 track garage were built and this line had escalators and turnstiles for the payment of coin-operated service, initially manufactured in United States, formerly controlled by guards. It also was deeper than the Line A, and like it and this was lifted after the fire occurred on 27 November 1952. Line B was recently extended underground further west from Los Incas/Parque Chas to Echeverría, the new stations opened in July 26,2013. Each car had two 105 HP motors, the interiors had 47 wooden seats, the majority with reversible back and three slide doors on each side, at the platforms level, of opening and closure commanded by the guard. One year later,20 similar cars made by Osgood Bradley Car Company of the US were incorporated, the Japanese-built Eidan 300/400/500/900 sets, which ran on line B starting in 1996, were in service on the Marunouchi Line in Tokyo from 1959 through late 1995. In 2009, it was announced that the Madrid Metro has sold its oldest wide-profile trains to Buenos Aires. The 5000 series trains, which were in operation in Madrid since 1974, in July 2013, Madrid Metro sold 73 of its 6000 series cars to Buenos Aires for €32.6 million in exchange for the retirement of the rest of the Japanese-built trains. Until the privatization of subte in the 1990s, the B line was identified by the green color, florida and Carlos Pellegrini stations are the two busiest stations on the line, as most commuters alight there in the morning to work in the downtown financial district
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Line C (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Line C of the Buenos Aires Underground, that runs from Retiro to Constitución terminus, opened on 9 November 1934, and it has a length of 4.3 km. It runs under such streets as Lima Sur, Bernardo de Irigoyen, Carlos Pellegrini, Esmeralda, la Plaza San Martín and it is thus an important artery in Buenos Aires transport system. At the same time, it is also the shortest line in terms of length and number of stations. It was the line of the network to provide service to the public, after Line A. Up until 2007 with the aperture of line H, it was the line in the system providing a North-South service. The line was opened in 1934 and extended from the present terminus at Constitución to Diagonal Norte in the centre of the city. The stretch from Diagonal Norte to its present terminus at Retiro was then opened in 1936 and marked the last expansion of the line and it had advanced technology for the time, such as Automatic Train Stop. With the current extension of Line E and Line H, they both meet Line C at Retiro, where all three will terminate. The work is expected to be completed towards the end of 2016, large segments of track, as well as switches, are also being replaced. When the line was first opened, it was served by Siemens-Schuckert Orenstein & Koppel rolling stock in its entirety until 2007, in 2015, refurbished Nagoya Municipal Subway 5000 series rolling stock began to arrive, adding 50% capacity to the lines existing Nagoya trains and reducing journey times. Along with the purchase, the existing Nagoya rolling stock will also be refurbished with air conditioning, Subterráneos de Buenos Aires Metrovías S. A. Subte Operator Subterráneos de Buenos Aires, C Line System map
11.
Metrobus (Buenos Aires)
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The Buenos Aires Metrobus is a 50.5 km network of dedicated separated lanes and stations for normal buses that serve the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Designed as a Bus Rapid Transit system, it mixes a few bi-articulated buses with conventional buses, the service operates 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, with 2-4 minute frequencies during the day and 10-15 minutes at night. The first segment of the network opened to the public in May 2011, justo Avenue linking the neighbourhoods of Liniers and Palermo. This segment consists of 21 stations and has an extension of 12 kilometres, the second segment of the network, opened on 24 July 2013, spans the length of the 9 de Julio Avenue, consisting of 17 stations with an extension of 3 kilometres. The third segment of the network opened on 14 August 2013, in parts of this segment of the network the bus lines merge with the general traffic and return to the dedicated lane afterwards. On 9 October 2013, the Government of the City announced plans for the extension of the network, when the network is complete, it will have a total of 7 lines carrying an estimated 1.2 million passengers per day. The fourth line, Metrobus Cabildo, opened in June 2015 and this segment was originally going to be covered by Line D in its extension to the borders of the city proper, however the creation of this Metrobus means the lines extension will be unlikely. An eighth line was announced in 2015 which would run from North to South in the West of the city, linking most of the East-West lines together. This line will most likely replace the planned Line I of the Buenos Aires Underground, while parts of the line will run underground, justo was the first to begin operations, opening in 2011 and running down the entire length of the Juan B. It is 12 kilometres long, has 21 stations and carries 100,000 passengers per day with a frequency of one bus every 2 minutes, the same exclusive lane is utilised by emergency vehicles. The segment also resulted in a 30% increase in bus travel as a result of the travel times. The Metrobus 9 de Julio is 3 kilometres long with 13 stations and runs down the 9 de Julio Avenue and it serves 11 bus lines and reduces bus travel time by 50% along the avenue. The National Government of the time criticised the line for overlapping with Line C of the Underground, in May 2015, two new 90 metre and 230 metre tunnels on the southern end of the line were opened. These tunnels go to and from Constitución railway station and are designed to surface traffic in the area around the station. The Metrobus Sur was inaugurated in 2013 and joins Constitución railway station to the south of the city, the line has two branches, is 23 kilometres long and has 37 stations. It connects with the PreMetro E2 at its General Salvio terminus, with Underground Line H at Inclán, the line is estimated to serve around 250,000 passengers per day, with its creation increasing ridership by 30% and reducing journey times by 15%. This Metrobus line cost an estimated AR$265 million ARS to build, on 5 October 2015 the Metrobus 25 de Mayo was opened, being the first line to operate on an expressway. The 7.5 kilometres line is expected to transport some 120,000 passengers daily, the lane is opened between 6 and 12 in the morning towards the city and then again between 3 and 9 in the evening with buses circulating away from the city centre
12.
Line H (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Line H of the Buenos Aires Underground, is the first entirely new line built in Buenos Aires since the opening of Line E on 20 June 1944. The first phase, between Plaza Once and Caseros, opened 18 October 2007, currently it stretches over 8 km between stations Hospitales and Las Heras. According to projections, the line will stretch a total of about 11.85 km and it connects the southern part of the city with the north, improving the flow to the centre of the city. It is also designed to serve as a line and provide cross-connections across all radial lines, mainly under the axis of Jujuy. The cars feature 42 seats and 4 doors per side, the first 6 of the 120 new Alstom cars arrived In August 2015, with the remainder arriving gradually, in time for the inauguration of the section of the line which connects it to Line D. An initial extension to Corrientes station was inaugurated on Monday 6 December 2010, the Córdoba and Las Heras stations opened in December 2015 with Santa Fe set to open in April 2016. This will also mean that the extension will be inaugurated along with the lines new Alstom Metropolis rolling stock, the final stretch to Retiro is not set to open until some time after since its trajectory must also be revised following the relocation of the Plaza Francia station. Subterráneos de Buenos Aires Metrovías S. A. Subte Operator Subterráneos de Buenos Aires, H Line System map
13.
Scalabrini Ortiz (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Scalabrini Ortiz Station is a station on Line D of the Buenos Aires Underground. It is located at the intersection of Avenida Santa Fe and Avenida Scalabrini Ortiz and it was initially known as Canning, after the nearby avenue, which was in turn named after the British minister George Canning. The avenue was renamed as Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz in 1974, during the government of Juan Perón, the National Reorganization Process restored the initial name in 1976, and renamed it as 2 de abril during the Falklands War. The name Scalabrini Ortiz was restored once more in 1985, during the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, media related to Scalabrini Ortiz at Wikimedia Commons
14.
Plaza Italia (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Plaza Italia station is part of the line D of the Buenos Aires Underground. Inaugurated on 29 December 1938, is located at the intersection of Avenida Santa Fe, a short distance from the station are located the La Sociedad Rural Argentina, Buenos Aires Zoo and the Botanical Garden of Buenos Aires. In 1997 the station was declared a historic monument. Buenos Aires Zoo Buenos Aires Botanical Garden Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi La Rural Subterráneos de Buenos Aires Plaza Italia Underground Station
15.
Palermo (Buenos Aires Underground)
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Palermo is a station on Line D of the Buenos Aires Underground in Palermo, Buenos Aires. It is located at the intersection of Avenida Santa Fe and Godoy Cruz and it is a transfer point for the Metrobús that runs along Juan B. Justo avenue and Palermo station on the San Martín Line commuter rail service, media related to Palermo at Wikimedia Commons
16.
Mitre Line
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The Mitre line is an Argentine broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province as part of Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre. The service is operated by State-owned company Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado after the Government of Argentina rescinded contract with Corredores Ferroviarios in March 2015. The first line was built and operated by the Buenos Aires Northern Railway, the company was then taken over by the Central Argentine Railway in 1888 due to financial problems. In 1891, Victoria station was inaugurated, trains to Zelaya and Capilla del Señor departed from Victoria for the first time one year later. In 1916, the Retiro-Tigre line was electrified, becoming the first electrified railway system of South America, new British Thomson-Houston multiple units were acquired to run on the line. The CAR also installed the first crossbuck and manually-operated gates in the level crossings existing by then. During successive years, several new stations were built by the company, such as Beccar, La Lucila, Acassuso and those light cars replaced Ganz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938. The lack of maintenance of the FIAT7131 coaches made some of them were out of service, so in 1987 Ferrocarriles Argentinos acquired new light railcars for the Zárate, the company bought 8 units made by Materfer and soon nicknamed Pitufos. Nevertheless, the few capacity of seats and poor damping of those made the 7131 remained active. FA operated the trains until 1991 when residual company FEMESA temporarily took over all the urban services prior to be privatized, after the Government of Carlos Menem privatized the urban railways services private company Trenes de Buenos Aires took over Mitre Line. When the Government of Argentina decided to all the urban railway services in 1992. During the first two years of concession, TBA met the requeriments specified on the contract, about the frequency of the service, by February 1999 the consortium had invested USD200 million including the reconstruction of 220 Toshiba wagons, the remodelation of 13 stations and workshops. In addition, a new ticket selling system was introduced with the installation of vending machines, one of the most notable improvements was the introduction of Puma coaches in the Retiro-Tigre branch. This coaches were built by local factory Emprendimientos Ferroviarios S. A. and featured air conditioning, ABS brakes, in 1997 the Government decided to modify the contracts of concession with a plan of modernization for USD2,500 million. Nevertheless, the Government of Fernando De la Rúa made changes to the original project, to a compensation to the companies, the State granted subsidies to TBA as a way to compensate the losses and avoid tariffs to increase. Due to this politic and the lack of investments in Mitre Line, TBA operated the line until the 2012 Once station rail disaster happened. On February 12,2014, the Government of Argentina granted the operation of the line to private company Corredores Ferroviarios and that same year the Government announced the acquisition of new coaches to increase the Mitre Line rolling stock. The coaches were manufactured by Chinese company CSR Corporation Limited, the first arrived in June 2014, in November 2014, the Retiro-Tigre section of Mitre Line renewed its fleet of electric trains, adding a total of 12 brand new trains for that service
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Palermo, Buenos Aires
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Palermo is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. With a total area of 17.4 km2, Palermo is the largest neighborhood in Buenos Aires, as of 1991 it had a population of 256,927 inhabitants. It is the only barrio within the division of Comuna 14. The name of the district is derived from the still-existing Franciscan abbey of Saint Benedict of Palermo, Saint Benedict the Moor lived from 1526 to 1589 and is a complementary patron saint of Palermo, the capital city of Sicily. Juan Manuel de Rosas built a residence there which was confiscated after his fall in 1852. The most upmarket part of Palermo, Palermo Chico, is on Palermos north-eastern edge, across Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, once a quarter full of splendid mansions set in broad private parks, many have unfortunately since been demolished by developers. The area nevertheless remains one of the wealthiest in the city, home to luxury condominium and apartment developments, MALBA, is located next door between Barrio Parque and the Paseo Alcorta shopping centre. Alto Palermo is downtown Palermo, the shopping area and transport hub around Santa Fe Avenue. Centered on Las Heras Park and the Alto Palermo Shopping Center, Palermo Norte is located along Libertador Avenue to the northwest of Palermo Chico, and the site of landmarks such as the Argentine Automobile Club and the National Museum of Decorative Arts. Villa Freud, based around Plaza Güemes, is an area known for its high concentration of psychoanalysts and psychiatrists. The King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center was built in the 1990s just east of the Polo fields, the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers headquarters and other military installations, such as the Central Military Hospital and the Military Geographic Institute, are located to the south. La Imprenta, west of Las Cañitas, borders the Belgrano ward, one of its best-known landmarks is the Parish of San Benito Abad and the neighboring Solar de la Abadía shopping gallery. Palermo Viejo is, as its name implies, the oldest part and it runs from Santa Fe Avenue south to Córdoba Avenue, and from Avenida Dorrego east to Coronel Díaz Street. The neighborhood is centred on Plaza Palermo Viejo, and reflects an older Spanish Colonial Revival style in architecture, the new headquarters of the National Research Council, opened in 2011 in the refurbished former GIOL winery, is a notable recent example of this trend. Such well-known figures as Jorge Luis Borges and Che Guevara once lived in this ward, borgess poem Fundacion mitica de Buenos Aires names a typical square adjacent to his childhood home, a popular tourist landmark. Palermo Soho is an area of Palermo Viejo around Plaza Serrano on Serrano near Palermos south-western edge. It is a fashionable area for fashion, design, restaurants, bars. The atmosphere in many cafés and restaurants strives to be alternative, the traditional low houses have been adapted into boutiques and bars, creating a bohemian feel
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Radical Civic Union
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The Radical Civic Union is a centrist social-liberal political party in Argentina. The party has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from classical liberalism to social democracy, the UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina, for many years the party was either in opposition to Peronist governments or illegal during military rule. The UCRs main support comes from the middle class, throughout its history the party has stood for free elections, supremacy of civilians over the military and liberal democratic values. Especially during the 1970s and 1980s it was perceived as an advocate for human rights. By May 2014, the UCR had 42 Deputies and 14 Senators, the party was a breakaway from the Civic Union, which was led by Bartolomé Mitre and Leandro Alem. The party unsuccessfully led an attempt to force the departure of President Miguel Juárez Celman in the Revolution of the Park. Eventually a compromise was reached with Juárez Celmans government, hardliners who opposed this agreement founded the current UCR, led by Alems nephew, the young and charismatic Hipólito Yrigoyen. In 1893 and 1905 the party led unsuccessful revolutions to overthrow the government, as well as backing more popular participation, UCRs platform included promises to tackle the countrys social problems and eradicate poverty. The Radical Civic Union remained in power during the next 14 years, Yrigoyen was succeeded by Marcelo T. de Alvear in 1922 and again by himself in 1928. The first coup in Argentinas modern history occurred on September 6,1930 and it was only in 1958 that a faction of the party allied with banned Peronists came back to power, led by Arturo Frondizi. The growing tolerance of Frondizi towards his Peronist allies provoked unrest in the army, after a brief military government, presidential elections took place in 1963 with the Peronist Party banned. The outcome saw the candidate of the Peoples Radical Civic Union Arturo Illia coming first, although Argentina experienced during Illias presidency one of the most successful periods of history in terms of economic performance, the president was ousted by the army in June 1966. Illias peaceful and ordered style of governing - sometimes considered too slow, during the 1970s Peronist government, the Radical Civic Union was the second-most supported party, but this didnt actually grant the party the role of being the political opposition. In fact, the Peronist governments most important criticisms came from the same Peronist Party, the growing fight between left-wing and right-wing Peronists took the country into chaos and many UCR members were targeted by both factions. The subsequent coup in 1976 ended Peronist rule, during the military regime many members of the UCR were disappeared, as were members of other parties. Alfonsín was succeeded by Carlos Saúl Menem of the Peronist Justicialist Party, in 1997 the UCR participated in elections in coalition with Front for a Country in Solidarity, itself an alliance of many smaller parties. This strategy brought Fernando de la Rúa to the presidency in the 1999 elections, during major riots triggered by economic reforms implemented by the UCR government, President de la Rúa resigned and fled the country to prevent further turmoil
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Greater Buenos Aires
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Greater Buenos Aires is the urban agglomeration comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the adjacent 24 partidos over the Province of Buenos Aires. Thus, it does not constitute an administrative unit. The conurbation spreads south, west and north of Buenos Aires city, to the east, the River Plate serves as a natural boundary. The term is related to other expressions that are not necessarily well-defined, the Buenos Aires conurbation, the Greater Buenos Aires Agglomeration. The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses has defined Greater Buenos Aires, there are three main groups within the Buenos Aires Conurbation. The first two groups comprise the traditional conurbation, or the conurbation proper, the third group of six partidos is in process of becoming fully integrated with the rest. D. and Marcos, M. The social map of Greater Buenos Aires as empirical evidence of urban models, volume 11 Number 1, pp. 67–78, DOI10. 1353/lag.2012.0012 Keeling, D. Buenos Aires, Global Dreams, Local Crisis
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Buenos Aires Underground rolling stock
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The Buenos Aires Underground has one of the most diverse metro fleets in the world, and has had some of the oldest models in operation on any network. Recently there have been increased efforts to modernise and standardise the fleets, with purchases from China CNR Corporation. Line A was inaugurated in 1913 by the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company - then owned by the Belgian company Sofina - who owned the vast majority of the citys tramways at that point. However 4 UEC Preston cars had been sent to the country, the Brugeoise cars made up the entirety of the rolling stock of the line until 2013, retiring just before their 100-year anniversary. The Argentine company Lacroze Hermanos built Line B, originally designed to be a continuation of the Buenos Aires Central Tramway. Originally served by Metropolitan Cammell cars from its opening in 1930 and it was only in 1996 that the line was standardised again when cars were bought second-hand from the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line in order to replace all the cars. This was also the first time in the history of the network that cars were bought second-hand, lines C, D and E were all built by the Hispanic-Argentine Company for Public Works and Finances in the 1930s and 1940s and were thus the most straightforward. All the lines used German Siemens-Schuckert Orenstein & Koppel rolling stock from their inaugurations, the CAF-GEE cars were designed to be highly compatible with the Siemens O&K cars in order to reduce maintenance costs. Only in 2010s have there been moves towards re-standardising and modernising the fleet whilst retiring the ageing trains which had served since the opening of each respective line. The original La Brugeoise rolling stock has since been maintained, some in exhibition, the 3 surviving UEC Preston cars serve on the Buenos Aires Heritage Tramway above-ground in the neighbourhood of Caballito. It is unclear what will happen to the remaining Siemens-Schuckert Orenstein & Koppel trains when they are retired in 2015, green = current, Blue = future, Yellow = being phased-out. Currently, the Underground is in a period where temporary rolling stock is serving on numerous lines while orders arrive from China. The older Siemens O&K cars will be retired from the network. No plans have made public about the long-term intentions with these lines. It has not been stated what rolling stock will be used on Line F, though the usage of platform doors on the line will require modern rolling stock. Until 2013, Line A had been served by La Brugeoise cars and a small number UEC Preston cars and these were withdrawn from service on January 12,2013,11 months before their 100th anniversary and replaced by 45 new 200 Series cars built by China CNR Corporation. Line B has been historically the most diverse of the network given its significantly different characteristics to other lines and this was addressed in 1996 when rolling was purchased from the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line in order to make the line uniform. This was also the first time in the history that rolling stock was purchased second hand
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Siemens-Schuckert Orenstein & Koppel
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In 1944, Line E was the last of the CHADOPyF lines to be opened and was equally inaugurated with new Siemens O&K rolling stock ordered from Germany. With the three operating the same rolling stock during this time, it was the most standardised period in terms of rolling stock in the history of the Buenos Aires Underground. During the 1950s, as part of Juan Peróns five year plans, a Siemens O&K train was used as the fictitious missing UM-86 train in the 1996 Argentine science fiction film Moebius. Other trains of the type are also shown in the film. Though the Siemens O&K cars were due to be retired, they were put back into service in 2007 as temporary stock on Line H while newer rolling stock ordered in 2012 and 2014 arrived for the lines. On Line A, models refurbished by the Emepa Group are used as stand-ins until the remaining 200 Series cars are put into service. As the line continued to be extended,120 new 300 Series cars were ordered in 2012 to make up the entirety of the rolling stock. This also meant that the cars purchased by the CHADOPyF served for the first time on the line first built by their rivals, the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company. This plan was scrapped, but then revived in 2013 after the retirement of the Brugeoise cars from Line A created a shortage of rolling stock on the line while new trains arrived. The Argentine Emepa Group and Alstom refurbished 10 cars for Line A and these have completely new interiors, a modernised exterior as well as an overhaul of its mechanical components. It has been speculated that the cars will serve alongside the Fiat-Materfer cars when they are transferred to Line E. In January 2017, some of the cars were put for auction, Buenos Aires Underground rolling stock La Brugeoise cars UEC Preston Fiat-Materfer CITIC-CNR
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Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
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Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles is a Spanish private company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment. It is based in Beasain in the Basque Country, CAF has supplied railway rolling stock to a number of major urban transit operators around Europe, the USA, South America, East Asia, India and North Africa. CAF was an acronym for the name of Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles. In 1860 Domingo Goitia, Martín Usabiaga and José Francisco Arana established this company, whose activity was puddling furnaces. In 1898 it set up its plant in Beasain, Gipuzkoa, in 1905 it changed its name to Fábrica de Vagones de Beasain. Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles was founded in 1917, specializing in car production. In 1940 the Irun factory was set up, following the expansion of activity after the Spanish Civil War, in 1954 CAF took over Material Móvil y Construcciones from Zaragoza, a company with extensive experience in manufacturing long-distance and subway trains. Since 1958 the company has modernized and enlarged its Beasain plant, in line with this, in 1969 CAF created its Research and Development Unit, which increased the companys competitiveness and intensified the focus on in-house technology. In 1971 the existing Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles merged with Material Móvil y Construcciones and the company adopted its current name Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
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Nagoya Municipal Subway
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The Nagoya Municipal Subway is a subway system in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. The subway system covers 93.3 kilometers of route, serving 87 stations, like other large Japanese cities, Greater Nagoyas subways are heavily complemented by suburban rail, forming an extensive network of 47 lines rivaling cities such as New York City and London. The Nagoya Municipal Subway represents 38% of Greater Nagoyas total rail ridership of 3 million passengers a day and it is operated by Transportation Bureau City of Nagoya. It has six lines, and approximately 90% of the track length is underground. In 2002, the system introduced Hatchii as its official character, tickets can be purchased from ticket vending machines in stations. An integrated ticketing system, Tranpass, was available, which could also be used at all municipal subway stations. On February 11,2011, a fare card called Manaca was introduced to replace Tranpass. net
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Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
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Alstom Metropolis
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Alstom Metropolis is a metro trainset by Alstom. Amsterdam ordered 23 Metropolis trains, the first one came into operation June 2013, Xiamen also ordered some Metropolis trainsets for the Xiamen Metro. Trains can be run in configurations of 2 to 10 cars using manned or unmanned operations, some New York City Subway cars use technology from the Metropolis family, such as the Alstom ONIX traction motors in the R142 and R160A/B, but are not classified as Metropolis trainsets. Glass used for the windows on the cars are produced by Sekurit Saint-Gobain and is called Climavit and it is claimed to reduce noise level in the cars by 5 decibels. It is also double-glazed to provide comfort for passengers in the cars, glass used on the doors of the cars are produced by Starglass
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