Tramway systems are quite rare in South America today – only a few cities have followed the global trend of (re)introducing this modern form of transport, often referred to as light rail. The Argentinian capital Buenos Aires was one of the first tentative attempts in the 1980s: in 1987, the first line was put into operation in the south of the city as an extension of the metro line E with the terminus at Plaza de los Virreyes/Int. Saguier, running 5.4 km to Pola station and then splitting into two short sections to Centro Cívico Lugano (1 km) and General Savio (1.8 km).
These two outer end points of the new ‘Premetro’, as the E1 line was called, were to be connected by a new line and the system was also to be extended to other locations, but none of this has been realised to date.
In any case, this first Premetro, which in practice was to be a tramway flush with the road and only partially separated, was only to be a preliminary stage of a much larger network. There were plans for an extension in various places in Greater Buenos Aires. However, as is so often the case, rapidly changing political majorities and influencing factors prevented the plans from being implemented quickly, although the concept could certainly have made – and still can make – a valuable contribution to the rapid and relatively inexpensive expansion and improvement of rail-based public transport.
Instead, a short line in the city centre along a former port area was put into operation in 2006, on which two Citadis cars borrowed from Mulhouse and another Alstom Citadis 302 low-floor car purchased in Madrid ran until this operation also ended in 2012.
Now the extension of the Premetro, which is already 38 years old, is slowly gaining momentum. The contracts for the construction of the approximately 2 km long connection between the two outer terminus stations have been awarded and construction is scheduled to take place in the course of 2025. In addition, work has already begun on redesigning and refurbishing the stops in the existing network, which have now mostly been brought back up to date.
The modernisation of the fleet, which currently consists of seven operational four-axle vehicles, eleven of which were supplied by local manufacturer Marterfer with Siemens electric equipment in 1988-90, is also overdue. Originally there were to be 25. Three four-axle vehicles delivered for the opening in 1987, which were built in the Metro’s own workshops using old electrical equipment, did not prove to be very reliable and very soon taken out of service – one vehicle is still on the museum tram, which provides round trips with vintage cars starting at Primera Junta Metro station.
Repairing the Alstom Citadis, which has been stored since 2012, is an obvious solution, but no agreement has yet been reached. The purchase of further modern low-floor trams is undoubtedly also conceivable, provided the necessary financial resources are available. Perhaps even the acquisition of the remaining surplus Madrid Citadis, three of which are still in the depot and have never travelled, is a conceivable option. In the euphoria over the construction of new tram lines, Madrid ordered 70 new vehicles from Alstom in 2006/7, but only 44 of these were ultimately put into operation, as the expansion of the network had to be quickly abandoned. Most of them were later sold – to Adelaide (6), Murcia (11), Jaen (5) and Buenos Aires (1).
It will be interesting to see whether the opportunities to improve the system can now be utilised, at least to a modest extent, and whether the Premetro can continue to develop its advantages.
