Andean Railway
| Andean Railway | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Passenger train in Mendoza, with the Andes at background.
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| Overview | |||
| Native name | Ferrocarril Andino | ||
| Type | Inter-city | ||
| Status | Defunct company; some lines active | ||
| Locale | Córdoba, San Luis, Mendoza, San Juan | ||
| Termini |
Villa María San Juan |
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| Operation | |||
| Opened | 1867 | ||
| Closed | 1909 | ||
| Owner | Government of Argentina | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) | ||
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The Andean Railway (native name: Ferrocarril Andino) was a state-owned railway company in Argentina which, towards the end of the 19th century, built and operated a line connecting Villa María in Córdoba Province with the cities of Mendoza, San Luis and San Juan. The 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge network was later sold to a number of British-owned railway companies.
The first plan to reach the Andes through railway had been carried out with a concession granted to Central Argentine Railway (CAR) and later with the project to make Buenos Aires Western Railway a trans-andean line. The aim of the railway was linking the three provinces of the Cuyo region, San Juan, San Luis and Mendoza with the city of Rosario, via the CAR.
The AR was the first state-owned railway in Argentina and was founded on 15 November 1867 by decree promulgated in November 1867, from Villa María to Villa Nueva, then extending to Río Cuarto.
At the beginning of 1870 the Government signed an agreement to British entrepreneur John Simmons who committed to finish the railway within 3 years at a cost of A$ 26,200 per mile. In November that same years works began.
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