Córdoba Central Railway | |||
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Overview | |||
Native name | Ferrocarril Central Córdoba | ||
Type | Inter-city | ||
Status | Defunct company; rail lines active | ||
Termini |
Retiro Tucumán |
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Stations |
Santa Fe Córdoba Santiago del Estero Catamarca |
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Operation | |||
Opened | 1888 | ||
Closed | 1939 (acquired by the Argentine State Railway) |
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Technical | |||
Track gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge | ||
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The Córdoba Central Railway (CCR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Córdoba) was a British-owned railway company, founded in 1887, that operated a 1,960 km (1,220 mi) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway network in Argentina which extended from Buenos Aires, north west via Rosario and Córdoba, to Tucumán. Financial problems forced the sale of the company to the Government of Argentina in 1938. When railways were nationalized in 1948 the CC became part of Belgrano Railway.
The company was founded in 1887 to take over a concession, originally granted to William Temple in 1885, for the construction of a 206 km line, from the Córdoba city suburb of Alta Córdoba to San Francisco. The line was completed in 1888
In October 1887 the Government granted the operation of Ferrocarril Central Norte's 884 km line (that included the Alta Córdoba-Tucumán, Frías-Santiago del Estero and Recreo-Chubicha branches) to Hume Hnos. & Cía (owned by The Hume Brothers) for $ 16,000,000. The concessionary would also invest $ 5,000,000 to bring it up to a satisfactory standard. The Government guaranteed Hume Hnos. a 5% of interest for 15 years. The Ferrocarril Central Norte only kept the Tucumán-Juramento 226 km. section. Hume Hnos. would then transfer their rights of operation to the Córdoba Central Railway in 1889.
Between 1889 and 1891 the Córdoba Central network was expanded with the addition of Tucumán-Lamadrid (140 km) and Argentine North Western Railway (284 km.). In 1891 Meiggs & Cía. transferred its assets to newly formed "Ferrocarril Córdoba y Rosario", established in London with a capital of $ 10,164,646.