Premetro (Buenos Aires)

Premetro
Materfer tram at General Savio station.
Overview
Type	Light rail
Termini	Intendente Saguier General Savio and Centro Cívico
Stations	17
Daily ridership	2,300
Operation
Opened	28 April 1987
Operator(s)	Metrovías
Character	Surface level
Technical
Line length	7.4 km (4.6 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Electrification	Catenary, 750 V DC
Route diagram Intendente Saguier Balbastro Mariano Acosta Somellera Workshops Ana María Janer Fátima Fernández de la Cruz Presidente Illia Belgrano Sur Line Parque de la Ciudad Cecilia Grierson Escalada Pola Ana Díaz Centro Cívico Larrazábal Nicolás Descalzi Gabino Ezeiza General Savio This diagram:

The Premetro is a 7.4-kilometer long (4.6 mi) light rail line that runs in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, connecting with the Buenos Aires Underground line E, at Plaza de los Virreyes station and runs to General Savio, with a short branch to Centro Cívico. It opened in 1987 and is operated by Metrovías. Originally, the Premetro was to include many more lines, but shortly after the privatisation of the railways the projects were postponed and never materialised and only "Premetro E2" was built.

The line opened in stages. The first section was opened for service on 28 April 1987; this was the 2-km section between the metro station (Plaza de los Virreyes) and Ana Maria Janer, near the line's carhouse. Service was extended to Villa Soldati in June and to General Savio on 25 August. A formal inauguration ceremony was held two days later.

The cost of constructing the line was USD 5.4 million, and an additional USD 4.6 million was allocated to the acquisition of a fleet of 25 trams. A contract for the latter was awarded around the end of 1985 to a consortium led by the Argentine company Materfer (Fábrica de Material Ferroviario), of Córdoba, some of which were for a planned second line that was to be built later.

Delivery of the Materfer cars was originally due to begin in mid-1987, but it soon became apparent that they would not be ready until mid-1988 or later, which would be well after construction of the line was completed. In order to avoid a long delay in the opening of the line, officials decided to create a temporary fleet by converting some 1913 metro cars into trams. They were double-truck (four-axle), non-articulated, double-ended (bidirectional) trams. A total of eight such cars were built, using new metal bodies manufactured in Buenos Aires by EMEPA S.A., mounted on the original 1913 Belgian-built La Brugeoise underframes. They were painted in a livery of all-over green. The first three of these inaugurated service on the first section of line E2 in April 1987.