Sarmiento Line, one of the services
operated by the company. |
|
State-owned | |
Industry | Railway |
Predecessor | |
Founded | 2008 |
Founder | Government of Argentina |
Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Area served
|
National |
Key people
|
Guillermo Dietrich (Ministry of Transport) Marcelo Orfila (President) |
Services | Railway transport and maintenance |
Owner | Government of Argentina |
Parent | Ferrocarriles Argentinos S.E. |
Website | sofse.gob.ar |
Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado (abbreviated SOFSE; trading name: Trenes Argentinos Operaciones) is an Argentine State-owned company created in 2008 to operate passenger services in Argentina. It is a subsidiary of the Ferrocarriles Argentinos holding company.
Since March 2015 SOFSE has also run the Buenos Aires commuter rail services previously operated by private companies as the Mitre, San Martín, Roca and Belgrano Sur lines.
After the Railway privatisation in Argentina at the beginning of the 1990s the railway assets that had not given in concession were taken over by Ferrocarriles Argentinos before being dissolved.
From 1996 to 2000 those assets were administered by "Ente Nacional de Administración de Bienes Ferroviarios" (ENABIEF) created through a National Decree promulgated by the Presidency of Argentina. On June 1, 2000, ENABIEF merged to Dirección Nacional de Bienes del Estado.
From then on, the "Organismo Nacional de Administración de Bienes" (ONABE) began its activities as an organism created to manage the assets not directly affected to State activities.
Law 26.352 promulgated in 2008 re-organized the railway operations in Argentina creating two State organisms, the "Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias" (ADIF) and the Operadora Ferroviaria (SOFSE). Decree N° 752/08 regulated the activities by the recently established company since then.
Although having been established in 2008, SOFSE became active two years later, when the organism took over the railway services in Chaco Province left by Servicios Ferroviarios del Chaco (SEFECHA). In 2011 the organism added the regional services of Salta and Buenos Aires Provinces. When Minister of Transport was created in 2012, SOFSE took over all the urban services not granted in concession of Greater Buenos Aires. The society also began to operate interuban services such as train services to Córdoba, Tucumán cities and other services previously operated by the Government of Entre Ríos Province.