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Transport in Argentina

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Within the urban areas, the main transportation system is by the bus or colectivo; bus lines transport millions of people every day in the larger cities and their metropolitan areas as well as a bus rapid transport system known as Metrobus. Buenos Aires additionally has an underground, the only one in the country, and Greater Buenos Aires is serviced by a system of suburban trains.

Public transportation

A majority of people use public transport rather than personal cars to move around in the cities, especially in common business hours, since parking can be both difficult and expensive. Cycling is becoming increasingly common in big cities as a result of a growing network of cycling lanes in cities like Buenos Aires and Rosario.

Bus

The Colectivo (urban bus) cover the cities with numerous lines. Fares might be fixed for the whole city, or they might depend on the destination. Colectivos often cross municipal borders into the corresponding metropolitan areas. In some cases there are diferenciales (special services) which are faster, and notably more expensive. Bus lines in a given city might be run by different private companies and/or by the municipal state, and they might be painted in different colours for easier identification. The city of Buenos Aires has in recent years been expanding its Metrobus BRT system to complement its existing Underground network and it is estimated that, along with other measures, it will increase the city's use of public transport by 30 percent.

Taxi

Taxis are very common and relatively accessible price-wise. They have different colours and fares in different cities, though a highly contrasted black-and-yellow design is common to the largest conurbations. Call-taxi companies (radio-taxis) are very common, while the remisse is another form of hired transport: they are very much like call-taxis, but do not share a common design, and trip fares are agreed beforehand instead of using the meter. Although, there are often fixed prices for common destinations.

Commuter rail

Suburban trains connect Buenos Aires city with the Greater Buenos Aires area, (see: Buenos Aires commuter rail network). Every weekday, more than 1.4 million people commute to the Argentine capital for work and other business. These suburban trains work between 4 AM and 1 AM. The busiest lines are electric, several are diesel powered, while some of these are currently being electrified, while the rolling stock is being replaced across the city. Until recently, Trenes de Buenos Aires, UGOFE, Ferrovías and Metrovías were some of the private companies which provided suburban passenger services in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. However, with the modernisation and re-nationalisation of these services, many of these companies have had their contracts terminated or have been absorbed into Trenes Argentinos (the state railway operator), though as of 2015 some private operators such as Metrovías (Urquiza Line) do remain.

Other cities in Argentina with a system of suburban trains include Resistencia, Paraná and Mendoza, which is home to the Metrotranvía Mendoza - an urban light rail network. A commuter rail network for Córdoba is planned to complement the existing Tren de las Sierras which currently runs through the city and to nearby towns and villages.

Underground Subway

As of 2015, Buenos Aires is the only Argentine city with an underground metro system, nonetheless there is a project to build a system in the city of Córdoba (Córdoba Metro) making it the second underground system in Argentina. The Buenos Aires Underground (Subterráneo de Buenos Aires) has currently six lines, each labelled with a letter from A to H, though 3 more lines are planned. A modern tram line (PreMetro) line E2 works as a feeder to Underground Line E at their outer terminus as well as the Urquiza Line for Underground Line B in Chacarita. Daily ridership is 1.3 million and on the increase. Most of the lines of the Buenos Aires Undergrounds connect the city centre (Micro-centro) with areas in the outskirts of the city proper, though none go outside the city limits to Greater Buenos Aires.

In recent years, the Underground has seen a gradual expansion, with lines H, B and A seeing extensions. As of 2015, the extension of lines E and H are under construction, with work commenced on the new line F and two additional lines (G and I) planned. Similarly, the rolling stock has been gradually replaced in recent years and there are further plans to modernise.

Tram

Trams (streetcars), once common, were retired as a form of public transport in the 1960s but are now in the stages of a slow comeback. In 1987 a modern tram line was opened as a feeder for the underground system. A modern light rail line between the Bartolomé Mitre suburban railway station and Tigre (Tren de la Costa) inaugurated in 1996 operates in the northern suburbs. A 2-kilometre tram known as the Tranvía del Este (Eastern Tram) was inaugurated 2007 in the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aires using loaned French Alstom Citadis trams, but plans for its extension never came to fruition, and declining patronage led the line's closure in 2012.

Trams were once extremely common in Buenos Aires, with the city having a large 875 km tramway network and the largest tramway-to-population ratio the world, which gained it notoriety as "the city of trams" across the world. The first trams began operating in the 1860s, however by the 1960s the network was dismantled and replaced by buses. There is a Heritage Tramway maintained by enthusiasts that operates a large collection of vintage trams on weekends, near the Primera Junta Underground Line A station in the Caballito neighbourhood.

The city of Mendoza also has its own tram system called the Metrotranvía Mendoza which has 16 stations and connects the city with its conurbation. Other Argentine cities with tram systems are Paraná and La Plata, both using the nationally built TecnoTren railbuses. The city of Santiago del Estero is constructing an elevated light rail system to connect itself with its metropolitan area. Trolleybuses are operated in Córdoba, Mendoza and Rosario.

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