Tren del Valle

Tren del Valle
	Train crossing a bridge in July 2015
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
Status	Active
Locale	Río Negro ; Neuquén
First service	21 July 2015; 9 years ago
Current operator(s)	Trenes Argentinos
Former operator(s)	BA Great Southern (1901-48) ; Ferrocarriles Argentinos (1948-93)
Ridership	1,500 per day
Website	trenesargentinos/regionalneuquen
Route
Termini	Plottier; Cipolletti
Distance travelled	10 km (6.2 mi)
Average journey time	25 minutes
Service frequency	10 services a day
Line(s) used	Roca
On-board services
Class(es)	Unique
Technical
Rolling stock	Materfer CMM 400-2
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)

Tren del Valle is a 10 km (6.2 mi) commuter rail service that connects cities of Plottier, Neuquén and Cipolletti, in the Río Negro and Neuquén Provinces of Argentina, running on Roca Railway tracks. In a future stage, the line could be extended west to Senillosa and east to General Roca.^[5]

The Tren del Valle is named after "Alto valle del Río Negro", a valley located at the north west of Río Negro Province, crossing cities of General Roca, Cipolletti, Villa Regina, Cinco Saltos, among others. It extends from the confluence of Limay and Neuquén rivers to Chichinales.^[6] The region is about 52,000 m² (560,000 sq ft) in size, and is also notable for its production of apples as well as its vast Vaca Muerta oil field, whose freight lines will share some tracks with the Tren del Valle.^[7]^[8]^[9]

The service, after preliminary tests,^[9]^[10] was opened on 21 July 2015,^[1] being operated by state-owned Trenes Argentinos.^[2]

In 2022^[11] two new stops opened at the Neuquén Bus Terminal and the Neuquén Presidente Perón Airport.

History

The railway was originally built and operated by British-owned Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, that reached the city of Zapala in 1908, expanding its network to 6,082 km (3,779 mi) by then. After the railways were nationalised in 1948, the BAGSR became part of General Roca Railway, one of the six divisions of recently created state-owned Ferrocarriles Argentinos.

In 2014, several railway projects were approved for the Río Negro and Neuquén provinces to reactivate passenger services in the region, they were Estrella del Valle, Tren del Valle, and Tren del Dique, running on Roca Railway tracks. The first step of the project will be to open the "Tren del Valle" that will connect cities of Neuquén (of the homonymous province) and Cipolletti in Río Negro Province.^[12] Rolling stock used will be provided by local company Materfer, that was committed to build 20 CMM 400-2 railcars to run on the line. There is no time limit for the reopening.^[13]

Works for the reopening included repair of the bridge that crosses the river and the remodelling of Neuquén station,^[14] a part of the installation of six warning devices on six level crossings along the route.^[10]

During the first days of July 2015, the train made its first preliminary tests, running between both cities before being officially inaugurated on 20 of July.^[15] The first expansion was made in 2021 to the city of Plottier, around 15 km west of Neuquén.^[16]

Other projects plan to extend the service to the end of the valley, reaching cities such as Senillosa and Chichinales.^[17]