Transport in Argentina is mainly based on a complex network of routes, crossed by relatively inexpensive long-distance buses and by cargo trucks. The country also has a number of national and international airports. The importance of the long-distance train is minor today, though in the past it was widely used and is now regaining momentum after the re-nationalisation of the country's commuter and freight networks.Se instruye a la sociedad Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado para que instrumente las medidas necesarias a los efectos de rescindir los Acuerdos de Operación Crónica Ferroviaria March, 2015 "El ferrocarril de carga debe ser el eje del transporte en Argentina" Crónica Ferroviaria March, 2015 Fluvial transport is mostly used for cargo.
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.El sistema más humano de bicicletas compartidas está en Buenos Aires World Bank, July 2013.Cambiá el aire! Calle Recreativa Municipalidad de 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.Metrobus South opens, 23km added to City bus network Buenos Aires Herald, August 2014.
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.Detalles del proyecto para conectar todos los ferrocarriles urbanos debajo del Obelisco - Buenos Aires Ciudad, 12 May 2015. 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.Red ferroviaria argentina se moderniza con trenes chinos CCTV, November 2014 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.Se instruye a la sociedad Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado para que instrumente las medidas necesarias a los efectos de rescindir los Acuerdos de Operación Crónica Ferroviaria, March 2015
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.Buscan reflotar el proyecto de tren urbano en la ciudad de Córdoba Impulso, July 2013.
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.Confirman proyecto para desviar la línea F a Facultad de Derecho - EnElSubte, 25 November 2014.Cancelaron las negociaciones con los chinos por la línea G - 24 January 2012Bodart: El Metrobús como reemplazo de la línea I es "una estafa transversal" - EnElSubte, 16 April 2015. 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.Plan de Expansion Buenos Aires Ciudad Similarly, the rolling stock has been gradually replaced in recent years and there are further plans to modernise.Plan De Material Rodante Buenos Aires Ciudad
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,Francia quiere una red de tranvías en Buenos Aires - La Nacion, 18 January 2008. 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. - Don Ross Group, 7 November 2014.Historia del tranvía en Buenos Aires - Revista Digital eadUn viaje por la historia de la ciudad en el viejo Tramway - ElDiario.es, 21 March 2015. The first trams began operating in the 1860s, however by the 1960s the network was dismantled and replaced by buses.Leyland Urbanos en los '60. - BusARGAPUNTES SOBRE LA HISTORIA DEL TRANVÍA EN BUENOS AIRES - Biblioteca Popular Federico Lacroze 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.La AAT celebra con un festival los 150 años del tranvía - EnElSubte, 12 July 2013
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.
Road transport
Since Argentina is almost 4,000 kilometres long and more than 1,000 km wide, long distance transportation is of great importance. Several toll expressways spread out from Buenos Aires, serving nearly half the nation's population. The majority of Argentine roads, however, are two-lane national and provincial routes and, though they are spread throughout the country, less than a third of Argentina's 230,000 km (145,000 mi) of roads are currently paved.
Though, by 1929, Argentina was already home to over 400,000 vehicles,The World Almanac (1929), p.327. virtually all long-distance travel was done on the nation's vast railways. Argentina, then, lacked a road-building program until 1932, when the National Highway Directorate was established. Paid for at first with an excise tax on gasoline, the bureau could claim some important accomplishments, like the 1951 opening of the 200 km Santa Fe-Rosario expressway.
Argentina is home to around 9.2 million registered cars, trucks and buses; on a per capita basis, it has long had Latin America's widest accessibility to motor vehicles.Encyclopædia Britannica Book of the Year, Statistical Appendix; various editions since 1948. Left-lane drivers until 1945, Argentine motorists have since been driving on the right-hand side. The Vehicle registration plates of Argentina are based on a three letters-three numbers per car (with the exception of some trucks) system.
Expressways have been recently doubled in length (to nearly)http://www.grupopayne.com.ar/archivo/01/0112/011211/institucionales/institucionales. html and now link most (though not all) important cities. The most important of these is probably the Panamerican National Route 9 Buenos Aires – Rosario – Córdoba freeway. The longest continuous highways are National Route 40, a 5000-km stretch along the Andes range and the 3000-km sea-side trunk road National Route 3, running from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia.
Long distance buses
Argentine long distance buses are fast, affordable and comfortable; they have become the primary means of long-distance travel since railway privatisations in the early 1990s greatly downsized Argentina's passenger rail service and plane tickets are more expensive. Competing providers differ little on their time-honoured formula, offering three different services regarding the number of stops and type of seats: the Regular, Semi-cama (semi-bed), and Cama (bed), with Cama being similar to an airline's business class but the names vary. They may also be called Ejecutivo, Cama-vip, Cama-suite and some other names. Some services, usually the ones that are more expensive, have also on-board dining, while others stop at restaurants by the road. Long and middle-distance buses cover almost all paved-accessible cities, towns and villages.
Rail transport
Long-distance passenger services
Services on Argentina's passenger railway system, once extensive and prosperous, were greatly reduced in 1993 following the break-up of Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA), the state railway corporation.Argentina sets a new course . Railway Gazette International August 2007. Despite the decline of the railway under privatisation, Argentina still maintains the 8th largest rail network in the world, with 36,966 km of track.