Urban rail
South America’s metro pioneer looks to the fut
The Buenos Aires metro network has been through its fair share of highs and lows in the 100 years since it opened. Enda Murphy looks at how Subte is reaching out to new areas of the city and responding to the challenges of ridership decline and inadequate revenue.
T
HIS year marks an important anniversary for Buenos Aires, which is celebrating the 100th
anniversary of its metro system. Line A of the metro, or Subte as it is known locally, was the first railway of its kind in South America, and as the port city boomed in the early years of the 20th century it quickly grew into a network. Three lines opened in the 1930s, but the pace of expansion slowed considerably in subsequent decades, and Line E was not completed until 1966. The most recent addition is Line H, which was inaugurated in 1997. Today, after decades of
underinvestment in Subte, buses are the backbone of the public transport system in Buenos Aires, accounting for around 70% of all public transport journeys in the city.
“Instead of a system where you can move around the city by Subte, we have
38
an extensive network of buses, but these are very inefficient, quite chaotic, and not very responsive to demand,” says Mr Juan Pablo Piccardo, president of metro construction authority Subterráneos de Buenos Aires (Sbase). In addition to investment in existing infrastructure, driving up metro ridership will require expansion of the network, which is run under concession by private operator Metrovías. The current network encompasses six lines and 78 stations, covering a total route length of 47km, and carries around 950,000 passengers per day. Around 15.6 million people live in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area.
Asked how the existing network will be enhanced and expanded in the coming years, Piccardo offers a few examples.
First, ageing rolling stock will be replaced and the fleet size increased by
around 200 vehicles. Secondly, improvements will be made to signalling to reduce headways and improve safety and reliability. Thirdly, work will begin later this year on improving access and passenger flow around the interchange under the Obelisco (a famous Buenos Aires monument) which is used by 300,000 people per day and links the three busiest lines. Taken together, it is estimated these measures will boost capacity by 30-40%.
In addition, Sbase is overseeing the extension of lines A, B and H, which will expand the network to serve some of the most densely-populated areas of the city. On busy streets, the new stations are being excavated below ground at a depth of 20-25m, rather than by cut-and-cover, allowing city life to continue with less disruption. “We try to leave space for other
IRJ August 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52