About this journey

Villa Rosa is the northern terminus of the Belgrano Norte line, a metre-gauge commuter railway that stretches 55 km south through the suburbs of Buenos Aires to its city terminus at Retiro. The line was built by the British-owned Córdoba Central Railway, bought by the Argentine state in 1939 and nationalised into Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano in 1948. Private operator Ferrovías has run services since 1 April 1994, carrying an estimated 42 million passengers each year.

Hauling the train is a GM G22-CU locomotive, a type first delivered to this line in 1972 by General Motors' Electro Motive Division — the CU variant specifically adapted for metre-gauge track. Further units were built under licence by Argentine company Astarsa, and 20 additional locomotives were purchased in 1980 to strengthen services to Villa Rosa. Approaching Retiro, the line crosses Maipú Avenue via the Puente Saavedra railway bridge before reaching the terminus. Retiro station is the largest railway complex in Buenos Aires, also serving the Mitre and San Martín commuter lines, and the journey from the northern suburban fringe to that busy central hub captures the full length of the Belgrano Norte line in a single run.