The Buenos Aires Midland Railway (BAM) was a British-owned railway company which operated in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 where it was known as Ferrocarril Midland de Buenos Aires. The company built and operated the (metre gauge

Metre gauge

Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

) line between Estación Puente Alsina and Carhué

Carhué

Carhué is an Argentine town in the Province of Buenos Aires, head of the Municipality of Adolfo Alsina. Carhué is about 561 km to the west of the city of La Plata and about 520 km from Buenos Aires...

 in Buenos Aires Province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

. Today the line as far as General Belgrano

General Belgrano, Buenos Aires

General Belgrano is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the General Belgrano Partido....

 is part of Línea Belgrano Sur

Línea Belgrano Sur (Buenos Aires)

The Belgrano Sur line is a commuter rail service in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina run by the private company Transportes Metropolitanos Belgrano Sur S.A. , a subsidiary of Metropolitano, between 1 May 1994 and 22 May 2007...

 which has been operated by UGOFE

Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia

Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia is a temporary consortium of Argentine companies formed on 7 January 2005 by Ferrovías, Metrovías and Trenes de Buenos Aires to take over the running of commuter railway services in Buenos Aires after concessions granted to Metropolitano in...

 since 2007.

History

In 1904 Enrique Lavalle was granted the concession by Buenos Aires Province to construct the line, and the BAM company was formed. Soon after construction of the line began in 1907 the company entered into conflict with the French-owned company, Ferrocarril Compañía General de Buenos Aires, which was also building railways in the same part of the Province. Eventually an understanding was reached between the two companies and the line was finally opened to Carhué in 1911.

The original plan was to boost the importance of the line by extending it from the terminus in Puente Alsina into the centre of the nearby city of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. However, the fact that the company held a concession from the Province, made it impossible for them to enter the territory of the national government.

Decline

The route passed through rural areas with very small towns which generated little passenger traffic. This fact, combined with the effect of intense competition from the nearby services operated by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway

Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway

The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina...

, the Buenos Aires Western Railway

Buenos Aires Western Railway

The Buenos Aires Western Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina...

 and the CGBA, meant that, by the mid 1930s, passenger traffic on the BAM had become almost insignificant.

Nationalisation

When the entire Argentine railway network was nationalisation

Railway Nationalisation in Argentina

In 1948, during President Juan Perón’s first term of office, the seven British-owned and three French-owned railway companies then operating in Argentina, were purchased by the state...

 in 1948, during Juan Peron's presidency, the BAM became part of the state-owned company Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano

Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano

Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano , named after the Argentine politician and military leader Manuel Belgrano, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

. track gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

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