State Railways Administration of Uruguay

The State Railways Administration of Uruguay (Spanish: Administración de Ferrocarriles del Estado), or AFE, is the autonomous agency of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay charged with rail transport and the maintenance of Uruguayan railways.
On 31 December 1948, Parliament approved projects for acquiring foreign railroads, discharging part of the £17 million which was owed to Uruguay by the United Kingdom because of purchases made during World War II. On 31 January 1949, the railroads were nationalized. That August, the executive branch of government proposed to the General Assembly the creation of a body known as the Land Transport Management of the State (ATTE), charged with the following:
The monopoly would gradually prepare to take over private enterprises, and the proposal was based on the need to avoid ruinous competition. Having difficulty obtaining approval, the Executive decided not to pursue the proposal and allow the new entity to limit its function to the operation of rail transport. Meanwhile, between 31 January 1949 and 19 September 1952 the country held two state railways: the Ferrocarril Central del Uruguay (for nationalized companies) and the state railway and tram network, which remained at the forefront of its former operations. The two companies were merged with the creation of the State Railways Administration (AFE) on 19 September 1952.
Uruguayan railways have approximately 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) of track, all 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge, diesel traction and with only 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) of double track. Half of the network is closed, with freight trains circulating branches from Montevideo – Rivera – Livramento; Piedra Sola – Three Trees; Sayago – Minas; Verdum – Plant ANCAP; Carnelli – La Teja; Chamberlain – Paysandú – Salto – Concordia and Algorta – Fray Bentos. The branch from 25 de Agosto – San Jose – Ombucitos is under renovation, and the stretch to San Jose was reopened for passenger service in December 2006.
Passenger service is provided by three suburban lines, starting from Montevideo to the north (to Florida, 109 km), the west (San Jose, 96 km sharing Line 63 to August 25) and the northeast (Mr. Victor Sudriers, 44 km, sharing the first 8 km with the other two). Since 1 March 2003, passenger trains depart and arrive at a new terminal 500 meters north of the Central Station in Montevideo (which has been closed); this entailed a loss of more than 100,000 passengers. The State Railways Administration is the administrator of the rail network. It permits movement of rolling stock from other companies and institutions, and several have their own cars and locomotives (ANCAP, AUAR, CEFU, CUCP).
In 2019 the Finnish forest industry company UPM Kymmene started the construction of a pulp mill in Pueblo Centenario, near Tacuarembo's Paso de Los Toros. Pulp for paper production is to be transported from the plant to Montevideo's Harbor and chemicals in the opposite direction by rail. The rebuilding project "Ferrocarril Central" (en:Central Railway) named after the previous owner of the line was put out to tender. The winner was "Grupo Via Central" (en: Central Track Group) formed by Uruguayan engineering companies "Saceem" and "Berkes" alongside the Spanish company Sacyr and French Groupe NGE. On Friday June 14 of 2019 the last Montevideo to 25 de Agosto service left the New Terminal station in Montevideo. Rebuilding was intended to be finished within 3 years.
The project sparked controversy regarding environment and politics, opponents naming it "UPM's train". Amongst others requirements they asked for passenger services. The MTOP (Ministry of Transport and Public Infrastructure works) stated that rebuilding could only be viable with freight traffic generating income to maintain the line for both freight and passenger traffic. About the same time the railways administration AFE as the state owned owner of the railway infrastructure allowed open access to any train operator paying fees for use of tracks.
After the last train had run in 2019, dismantling tracks of the central line between Montevideo and Pueblo Centenario started. Bolts and plates were removed, keeping track segments together allowing the posterior installation of the old tracks in other branches of the rail network with heavily degraded tracks. Acquisition of ground near the line, including expropriation, was done to allow widening the alignment. In the following years ground movement included the construction of two trenches, one in the Capirro Neighborhood of Montevideo with a length of 800m and another one in Las Piedras city with 1200m of length (including the historic station that was conserved while a new subway-like station was built underground). A bridge was built for road Route 102 to cross level free, also allowing the road to bypass Cesar Mayo Gutierrez street. The access Viaduct at Canelones and multiple additional bypasses in many other streets and cities was built. The government also greenlighted the construction of a Harbor access viaduct in the Rambla separating high-speed transit ingression and leaving Montevideo from the low-speed freight transit in the Harbor and the future rail transport. Track installation began in late 2022 with new continuously welded rail on Uruguayan sleepers (made by the Spanish company Sateba's engineering and local materials) and Vossloh fastenings. Revenga RailRox level crossing equipment and European Train Control System compatible system were used. Double track was laid between Montevideo (Nova Central Station and Harbor's branch) and Villa Felicidad neighborhood in Progreso, Canelones. Work was completed Monday November 20 of 2023, followed by testing.
UPM choose freight operator Portren, a joint venture consisting of Deutsche Bahn from Germany, CHR Group and Cointer Concessions, the contract allowing Portren to use 45% of the line capacity, the remaining 55% being reserved for other open access operators. Protren's rolling stock is composed of 7 Stadler Euro 4001 (the first of their class in the continent) built in Valencia, Spain, 120 wood pulp wagons and 20 sulfuric acid wagons made by Talleres Allecria in Spain. The first locomotive to leave the port was the Portren04 Locomotive, moved by truck because the tracks were not completed. Portren02 and Portren05 left on their own wheels in December (4th and 18th respectively), with Portren02 hauling three wood pulp wagons (103, 111 and 116) while Portren05 carried a longer train.
AFE rolling stock consists of: