page_title: Belgrano Norte Line
section_title: First steps and development
hierarchical_section_title: Belgrano Norte Line / History / First steps and development
caption_attribution_description: Español: Estación de Villa Adelina - Amanecer
context_page_description: The Belgrano Norte line is a commuter rail service in Buenos Aires, Argentina run by the private company Ferrovías since 1 April 1994, with some services operated by the state-owned company Trenes Argentinos from 2015. This service had previously been run by the state-owned General Belgrano Railway since nationalisation of the railways in 1948. Ferrovías also formed part of the consortium UGOFE which operated other commuter rail services in Buenos Aires.
  The Belgrano Norte line service operates from Retiro station, in the centre of Buenos Aires, through the northern Buenos Aires suburbs to the town of Villa Rosa in Pilar Partido. The metre gauge line was built by the British-owned Córdoba Central Railway which was bought by the State in 1939 and was later integrated into Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano in 1948 when the entire Argentine railway network was nationalised.
  There are a total of 22 stations along the 55 km long railway line and the journey along the entire length of the line takes roughly one hour and twenty minutes for the regular service and one hour and five minutes for the differential service.
context_section_description: The line was part of the Córdoba Central Railway (CCR), specifically the branch from the city of Rosario to Retiro, Buenos Aires. The CCR would become part of General Belgrano Railway network when the Government of Argentina nationalised French and British companies in 1948.
  In 1903 the company was authorised to extend rails to Boulogne Sur Mer in Greater Buenos Aires and the works began three years later. In 1909 the line was finally opened. The train departed from Rosario, finishing the journey in Villa Adelina, named in honour of Adelina Munro Drysdale, the General Manager's granddaughter. The train stopped in the other four stations in existence at the time; Villa Rosa, Del Viso, Los Polvorines and Don Torcuato.
  In 1912, the line reached Retiro in central Buenos Aires. Other stations were opened, such as Munro (named in memory of Duncan McKay Munro) and "Kilómetro 14", later renamed "Juan B. Justo" in commemoration of the founder of the Socialist Party of Argentina.
  Between Juan B. Justo and Retiro, tracks crossed over the Maipú Avenue in Vicente López Partido, so a bridge was built to solve the issue. This bridge was named "Puente Saavedra". A short time after that, a new station, "Km. 12" was built near the bridge and renamed "Aristóbulo del Valle" in the 1920s.
  The current Florida station was initially opened as a simple stop along the way. In 1913, when the San Martín Avenue was paved, a storage property of the Narciso Agüero & Cía company was established there. For that reason, the stop was named "Parada Agüero" for a period.
  In 1931, the Juan B. Justo station changed its name to M.M. Padilla to avoid being confused with the station of the same name that belongs to the Mitre Line, only a few blocks from there. During the 1930s, the "Km. 18" station was established and many names were proposed (Ader, Drysdale, La Tahona, among others) until the National Academy of History suggested "Carapachay", which was chosen in 1946.
  While the line was operated by the State-owned company Argentine State Railway, in 1938 brand new Ganz Works railcars were acquired to serve on the Retiro-Villa Rosa and Don Torcuato-Campo de Mayo lines. Between 1947 and 1948, 50 coaches made at the Tafí Viejo workshops and 70 Whitcomb diesel locomotives were added to the Belgrano Norte's fleet, sharing duties with the Ganz railcars.
caption: Villa Adelina station and low level crossing.
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