page_title: Fiat Materfer 7131
section_title: Decline
hierarchical_section_title: Fiat Materfer 7131 / History / Decline
caption_attribution_description: Español: Estación Garín en partido de Escobar la misma perteneciente Ferrocarril Mitre del ramal a Capilla del Señor.
context_page_description: The 7131 was an Argentine diesel railcar, first produced in Italy by Fiat Ferroviaria, then licensed to Argentine company Materfer to continue the manufacturing. Those railcars were introduced in the 1960s to replace the existing rolling stock of most of the urban services of Argentina, such as Roca, Urquiza, Mitre and Sarmiento lines.
  Following the privatisation of the Argentine railways in the early 1990s, the 7131 fell into disuse, being replaced by other light models built by Materfer.
context_section_description: By the 1990s, the 7131 only served on some local services (Temperley–Haedo, La Plata, Río Santiago; Merlo–Lobos and Villa Ballester–Zárate). The lack of maintenance by parent company Ferrocarriles Argentinos resulted in the deterioration of the coaches, that were frequently damaged with some units  being even on fire. As a result, the number of units suitable for service decreased considerably.
  With the privatisation of the Argentine railways, the 7131 railcars were declared obsolete and replaced by other models manufactured by Materfer. The last line served by the 7131 was the Victoria–Capilla del Señor line on the Mitre railway. The Mitre Line's concessionary, Trenes de Buenos Aires, then acquired 8 new units made by Materfer and soon nicknamed them Pitufos (a Spanish translation for "Smurfs") due to their small size. Nevertheless, the low passenger capacity and poor damping of those units resulted in many of the 7131 remaining active.
  During those years, a cooperative named "Ferroser" announced the reopening of the Ringuelet-Brandsen line, using 7131 railcars. Nevertheless, the project was never carried out.
  A short revival of the 7131 occurred in 2008, when defunct company Trenes Especiales Argentinos used a railcar (that had been previously refurbished) to run the Gran Capitán service between F. Lacroze to Posadas, Misiones.
caption: Light cars by Materfer replaced 7131 under the TBA's administration.
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