page_title: Line B (Buenos Aires Underground)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Line B (Buenos Aires Underground) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Eidan 500 train at Juan Manuel de Rosas station.
context_page_description: Line B of the Buenos Aires Underground runs 11.75 kilometres from Leandro N. Alem to Juan Manuel de Rosas in Villa Urquiza. Line B opened to the public on 17 October 1930.
  In recent years, it has held the title of being the most used line, and increased even more so after the opening of a section of tunnel between Los Incas station in the neighborhood of Parque Chas and a shopping centre in Villa Urquiza. It was the first line in Buenos Aires whose stations had turnstiles and moving stairways.
  It is the only line that uses third rail current collection, while the rest collect electric current from overhead lines, though there has been ongoing conversion to overhead lines to incorporate new rolling stock. Its gauge of 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in is the same as the rest of the Buenos Aires underground system.
  The rolling stock currently used on the B line are former Tokyo Metro 300/500/900 stocks, which was used on Marunouchi Line and CAF 5000 stock. These Japanese units were acquired in the early 1990s, and offer less sitting room than the previous setup, increasing the line's capacity during peak hours.
context_section_description: In 1912 the Congress of Argentina enacted Law 8,870 to carry out the line that would unite the Correo Central (Central Post Office) and the intersection of  Triumvirato and Elcano streets, splice site with the tracks of the Buenos Aires Central Railroad (Ferrocarril Central de Buenos Aires or FCCBA), which belonged to the same business group through an  8.7 km tunnel. The Act provided that the works "would clear in part the traffic in the central area of the city".
  Latterly on 17 December 1927 in New York City the financial agreement to build was signed between Teófilo Lacroze, the president of Banco de la Nación Dr. Tomás de Estrada, Dr. Louis J. Rocca directory owner of  Ferrocarril Terminal de Buenos Aires and bankers Harris and Forbes. This will grant the concession of the line for passengers, parcels and freight to Lacroze Brothers Company.   
  The construction was done by the Argentine builder Dwight P. Robinson & Cía, and the line was called Ferrocarril Terminal Central de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Central Terminal Railroad). The first section between Federico Lacroze and Callao  opened on 17 October 1930 and measured 7.021 km. The maiden voyage was made by President de facto José Félix Uriburu.
  On 22 June 1931, it was extended to Carlos Pellegrini station. Finally, the line was completed on 1 December 1931 when the subway reached the station Leandro N. Alem. These three sections were carried out entirely below Corrientes Avenue, including 19 curves and 13 stations.
  According to the depth of the line, some sections were made by open ditch (cut-and-cover method) or gallery or tunnel. As so were performed mainly at open skies the stations Federico Lacroze, Dorrego, Canning, (now Malabia), Río de Janeiro, (now Ángel Gallardo)
  and Medrano . When you reach the tunnel at Maipu Street the maximum depth reached 17 metres. Underneath the Rancagua (today Los Andes) park, in Chacarita, a workshop and a 10 track garage (with capacity for 110 wagons) were built.
  This line had escalators and turnstiles for the payment of coin-operated service, initially manufactured in United States, formerly controlled by guards. It also was deeper than the Line A, and like it, each station was decorated with friezes of characteristic colors.
  An underground link with the subsoil of the Mercado Central de Abasto (central wholesale fruit and vegetable market) was made available on 12 July 1933, by which goods wagons with freight from the Ferrocarril Central de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Central Railroad) would arrive, driven by electric locomotives. This was lifted after the fire occurred on 27 November 1952.
  From the beginning the circulation was protected by an automatic luminous signalization, with devices for mechanic trains, which were substituted in 1980 for others of magnetic induction, also replaced in 1998 for an electric system with ATP.
caption: Eidan 500 train at Juan Manuel de Rosas station.
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