Railway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Once railway station
(
Spanish
:
Estacion Once de Setiembre
,
lit.
'Eleventh of September Station',
Latin American Spanish:
[?onse]
; informally known as
Estacion Once
) is a large railway terminus in central
Buenos Aires
, Argentina, in the
barrio
of
Balvanera
.
[1]
The station, inaugurated on 20 December 1882, is located in the barrio of
Balvanera
, immediately north of
Plaza Miserere
, a large public square. The current terminal, designed by the Dutch architect John Doyer in
Renaissance Revival
style, was built in two stages, from 1895 to 1898, and then from 1906 to 1907.
The station is named after the
11 September 1852 rebellion of Buenos Aires
against the
federal
government of
Justo Jose de Urquiza
.
[2]
Contrary to popular belief, the station is not named after the death of the president
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
on 11 September 1888.
History
[
edit
]
Background and first buildings
[
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]
The original
terminus
of the
Buenos Aires Western Railway
, the
Del Parque railway station
In 1853, a group of entrepreneurs from the upper class of Buenos Aires formed the
Society of the Iron Road from Buenos Aires to the West
(
Spanish
:
Sociedad del Camino de Hierro de Buenos Aires al Oeste
), which would lead to the construction of the first
railway line
in Argentina. Opened in August 1857, the
Buenos Aires Western Railway
(
Spanish
:
Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires
) joined central Buenos Aires to the Floresta station, which at that time was located in San Jose de Flores village, but is now within Buenos Aires city limits as the
Flores
district of
Buenos Aires
, through a 10 km (6.2 mi) long railway line. The original eastern terminus of the Buenos Aires Western Railway was the
Del Parque railway station
(located where currently Plaza Lavalle is located), with the first intermediate stop on the railway line heading west being named "Once de Septiembre". As a consequence, that first Once de Septiembre station was a modest building made of wood and placed on Bartolome Mitre street. It had only one platform and some warehouses to store wood and other materials.
The old Once station in 1890.
In 1873, the Government considered moving the terminus of the railway line from Del Parque to Once station as a consequence of the increasing growth of Buenos Aires and in the area between both stations due to mass
immigration to Argentina
. The continuous expansion of Buenos Aires produced a growth of road traffic with a large number of
trams
and
carriages
, and the rail tracks crossed along streets and avenues (such as
Corrientes
) with high vehicle and pedestrians traffic. In April 1878, the Municipality of Buenos Aires thus promulgated by decree the closing of the Once?Del Parque section of the railway line, as well as the moving of the terminal station to Once, though it did not take effect until 1883. A new
station building
was built for that purpose, an unassuming
clapboard
structure, which was inaugurated on 1 January 1883. Like the previous station, the building was made of wood, but nonetheless bigger than the previous one.
[3]
By the 1890s new groups of immigrants established near Once station.
Current station building
[
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]
Photo of the station,
c.
1910.
The original terminal was ordered to be replaced by larger facilities following its 1890 purchase by the Buenos Aires Western Railway. Designed by the Dutch architect John Doyer, the new
Renaissance Revival
terminal was built in two stages, from 1895 to 1898, and then from 1906 to 1907; refurbishment works completed in 1972 removed most of the terminal's ornate, cast-iron roof trusses (though these are still visible in the adjoining subway station).
In 1913, Once station was the first
railway terminal
in Buenos Aires to be connected to the
Buenos Aires Underground
network, as the first underground line in the city was opened, the current
Line A
of the
Subterraneo de Buenos Aires
between
Plaza de Mayo
and
Plaza Once
.
Rail accidents
[
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]
The train after crashing in 2012.
On 22 February 2012, a commuter train entered Once station traveling at an excessive speed, about 26 km/h, and crashed into the
buffers
at the end of the line, killing 51 people and injuring at least 703.
[4]
A similar, though less severe, incident took place on the morning of 19 October 2013, when a commuter train crashed into the buffers and landed on the platform above.
[5]
Passengers reported that the conductor was speeding from
Caballito
Station (the previous stop);
[6]
a crowd of passengers surrounded the control booth following the crash yelling "murderer", though the conductor had already fled.
[7]
The conductor, Julio Benitez, was arrested after he was found with the
train event recorder
hidden in his backpack; Benitez had attempted to destroy the device.
[8]
Heritage
[
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]
In May 2021, the station was declared
National Historic Monument
, along with other terminal stations such as Retiro (Belgrano), Constitucion, and Federico Lacroze.
[9]
[10]
Services
[
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]
Estacion Once handles both long-distance and local passenger trains. The publicly owned provincial railway company
Ferrobaires
operates trains over four principal rail lines which fan out west over the surrounding
Buenos Aires Province
. Destinations include
Pehuajo
,
Bragado
,
Bahia Blanca
and points between.
Additionally, the
commuter rail
State-owned company
Trenes Argentinos S.E.
operates a regular train service to the suburbs of Buenos Aires along the branches of its
Sarmiento Line
to destinations including
Moreno
,
Lujan
,
Lobos
, and
Mercedes
. The station is accessible by numerous public bus services and by the
A line
of the
Buenos Aires Underground
via its "Plaza Miserere" station. Estacion Once underwent extensive renovations prior to 2007, when the new
H line
of the metro reached the heavily transited terminal.
Historic operators
[
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]
- Notes
- ^
Temporary operator prior to the
privatization
of commuter rail services.
- ^
a
b
Temporary operator after the government revoked concession to Metropolitano.
Gallery
[
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]
-
The current building c. 1890s
-
-
Interior and platforms c. 1910
-
Building facade, 2007
-
Interior of the station building with ticket office and schedule board
-
-
Panoramic view of the station in 2013
-
A
Trenes de Buenos Aires
train leaving the station in 2012, prior to the company's nationalisation
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Railway stations in Argentina
|
|---|
| Buenos Aires
| |
|---|
| Cordoba
| |
|---|
| Mendoza
| |
|---|
| Neuquen
| |
|---|
| Rio Negro
| |
|---|
| Santa Fe
| |
|---|
| Tucuman
| |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Public and
historic buildings
and structures
| |
|---|
Precincts and
neighbourhoods
| |
|---|
| Nature and parks
| |
|---|
Cultural
Institutions
| |
|---|
| Sport
| |
|---|
| Transport
| |
|---|
Shopping and
entertainment
| |
|---|
Streets
and avenues
| |
|---|