"The state of the road infrastructure was the main cause of the derailments occurred in the sections managed by the Executive Unit of the Provincial Railway Program" of Buenos Aires, according to the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish). The data comes from the analysis made of the agreements signed between the then Ministry of Transport and the province between 2010 and 2013.

According to the informed derailments records "the Lobos - Bolivar joint is the most affected." Among the causes "broken rails, track deficiencies and gaps in rail sections" stand out, among other infrastructure drawbacks.

Of the inspections conducted by the National Commission for Transport Regulation, in December 2011, it shows that the Maipú - Mar del Plata and Mar del Plata - Miramar "had aged wooden sleepers with decay and rails had their ends flattened with detachment of the material, which generates bumps".

The striking thing about this situation is that "from the analysis it does not emerge that they have taken action to correct the situation."

In fact, the new Talgo IV units, used in the corridor Plaza Constitucion - Mar del Plata, "had to be removed from service because the poor state of the tracks damaged the trains which then required repairs."

At level crossings of the branch of General Guido - Korn, for example, "it was noted that the level crossing barriers do not meet the required length, the signals do not work properly and junctions are damaged."

The report, approved in June 2016, says that "until 2013 it was not providing service" and that "it had stopped doing so in October 2012." Thus, "the formations are stationed in a former locomotive depot in the town of Tolosa.

About this depot, there are also some encouraging remarks: Saturdays, Sundays and holidays there is an absence of security staff; It has no perimeter fence and poor lighting. Added to this is that, according to the control equipment, "these weaknesses affect the safeguarding of the formations".

Maintenance Plans

The report aims to analyze the management carried out by the national government in intercity services passenger trains for different signed agreements with the Province of Buenos Aires.

The Executive Unit of the Provincial Railway Program (UEPFP, for its acronym in Spanish) was created by the province, within the Ministry of Public Works to "take the necessary steps to transfer services, control of delivery and verification of compliance with legal obligations" among other issues.

There is a resolution of the CNRT which states that "all providers of rail passenger services and freight must submit before the end of November, the annual maintenance plan to develop in the next year." Failure to follow this guideline is a "serious misconduct" and corresponds to a financial penalty.

The AGN evaluated the documentation related to maintenance plans for infrastructure and rolling stock for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.

In the first year the infrastructure plan submitted was incomplete because it did not contemplate some sections. The rolling stock "is not clear" because, for example, it does not delimit which locomotives will be repaired, how many kilometers they accumulate or how many they project it will perform.

For 2012, an incomplete plan is once again submitted, and also "it was delivered out of term.” On trains it is noted that "UEPFP scheduled 89 kilometers of comprehensive review, but it was difficult to comply due to not having enough physical resources." In 2013 the infrastructure plan was presented again after the deadline.