Beginning that crossed the city of
Buenos Aires, in the 1870s. station in 1899. The station was terminus of the BA&E after Central Station was destroyed by fire. . . Photo by
Christiano Junior. In 1857 the
Buenos Aires Province Legislature granted the government of the province a concession to build a railway, initially known as "La Boca and Barracas Railway", from the city of
Buenos Aires to
Ensenada on the
Río de la Plata river, near the city of
La Plata which was to become the Provincial capital in 1882. The main idea that originated the construction of the line was to connect the city of Buenos Aires with Ensenada, a city in
Buenos Aires Province which had a
port which was important for its access and commercial demand. In 1863 concession was granted to Brassey, Wythes & Wheelwright, company owned by American entrepreneur
William Wheelwright. Initially known as
Ferrocarril de La Boca, works began that same year from the corner of Paseo Colón Avenue and Venezuela street, where currently Escuela Otto Krause is placed.
Develop The first terminus of the line was Venezuela station, where trains departed, running through a
viaduct to
Casa Amarilla, General Brown, and Barraca Peña, finishing in Tres Esquinas station, reached by the line in September 1865. One year later, a branch from General Brown to Muelle de La Boca was opened. In 1872 Buenos and Ensenada Port Railway Company (BA&EP) was officially established, taking over the railway previously founded and operated by Wheelwright. That same year
Central Station was inaugurated as terminus of the line. The station, located on the corner of Paseo de Julio Avenue (currently Leandro N. Alem) and Piedad street (today Bartolomé Mitre), consisted of a modern building made of wood and brought directly from
Great Britain. That same year the tracks extended to
Quilmes, reaching that city on April 18. The train crossed over
Riachuelo through an iron bridge that was destroyed by flood in 1884, being quickly replaced by another one made of wood. BA&E finally reached
Ensenada on December 31, 1872, being President of Argentina
Domingo Sarmiento one of the passengers of the inaugural service. Therefore, the railway line completed an extension of 61 km. In 1882 the city of
La Plata was established as capital of the province. The government of Buenos Aires Province decided that La Plata needed to be connected to the rest of the country by train. As the province owned 100% of rival company
Buenos Aires Western Railway, the government commissioned BAWR the construction of the railway. Therefore, the BAWR built a railway line that joint BA&E in Ensenada, reaching La Plata via Tolosa, a city of
La Plata Partido. In 1884 the BAWR built a branch from Tolosa to Pereyra station. In 1883 works to build the La Plata port began, which would be finished in 1890. The port was located near to BA&E dock. On 1889 the BA&E built a new station in Ensenada, closer to the port of La Plata. In 1888 BAWR sold the Rufino de Elizalde –
Magdalena branch to a newly formed company, "Buenos Aires, Ensenada and Costa Sud Railway" (BAE&SC), which was owned by BA&E. This company had plans to extend its services to
Tandil and
Balcarce, competing with British-owned company
Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway that had the concession to build railway lines in that region. The dispute was solved through an agreement specifying that BAE&SC would build its line only to
Chascomús. From then on, lines would be exclusively constructed by BAGSR. Therefore, the viaduct used by the line to connect Buenos Aires and Ensenada, fell into disuse and was later demolished. Always in fierce competition with the BAGS, the BA&EP was finally taken over by its rival company in 1898. == Railway branches ==