Are you going to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina? If so the subway is a useful means of public transport to help you get about.
The Buenos Aires subway (or ‘subte’) is the oldest in Latin America and indeed across the Southern Hemisphere. The subway is in part a conglomeration of what remains of the original Anglo-Argentine Tramway Company.
The subway consists of 5 different lines which were all established one after the other and which are referred to by letters. The oldest subway line in Buenos Aires is ‘line A’. This line was built in 1913 by the Anglo-Argentine Tramway Company and if you travel to Buenos Aires, you will notice that the carriage cars on this particular line contain many of the original features. The subway is therefore of historic importance for Argentina.
The subway lines cover a distance of approximately 29 miles which incorporates 69 subway stations.
The subway may not be the most comfortable form of transport, but it has a good coverage of Buenos Aires and will ensure that you have a mode of transport which covers most of the key tourist attractions.
Until the privatisation of the subway system, this form of transport was losing customers in Buenos Aires by the droves. However it is now managed by a private transit company which has managed to turn things around and is now developing the system for the better. Of additional historic significance for Argentina, is the fact that the Buenos Aires subway was the first subway globally to be privatised.
The Buenos Aires subway opens at 05:00 am and runs until 22:20 every day of the week apart from Sunday whereby the subway does not open until 08:00. Trains typically run every 3-4 minutes during peak time travel.
When travelling on the subway in Buenos Aires, a fixed fare is payable in the ticket offices of any of its stations. This will purchase a ‘token’ and each token enables you to travel to any part of the city which may involve changing stations or lines.
Currently the ticket fare is $ 0,70 per token.
