General

Transportation in Argentina is mainly based on a complex net of routes, crossed by relatively inexpensive long-distance buses and by cargo trucks. The country also has a number of national and international airports.

Argentina's highway system is well-developed and paved roads reach all corners of the country. There are nearly 640,000 kilometers of highways and roads (with many privatised roads as well). Multilane highways now connect several main cities and more are now under construction.

The railway network was one of the largest in the world, at over 40,000 kilometers of tracks. After decades of decaying service and lack of maintenance, most passenger services shut down in 1992 when the rail company was privatised, and thousands of kilometers of track are now in disrepair. Railway services are currently being reactivated among several cities.

The national government is planning to build a high-speed rail between Buenos Aires and Rosario and conventional train at 160 km/h between Rosario and Córdoba. Four European firms are competing for the contract. Works are to last from the beginning of 2007 until the end of 2009.

Within the urban areas, the main transportation system is usually the bus or colectivo; bus lines transport millions of people every day in the larger cities and their metropolitan areas. Buenos Aires additionally has an underground, the only one in the country, and Greater Buenos Aires is serviced by a system of urban trains.

The country has around 3,000 kilometers of waterways, the most significant among these being the Río de la Plata, Paraná, Uruguay, and Paraguay rivers. Fluvial transport is mostly used for cargo, with the exception of those which cross the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo, both in Uruguay.

Overview