After the delays, they reactivate the works and ensure that the San Martín train stations will be ready in October

Karina Fog

02/25/2020 - 14:48

• Clarín.com
• Cities

End of September or beginning of October . That is the new term to which the users of the San Martín railway cling to see the new elevated stations of La Paternal and Villa Crespo inaugurated. The works have been halted since September last year and have not yet been resumed. In this scenario, both neighborhoods continue to suffer from a lack of train and a limited commercial activity, with fewer sales and more empty stores.

Now, the City's Ministry of Transportation and Public Works has announced that work will resume at the end of March. It will be after the tender is awarded, convened by AUSA, the Buenos Aires state company that manages the highways and is in charge of the work. These tasks are expected to require at least six months.

Although it was reported that 6% of the work remains to be completed, the list of pending works is extensive. In addition to finishing the missing structures to enable the stations, hydraulic works and pluvial discharges have yet to be completed, acoustic panels installed, columns and beams repaired, and spare parts for track devices, which are what allow trains to change from one track to another.

It was reported that 6% of the work needs to be completed, but the list of pending works is extensive. Photo: Luciano Thieberger.

The stations themselves are not so close to the premiere: the stairs and slabs of the platforms , the commercial premises and the sanitary, fire and heating facilities remain to be finished. Also, signposts, benches and ischial supports must be mounted, and elevators and escalators be enabled . The most advanced station is La Paternal: in Villa Crespo there is even a lack of access construction.

They have to finish from the stairs and slabs of the platforms to the sanitary facilities. Photo: Luciano Thieberger.

The San Martín train runs high since July and reaches Retiro since August. But the final works were paralyzed because the company in charge of the works, a joint venture formed by Green-Rottio, stopped paying subcontractors, so the City Government terminated the contract.

At first it was announced that AUSA would hire subcontractors and directly manage what was missing. But it was finally defined call for tender again.

A new tender was called to end the seasons. Photo: Luciano Thieberger.

Meanwhile, in Villa Crespo and La Paternal the wait becomes too long. Passengers must get off at the station immediately before or after -Palermo or Villa del Parque- and from there take a bus to their destination. In August the free bus service was cut that allowed to complete the train journey.

The closed stations brought damage to the merchants of Villa Crespo and La Paternal and many locals lowered the blinds. Photo: Lucia Merle

That is why users not only waste time to reach these neighborhoods - between 30 and 50 minutes -. Also money: they must pay more tickets, and sometimes even a remís to complete the journey. Some passengers directly reformulate their entire trip and take two buses or combine one with the Urquiza train.

The merchants are not happy either: their activity has been reduced since the works began, more than two years ago, but in recent months the situation worsened.

In Villa Crespo, many stores were emptied because the flow of people was cut off by the closure of the station . It also impacted traffic disruption on Corrientes Avenue to complete some viaduct work during February and March last year.

In La Paternal , the few shops that surround the station today work even less, since with the brake on the works they have no clientele either among passengers or among construction personnel. This lack of movement even aggravates urban insecurity in the area.

The official calculation is that the stations will be finished in the month of October. Photo: Luciano Thieberger.

" The times are being respected. The bidding documents were being carried out and now it is moving forward with the evaluation instance," they said from the Buenos Aires government. From September progress was made with the signaling tasks, according to railway workers of the line.

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