Trams in Buenos Aires

[2][3] By 1963, the vast majority of the network began to be dismantled, though some minor tram services continue in the city today.

[6] In the early 1900s the network expanded rapidly as a result of electrification and by the mid-1920s the system has reached its maximum extension of 875 km with 3,000 vehicles carrying 650 million passengers a year on 99 lines serviced by 12,000 employees.

[6] However, this resurgence and rapid growth of the network was to be short-lived, since in 1961 - under pressure from private interests threatened by what they perceived to be a state monopoly on public transport - the Argentine Congress passed a law which would see the dismantling of the network, citing "obsolescence as a means of transport" and TBA's budgetary deficit as motives.

[9] Most of the tram services saw direct replacements with the hundreds of buses purchased by the Government of Argentina from Leyland Motors.

[18] Today, the Association of Friends of the Tramway (Spanish: Asociación Amigos del Tranvía) maintain and refurbish numerous trams inside the Polvorín workshop in the neighbourhood of Caballito.

This beautiful vehicle, which has been meticulously restored and preserved, is a true moving work of art that allows visitors to travel back in time and relive the golden era of trams in the city.

The group formed in 1980 and runs a heritage tramway in the neighborhood, which often features jazz bands playing on the trams.

The tramway closed after experiencing low passenger numbers, largely due to the linear nature of the line which only operated in a sparsely populated part of the area.

[25] In Greater Buenos Aires the Tren de la Costa, which uses articulated CAF trams, was opened in 1995.