[1] The original concession was awarded by the Argentine government in 1872 to John E. Clark for the construction of a railway from Buenos Aires to Chile.

Chilean citizen Juan E. Clark obtained in 1872 a concession for the construction of a railway line from Buenos Aires to Chile.

In 1882 the "Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway" (BA&P) company was registered in London, and Clark was able to begin construction of the line.

Three years later the line reached Retiro, that was a provisional station so the BAPR had planned to build a terminus in front of Correo Central.

The BAPR decided to close the line, leaving the Villa Real district without services and virtually isolated from public transport.

When it was first completed, the new line provided the provinces of the Cuyo with a direct rail link to the federal capital, instead of the much longer route, via Villa María to Rosario and then by river steamer to Buenos Aires.

[2] When the entire Argentine railway network was nationalised in 1948, during Juan Peron's presidency, the BA&P became part of the state-owned company Ferrocarril General San Martín.