It was formed in 1948 when all the private railway companies were nationalised during Juan Perón's first presidential term, and transformed into the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado Argentino (EFEA; lit.

FA managed both passenger and freight services, including long-distance and commuter rail trains in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.

On 17 December 1946, a contract was signed by Miguel Miranda, president of Instituto Argentino de Promoción del Intercambio and the ambassador Wladimir D'Ormesson for the sale of French companies in Argentina at a global price of A$ 182,796,173 (about US$45 million).

The acquisition would be paid by Argentina with exports of meat and cereal to Great Britain, which would transfer the money to the former owners of the rail companies.

Despite the success of El Marplatense, FA did not acquire new material from Budd Co., Dutch company Werkspoor being the new locomotives, coaches and railcars suppliers.

That locomotive (officially, "CM1", and named Justicialista) started to run in the summer of 1952-53 serving in El Marplatense and completing the 400-km length in only 4 hours.

The second model by FADEL was the CM2 La Argentina, powered with diesel engines by Italian manufacturers FIAT Ferroviaria and Cantieri Riuniti Dell Adriático.

Although the first railcars were manufactured in Italy and France, most of them were made in Argentina, in a factory specially designed for that assignment located in Ferreyra, Córdoba and named "Materfer".

In 1962, the 7131, a railcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in the Villa Ballester-Zárate and Victoria-Capilla del Señor sections of General Mitre Railway, then managed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos.

[10] Materfer also produced coaches that looked like Werkspoor's that were used for long-distance services to Bariloche (Los Arrayanes), Tucumán (Independencia), Posadas (Cataratas), Mendoza (El Libertador) with international connections with Chile and the Expreso del Sur.

After a probationary period, trains began to run express services to Mar del Plata with a journey time of about 5 hours.

Unlike old wooden coaches used until then, the American wagons were made of steel and came with comforts such as air conditioning and double glazing to insulate the passengers from noise, arm chairs, bars and restaurant carriage.

Four years later, the fleet size was increased with the addition of 20 coaches built by local company Materfer, which replaced the old ones made in Tafí Viejo.

[10] In 1962, the 7131, a railcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in the Villa Ballester-Zárate and Victoria-Capilla del Señor sections of Mitre Railway.

[10] Modernisation included the purchase of brand-new diesel locomotives by American company Whitcomb in 1951 (with the addition of 15 new ones by Werkspoor in 1955) for the Belgrano Sur line.

At the beginning of the 1960s, FA acquired brand new Hitachi electric multiple units, equipped with air conditioning for the metropolitan section of Mitre Railway.

That same year the military dictatorship led by Jorge Videla overthrew president Isabel Perón beginning the National Reorganization Process.

During those years, another 6,300 km would be closed, apart from eliminating half of the passenger services and firing 40% of railway workers (the number of employees dropped from 156,000 to 96,000).

After the rationalisation, the total extension of each railway division was as follows: Raúl Alfonsín's democratic administration sought to keep the services active, but the critical economic situation inherited from the National Reorganization Process's policies drove FA into recession.

Following a prolonged period of hyperinflation in the 1980s, accompanied by a steep increase in fiscal deficit and a sharp fall in reserves, the Argentine government, under the presidency of Carlos Menem from 1989, initiated a series of neoliberal reforms which included the privatisation of public utility companies (telephones, gas, electricity and water) together with the entire railway network.

The remaining passenger services in the city of Buenos Aires, including the five lines of the Metro, were potentially more viable and were treated separately.

By Decree 520/91, a new state-owned company, Ferrocarriles Metropolitanos S.A. (FEMESA) was created in 1991 to operate metropolitan services in the city and suburbs of Buenos Aires Province until the privatisation process was carried out, effectively breaking them from the national network.

[20] Initially no bids were received for the Belgrano railway, and in October 1993 the government created a new state-owned corporation to continue its operation and to undertake improvements likely to make it a more attractive commercial proposition for a private buyer.

Following the failure of previous rationalisation efforts to curb Ferrocarriles Argentinos' financial deficit, on 10 July 1992 president Menem signed Decree 1168/92, introducing an emergency diagram for long distance services across the country as an intermediate step to facilitate the privatisation process, beginning on 1 August and effectively setting 31 December 1992 as the expiration date for all passenger operations.

In December, Menem granted a final extension until 10 March 1993, when all long-distance passenger services were definitely cancelled, stripping most of the provinces of their rail links with Buenos Aires.

[22] The closure left many villages isolated from the main cities of Argentina, causing younger inhabitants to depart from their hometowns in search of better opportunities.

Few provinces expressed interest and even fewer did reach an agreement with the central government to resume services, among which were Buenos Aires (establishing its own company, Ferrobaires), Tucumán (with Tucumán Ferrocarriles running trains since 1997), Río Negro (Servicios Ferroviarios Patagónico, still operating), Córdoba, La Pampa (also with services by Ferrobaires) and Chubut.

In 2008, the national government created Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado (SOFSE) in order to manage some of its newly acquired railway assets.

[25] The state-owned company quickly began to grow, incorporating newly re-nationalised lines, purchasing new rolling stock and replacing long track segments.

[26] In 2015, with the state increasingly widening the scope of its railway reformation, it began re-using the old Ferrocarriles Argentinos marque and soon after presented a proposal to the Argentine National Congress whereby the brand would be revived, incorporating SOFSE and potentially other companies which have yet to be re-nationalised.