Argentina and Paraguay reactivate international freight train after 7-year suspension

The Argentine government announced Tuesday the reactivation of an international freight train with Paraguay that was suspended for seven years.

According to the Ministry of Transport, a locomotive of the Urquiza Cargas railroad line of the state-owned company Trenes Argentinos Cargas (TAC) crossed the bridge that connects the Argentine city of Posadas in the province of Misiones (northeast) with the Paraguayan city of Encarnación (south).

“For us, it is a more than happy day, and it is special because it is the return to Paraguay after seven years of not transporting national goods and more than 11 years of not coming here from Paraguay,” said the manager of the Urquiza Cargas train, Mario Arellano.

In the next few days, a train is scheduled to return from the Paraguayan city of Encarnación to Zárate (Buenos Aires) with wagons full of bagged rice for export to Argentina.

The Argentine government said that this reactivation should reduce costs for the regional economy and generate new flows of goods.

“It is expected to generate new flows of goods, reducing time and logistical costs and allowing local producers to export high value-added goods, leading to new foreign exchange inflows,” the Ministry of Transport said.

The Urquiza train, along with the Paraguayan city, crosses four Argentine provinces, resulting in 1,500 kilometers of operating tracks through which stone, thinner, cement, cellulose paste, and grain are transported.