Ferrocarriles Argentinos
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Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA) was a public company that managed the entire Argentine railway system for nearly 45 years. It was formed in 1948 when all the private railway companies were nationalized under Perón's first presidential term, and transformed into the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado Argentino ("Argentine State Railway Company", EFEA).
During the FA era, the Argentine railway system featured its maximum extension, being the biggest in Latin America, with over 45,000 kilometers of railways. However, under the military junta of the Proceso (1976–1983) and the following democratic Alfonsín administration, FA entered a recessive period that ended with its total privatization in 1992, as part of Menem's neoliberal reforms.
In 1991 it was divided, with the Buenos Aires metropolitan services being grouped in Ferrocarriles Metropolitanos S. A. (FEMESA). The major freight line, the Belgrano Cargas, was keep by the state until it was given to the railway workers' trade union, the Unión Ferroviaria. The second biggest line, the Mitre Cargas, was granted by concession in December 1992 to Nuevo Central Argentino S. A. (NCA).