Buenos Aires Subte: CBTC Resignalling & Control Centre

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 1 sourced claim · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

1 sourced claim on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

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The city bought the signalling to run a train every 2 minutes 15 seconds. It still runs one every 3 minutes, because there are not enough trains to fill the gaps.

Evidence📊 Independent
what does this mean?The strongest source is an independent non-academic evaluation: an audit office, a government or EU review, or an NGO. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Scale🏙️ City-wide
FundingCity of Buenos Aires capital works through SBASE

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,167 documented projects · 🏙️ 10 more in Buenos Aires · 🚌 Public transport guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Argentina handed its 1913 metro to the city in 2012, and the city agency SBASE has since put Siemens Trainguard MT CBTC on three of six lines — H in 2016, C in 2020, D in 2024. It runs attended automatic train operation at GoA2: the driver stays in the cab and presses to depart, and no Subte line is driverless or certified to be. Two round-the-clock control rooms track train positions alongside traction power, ventilation and pumping, and SBASE publishes static GTFS plus a real-time feed that Google and Moovit consume. A city audit found the Line D programme finished one of three planned stages, five months late, reaching a 3-minute peak headway but not the promised 2:15 — there are not enough trains. Ridership has not recovered either: 199.1 million paid trips in 2024.

Live 📅 since 2016

🎓 Lesson

Signalling sets the floor on headway; the fleet sets the actual service. Buenos Aires bought the capacity to run a train every 2:15 and still runs one every 3.

Sources

↗ Railway Gazette / Metro Report — Siemens to resignal Buenos Aires Line DPublished 17 July 2020The load-bearing automation sentence: SBASE selected Siemens Mobility for CBTC on Line D, "with the CBTC supporting attended ATO to Grade of Automation 2". Also dates Trainguard MT on Line H to mid-2016 and its commissioning on Line C to February, and says it replaces an Alstom ATP in use since 2008, coordinated by a newly established operations control centre.
↗ Siemens Mobility press release — CBTC signalling for Buenos Aires Line D (17 July 2020)Supplier confirmation of the contract award date. Fetched and read: it states no contract value and no automation grade, and does not mention lines H or C — so it corroborates the award only, not the GoA2 claim.
↗ enelSubte — Line C reopens operating with the new CBTC signallingPublished 3 February 2020Trade press describing what GoA2 means in the cab: the driver presses a button and the train accelerates automatically to the next stop, and "can take control of the formation's operation at any moment". Dates the Line C reopening to 3 February 2020, replacing signalling in service since 1934, and states the 2:15 headway target depends on buying more trains — the line then had 13.
↗ enelSubte — Lack of trains and signalling problems behind Line D's poor service (22 May 2024)Three months after the Line D cutover: Siemens was still updating software for line-specific behaviour, causing speed restrictions at platforms and station approaches; the Alstom 100 units — about a third of the fleet — could not run until calibration finished; journey times up 25%. "La línea funciona con menos trenes que antes."
↗ Nueva Ciudad — Line D: cost overruns, delays and failures in key works (15 April 2026) archived copyCarries the impact figures from an Auditoría General de la Ciudad report: the signalling project "contemplaba tres etapas, pero solo una se completó (con cinco meses de atraso)"; the completed phase enabled a 3-minute frequency while the promised 2:15 cannot be verified because "falta material rodante suficiente"; works advanced "sin un plan de trabajo aprobado para su etapa final". FETCH FAILURE, flagged: the AGCBA report PDF itself returned unreadable binary to automated fetching, so these audit findings are verified at press level, not against the primary document. The 48.11% cost increase and nine-month extension in the same audit belong to the Palermo and Scalabrini Ortiz station works, not to the signalling, and are deliberately excluded here.
Show 8 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Diario CEMBA — AGCBA detects irregularities and cost overruns in the Line D worksPublished 28 April 2026Second outlet independently confirming that the Auditoría General de la Ciudad report on the Line D works exists and its supervision findings — SBASE assigned a single works director without a full technical team or inspection plan.
↗ Buenos Aires city government — inside the Subte's monitoring centreOperator/authority description of the Puesto Central de Operaciones: two centres, one for lines A–E and one for line H, 26 staff, running "las 24 horas, los 365 días del año", monitoring train positions and signalling plus power, ventilation and pumping systems. No performance data is published from it — the entry claims none.
↗ Buenos Aires Data — Subte GTFS (published by SBASE)Published 10 May 2021Static GTFS for the Subte, publisher Subterráneos de Buenos Aires (SBASE), licence CC-BY-2.5-AR. Checked 26 July 2026: the page carried the notice "Se informa a los usuarios de BA DATA que todos los datasets con Formato API y GTFS, están suspendidos. Se encuentran en revisión y corrección", with no date given.
↗ Buenos Aires Data — API Transporte Público (real-time feed)Published 10 May 2021The real-time layer: for subte it provides static GTFS, forecastGTFS (trips currently running) and service alerts, licence CC-BY-2.5-AR, published by the Secretaría de Transporte y Obras Públicas; the portal states the API is used by Google and Moovit and is open to any developer on registration. Carries the same suspension notice as the GTFS dataset.
↗ Ley 4472 (2012) — regulation and restructuring of the SubteThe instrument transferring the network to the City of Buenos Aires and naming SBASE as the authority responsible for infrastructure, maintenance, development and the operating control systems, with the service run under concession. This is what clears the city-scope test for the entry.
↗ Página/12 — Metrovías stays in charge of the Subte for another 12 yearsPublished 13 December 2025Concession facts: Emova Movilidad, of the Benito Roggio Transporte group, took over operation and maintenance on 1 December 2021 under a 12-year contract running to 2033, succeeding Metrovías, which had held it since 1995.
↗ Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad — passengers and fares on the Buenos Aires Subte, 2015–2025 (21 June 2025)Independent NGO report, drawing on the Centro de Estudios Metropolitanos and official statistics: 199,116,074 passengers in 2024, and March 2025 at "apenas el 54% de los pasajeros de marzo de 2019". Two different 2019 annual totals circulate (about 325 and about 341 million) and neither is used here. FETCH FAILURE, flagged: the official Instituto de Estadística y Censos series at estadisticaciudad.gob.ar looped on a host redirect and could not be read to settle the 2019 figure.
↗ enelSubte — Chinese firm CRRC pre-awarded the new Line B trainsPublished 10 June 2025 · updated 15 July 2025Establishes the limit of the rollout: CBTC operates on lines C, D and H only, no installation has been announced for Line B, and the new Line B trains must suit the existing ATP while being "prepared for a possible conversion to CBTC with ATO in GoA2" — the city itself specifies GoA2 as the ceiling.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2016. 10 of 13 sources carry a publication date, from 3 February 2020 to 28 April 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. enelSubte · pressenelSubte — Line C reopens operating with the new CBTC signalling
  2. Railway Gazette International · pressRailway Gazette / Metro Report — Siemens to resignal Buenos Aires Line D
  3. Siemens Mobility · vendorSiemens Mobility press release — CBTC signalling for Buenos Aires Line D (17 July 2020)
  4. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires · city governmentBuenos Aires Data — Subte GTFS (published by SBASE)
  5. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires · city governmentBuenos Aires Data — API Transporte Público (real-time feed)
  6. enelSubte · pressenelSubte — Lack of trains and signalling problems behind Line D's poor service (22 May 2024)
  7. enelSubte · pressenelSubte — Chinese firm CRRC pre-awarded the new Line B trains · updated 15 July 2025
  8. Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad · ngoObservatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad — passengers and fares on the Buenos Aires Subte, 2015–2025 (21 June 2025)
Show 2 more dated sourcesShow fewer
  1. Página/12 · pressPágina/12 — Metrovías stays in charge of the Subte for another 12 years
  2. Diario CEMBA · pressDiario CEMBA — AGCBA detects irregularities and cost overruns in the Line D works

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Sources last read
  2. Entered the record

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 1 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence Passport · public beta 1 addressable claim, 13 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 1

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-4207cb6d94d4b839 quantitative
Line D reached a 3-minute peak headway after resignalling, but the promised 2 minutes 15 seconds could not be verified in practice for lack of rolling stock, and one of three planned stages was completed, five months late
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The impact attributes the findings to an Auditoría General de la Ciudad report on the Line D works, reported April 2026.
Caveat
The entry attributes the headway shortfall to insufficient trains rather than the signalling — there are not enough trains to run the promised 2:15.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Nueva Ciudad — Line D: cost overruns, delays and failures in key works (15 April 2026)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates effective 2026-07-26 · created 2026-08-20

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:63bf5e53c55b26a0f9f27b02acfa19d223da8646f98d3efb5e07aba36e864129
1
of 1 claims mapped
13
source dossiers
11
publication dates recorded
1
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Subterráneos de Buenos Aires SE (SBASE), infrastructure and signalling; Emova Movilidad, operation and maintenance under concession
Actor types
utility, private
Funding model
public
Funding description
City of Buenos Aires capital works through SBASE
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

13 source dossiers

Railway Gazette / Metro Report — Siemens to resignal Buenos Aires Line D railwaygazette.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-11e5f5063586b54d
Publisher
Name not classified · railwaygazette.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2020-07-17
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The load-bearing automation sentence: SBASE selected Siemens Mobility for CBTC on Line D, "with the CBTC supporting attended ATO to Grade of Automation 2". Also dates Trainguard MT on Line H to mid-2016 and its commissioning on Line C to February, and says it replaces an Alstom ATP in use since 2008, coordinated by a newly established operations control centre.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Siemens Mobility press release — CBTC signalling for Buenos Aires Line D (17 July 2020) press.siemens.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-09db5a752fa1950f
Publisher
Name not classified · press.siemens.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2020-07-17
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Supplier confirmation of the contract award date. Fetched and read: it states no contract value and no automation grade, and does not mention lines H or C — so it corroborates the award only, not the GoA2 claim.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
enelSubte — Line C reopens operating with the new CBTC signalling enelsubte.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d6b1975dd46f9423
Publisher
Name not classified · enelsubte.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2020-02-03
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Trade press describing what GoA2 means in the cab: the driver presses a button and the train accelerates automatically to the next stop, and "can take control of the formation's operation at any moment". Dates the Line C reopening to 3 February 2020, replacing signalling in service since 1934, and states the 2:15 headway target depends on buying more trains — the line then had 13.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
enelSubte — Lack of trains and signalling problems behind Line D's poor service (22 May 2024) enelsubte.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-3ee120497a6cb72b
Publisher
Name not classified · enelsubte.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-05-22
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Three months after the Line D cutover: Siemens was still updating software for line-specific behaviour, causing speed restrictions at platforms and station approaches; the Alstom 100 units — about a third of the fleet — could not run until calibration finished; journey times up 25%. "La línea funciona con menos trenes que antes."

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Nueva Ciudad — Line D: cost overruns, delays and failures in key works (15 April 2026) nueva-ciudad.com.ar · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-1d37db47cf878087
Publisher
Name not classified · nueva-ciudad.com.ar
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-04-15
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
Open archived copy ↗ · 2026-05-21
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Carries the impact figures from an Auditoría General de la Ciudad report: the signalling project "contemplaba tres etapas, pero solo una se completó (con cinco meses de atraso)"; the completed phase enabled a 3-minute frequency while the promised 2:15 cannot be verified because "falta material rodante suficiente"; works advanced "sin un plan de trabajo aprobado para su etapa final". FETCH FAILURE, flagged: the AGCBA report PDF itself returned unreadable binary to automated fetching, so these audit findings are verified at press level, not against the primary document. The 48.11% cost increase and nine-month extension in the same audit belong to the Palermo and Scalabrini Ortiz station works, not to the signalling, and are deliberately excluded here.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Diario CEMBA — AGCBA detects irregularities and cost overruns in the Line D works cemba.com.ar · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-2b0548d490e8414f
Publisher
Name not classified · cemba.com.ar
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-04-28
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Second outlet independently confirming that the Auditoría General de la Ciudad report on the Line D works exists and its supervision findings — SBASE assigned a single works director without a full technical team or inspection plan.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Buenos Aires city government — inside the Subte's monitoring centre buenosaires.gob.ar · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-29ed425464af202a
Publisher
Name not classified · buenosaires.gob.ar
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Operator/authority description of the Puesto Central de Operaciones: two centres, one for lines A–E and one for line H, 26 staff, running "las 24 horas, los 365 días del año", monitoring train positions and signalling plus power, ventilation and pumping systems. No performance data is published from it — the entry claims none.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Buenos Aires Data — Subte GTFS (published by SBASE) data.buenosaires.gob.ar · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-bbddec0b269cde5b
Publisher
Name not classified · data.buenosaires.gob.ar
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-05-10
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Static GTFS for the Subte, publisher Subterráneos de Buenos Aires (SBASE), licence CC-BY-2.5-AR. Checked 26 July 2026: the page carried the notice "Se informa a los usuarios de BA DATA que todos los datasets con Formato API y GTFS, están suspendidos. Se encuentran en revisión y corrección", with no date given.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Buenos Aires Data — API Transporte Público (real-time feed) data.buenosaires.gob.ar · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-45839c2963435014
Publisher
Name not classified · data.buenosaires.gob.ar
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-05-10
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The real-time layer: for subte it provides static GTFS, forecastGTFS (trips currently running) and service alerts, licence CC-BY-2.5-AR, published by the Secretaría de Transporte y Obras Públicas; the portal states the API is used by Google and Moovit and is open to any developer on registration. Carries the same suspension notice as the GTFS dataset.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Ley 4472 (2012) — regulation and restructuring of the Subte www2.cedom.gov.ar · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-c65e29c5ca253f7f
Publisher
Name not classified · www2.cedom.gov.ar
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The instrument transferring the network to the City of Buenos Aires and naming SBASE as the authority responsible for infrastructure, maintenance, development and the operating control systems, with the service run under concession. This is what clears the city-scope test for the entry.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Página/12 — Metrovías stays in charge of the Subte for another 12 years pagina12.com.ar · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-420fdd2795dfe516
Publisher
Name not classified · pagina12.com.ar
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-12-13
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Concession facts: Emova Movilidad, of the Benito Roggio Transporte group, took over operation and maintenance on 1 December 2021 under a 12-year contract running to 2033, succeeding Metrovías, which had held it since 1995.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad — passengers and fares on the Buenos Aires Subte, 2015–2025 (21 June 2025) observatoriociudad.org · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-f4f7798b7d29be36
Publisher
Name not classified · observatoriociudad.org
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-06-21
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Independent NGO report, drawing on the Centro de Estudios Metropolitanos and official statistics: 199,116,074 passengers in 2024, and March 2025 at "apenas el 54% de los pasajeros de marzo de 2019". Two different 2019 annual totals circulate (about 325 and about 341 million) and neither is used here. FETCH FAILURE, flagged: the official Instituto de Estadística y Censos series at estadisticaciudad.gob.ar looped on a host redirect and could not be read to settle the 2019 figure.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
enelSubte — Chinese firm CRRC pre-awarded the new Line B trains enelsubte.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-79ba5d51049b8c54
Publisher
Name not classified · enelsubte.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-06-10
Updated
2025-07-15
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Establishes the limit of the rollout: CBTC operates on lines C, D and H only, no installation has been announced for Line B, and the new Line B trains must suit the existing ATP while being "prepared for a possible conversion to CBTC with ATO in GoA2" — the city itself specifies GoA2 as the ceiling.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Buenos Aires Subte: CBTC Resignalling & Control Centre” — Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/buenos-aires-subte-signalling/ (last verified 2026-07-26). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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