A Scania truck traveling on Route 41 with the tipping pan raised This Wednesday, a railway bridge was swept away and the Belgrano train tracks destroyed, at the entrance to the city of Mercedes. As a result of the crash, the tourist service between that city and Tomás Jofre will be paralyzed until further notice.
The crash was recorded by a camera located in a dome. As could be seen in the images, the truck recklessly carried its tray raised and It hit the metal structure squarely.
The iron framework that supported the bridge fell completely on the vehicle itself, which, upon losing the box and all its contents, stopped a few meters after the incident with the irons mounted on top.
Traffic on Route 41 was paralyzed for five hours. The vehicles were diverted onto other roads because the asphalt was full of iron, seeds and other elements as a result of the impact. Normality only returned when they managed to remove the truck and the iron from the bridge and the work of federal engineers and experts concluded.
Route 41 is vital for the connection and circulation of commercial trucks in the area between cities in the Interior of Buenos Aires, since it crosses the Province from Route 2, in the Castelli area to Baradero, in the north, almost on the border with Entre Ríos.
The truck driver, a native of Chivilcoy, He emerged unharmed and under his own power. after impact. There were no other injuries, although the material damage disrupted car and truck traffic in the area.
The truck was heading towards San Andrés de Giles and for unknown reasons it had the truck raised. It was not loaded, but it was dedicated to transporting grain, as demonstrated by the remains of numerous seeds that were scattered on the asphalt.
The destruction of the bridge was total: it was embedded in the cabin of the vehicle, which dragged it several meters.
Although the damage caused by the interruption of route 41 has already ceased, the accident will cause a lasting impact on an economic sector of Mercedes. The train that passes through those tracks, now destroyed, connects that town with Tomás Jofre, the town that became a gastronomic hub that is a boom for tourists and visitors who choose to enjoy the flavors of the countryside a few kilometers from the City of Buenos Aires. Aires (just over 100 kilometers).
In fact, the importance of the railway has already changed, in fact, the regional toponymy: the official name of the town is Jorge Born, but it is popularly known as Tomás Jofre, the name of the railway station.
Thus, the impact of this Wednesday’s accident on the future of the small town – it has less than 100 stable inhabitants – is unknown.
At Mercedes they still don’t know when the train will run again
From the Municipality they reported that it is still not clear when the tourist train that connects Mercedes (the usual place of lodging for tourists) with Altamira and Tomás Jofré will operate again.
Without this train, to reach the aforementioned cities, walkers will only be able to enter with vehicles through alternative routes. The railway branch, which returned to service last year after a very long hiatus, has a vital tourist purpose: it is only used on Sundays, with three outbound services and three return services, with a ticket of $1,000 per trip.
As for Route 41, after almost five hours of work, Highways resumed traffic there, after cleaning the area and removing the vehicle and the iron.
Personnel from the communal Police, Civil Protection and the Road area participated in the operation at the site of impact.
This was not the only collision between a truck and that bridge, since months ago a large truck, also with the truck raised, hit the structure, but without suffering significant damage.
Nor do Trenes Argentinos know when the rail service will run again. They even hinted that it might be necessary to build a new bridge from scratch. The company informed Clarion that “There will only be an assessment of the damage on Friday and it will be known there if the bridge can be repaired or a new one must be built.
“The concrete thing is that “There will be no service this weekend.”indicated from the company.
The damage only affected this section of the Belgrano Sur Railway. The sections to González Catán and Crucero General Belgrano “There were no consequences and they function normally.”
A train that returned to operation after 30 years
The tourist train that connects Mercedes with Altamira and Tomás Jofré runs through this bridge that was destroyed, and that had returned to operation after 30 years in May 2023. It has three outbound services and three return services, only on Sundays, with a ticket of $1,000 per trip.
The momentary paralysis suffered by the truck accident once again opens a hiatus in its operation. The railway service through that area It stopped operating in 1992when it was part of a larger route that reached the city of Rosario.
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The Minister of Economy and the Minister of the Interior, a formula that part of the ruling party dreams of, celebrated the return of the train that connects Mercedes with Tomás Jofré.
Within the framework of the Federal Plan for the Revaluation and Preservation of Railway Historical and Cultural Heritage, the authorities decided to resume trips to those areas. The inauguration took place in May 2023. It was an event with a strong political charge, since it was led by Sergio Massa (Economy) and Wado de Pedro (Interior) just when the version was circulating that both would be in the presidential formula of the Union for the Homeland.
“Come on, Wado, drive,” was the joke that Massa dared to make, on top of the train, towards the local De Pedro. Finally, the Minister of Economy kept the candidacy, after the Interior official gave up his candidacy.
During those months, the town had also valued some of its buildings and had opened new businesses to maximize the post-pandemic gastronomic boom.
