Trenes Especiales Argentinos
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Railway transport |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Argentina |
Area served | Buenos Aires, Posadas, Misiones, Argentina |
| Products | Passenger rail transport |
Trenes Especiales Argentinos (TEA) () was a privately held railway operator in Argentina that provided services connecting Buenos Aires with Posadas, Misiones in the Mesopotamia region.
History
After the privatization of the national railway system during Carlos Menem’s administration in the early 1990s, the majority of long-distance passenger routes were terminated by 1993. In 2003, TEA was granted a concession to manage train operations between Buenos Aires’ Federico Lacroze and Posadas, located near the border with Paraguay.
The company ran the service called El Gran Capitán, deploying diesel locomotives such as the EMD G22 and General Electric U13 models, with passenger cars featuring both first class and pullman seating options.
Major stops along the journey included Zárate, Basavilbaso, Villaguay, Monte Caseros, and Santo Tomé, traversing provinces including Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, and Corrientes. The entire trip lasted approximately 26 hours, with trains operating twice per week in each direction.
On December 15, 2011, TEA’s concession was revoked by the Corrientes provincial authorities due to alleged safety breaches and lack of official authorization for public service. Subsequently, the national government reassigned this route to Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA), which itself ceased operations after its concession was withdrawn in 2012 following the Once station rail accident.