ON JUNE 13 the Andean Development Corporation signed an agreement to lend the Argentinian government US$35m, which will be used to fund a US$50·8m project to raise a section of ALL-Central’s Buenos Aires - Mendoza main line that has been flooded following a rise in the level of the La Picasa lake (RG 6.05 p350).

With the 15 km between Diego de Alvear and Aarón Castellanos out of service, ALL services have been diverted via Venado Tuerto and Saforcada. This has added some 300 km to the route of freight trains between Buenos Aires and Mendoza, lengthening the transit time by 24h according to ALL Director General Eduardo Oliver.

Work is expected to take 24 months to complete, with the federal government providing US$15·8m. n

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