A Scania truck that was traveling on Route 41 with the container raised carried over a railway bridge and destroyed the Belgrano train tracks, at the entrance to the city of Mercedes (Argentina). As a result of the crash, the tourist service between that city and Tomás Jofre was paralyzed until further notice from the Argentine authorities.
The crash was recorded by a camera located in a building. As could be seen in the images, the truck recklessly carried its container raised and 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 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.
The driver of the truck, originally from Chivilcoy, emerged unharmed and on his own after the impact. There were no other injuries, although the material damage disrupted car and truck traffic in the area.
The truck was headed to San Andrés de Giles and for unknown reasons had the container 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.
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.
The Municipality 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, visitors will only be able to enter by vehicle via alternative routes. The railway branch, which returned to operation last year after a very long pause, 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 pesos per trip.
As for Route 41, after almost five hours of work, the authorities resumed traffic, 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 container 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 Clarín that “on Friday there will be an evaluation of the damage and it will be known if the bridge can be repaired or a new one must be built.”
“The specific thing is that this weekend there will be no service,” the company indicated.
The damage only affected this section of the Belgrano Sur Railway. The sections to González Catán and Crucero General Belgrano “had no consequences and are operating normally.”
The tourist train that connects Mercedes with Altamira and Tomás Jofré circulates over this bridge that was destroyed, and which 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 pesos per trip.
The momentary paralysis suffered by the truck accident once again opens a parenthesis in its operation. The train service through that area stopped being operational in 1992, when it was part of a larger route that reached the city of Rosario.
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.
