On the one-year anniversary of one of the worst train accidents in Argentine history, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Plaza de Mayo last Friday to honour the lives of victims and call for change from the government.

This accident, known as the Once tragedy, caused 51 deaths and 703 injuries. The contract of Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA), the company that was operating the line at the time of the crash, has since been terminated, leaving the management of the system to a conglomerate that includes both state and private operators. Beyond the new management, officials have promised change in the form of revolutionised train systems. Twenty-eight people are under investigation for criminal charges surrounding the incident.

Protesters gathered at Plaza de Mayo demanding justice for the victims (photo by Stephanie Halovanic)

Despite these measures, many of Friday’s demonstrators claim that nothing has really changed, and that the government’s response has been nothing more than a symbolic gesture to appease public outcry.

Halfway through the demonstration, Roberto Ramos, a 23-year-old survivor of the crash, took off his shirt and changed into one he had bought in the plaza, emblazoned with the words “JUSTICIA PARA LAS VÍCTIMAS DE LA TRAGEDIA DE ONCE” (Justice for the victims of the Once Tragedy) in bright red and black. Ramos said that he came to demand that the government provide financial, psychological, and medical help to victims of the tragedy and their families.

“The truth is, after the accident, my life changed a lot,” he said. “I couldn’t work for four months, and the psychological effects continue every day. I barely sleep. I cannot ride trains anymore. I have to find new ways to get to work.”

Three of his family members accompanied him to the protest, and he held them closely as relatives of the tragedy’s victims spoke on stage.

“The people who lost family members have suffered a worse injury than I did; I am here to support them,” he said. “The government has not done anything since the tragedy. We have already suffered too many deaths because of the political corruption in this country. This cannot continue.”

The Crash

The tragedy occurred on 22nd February 2012, when the Sarmiento train line failed to brake on time and crashed into the shock absorbers at  Once station. It occurred during rush hour and the train was transporting over 1,200 people at the time.

Although the crash at Once was one of the more fatal train accidents in Argentine history, accidents are far from rare. According to a report from Clarín newspaper, between January and July 2012, there were more than 1,200 accidents and 190 deaths on the main lines of Mitre, Roca, Belgrano Norte , Urquiza, and Sarmiento, where the Once accident occurred. Those 190 deaths include 61 suicides and the 51 deaths from the Once tragedy.

The accident happened a year ago (photo by Beatrice Murch)

“These numbers are an example of what a terrible state the trains and stations are in,” train engineer Norberto Rosendo told Clarín. “The cars are overloaded with people, and the safety conditions are insufficient. People do not ride on top of the train, clinging to the cars, because they want to, but because there is no space inside.”

TBA has blamed the Once tragedy on “human error.” However, the 28-year-old train driver Marcos Antonio Córdoba said he tried to brake twice, but the mechanism failed.

Leonardo Andrada, a key witness in the accident, testified that the train left from the Moreno station for the Once station 20 minutes late, causing the conductor to drive too fast and take on too many people to compensate. Andrada was murdered two weeks ago, prompting an investigation. His attackers stole his mobile phone but did not take any of the other belongings including a rucksack and over $1,200 in cash. This caused Sergio Berni, Security Secretary, to call an investigation into his death. “There is no doubt that the circumstances are suspicious,” he said. “The judiciary needs to fully examine what happened and make a conclusion.”

Renovation 

After relentless public criticism, in 2012 the government announced a series of changes to the railways. In July, Minister of  Interior and Transport Florencio Randazzo -who took over the Transport Secretariat, previously under the Infrastructure Ministry- announced an ambitious plan to fix the Sarmiento line and others. He promised “a new railway” and said the government would renovate nine out of 18 formations on that line.

Minister Randazzo shows the new passenger information system (photo courtesy of Ministry of Interior and Transport)

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced plans to invest US$1bn in the country’s railways, saying they will replace its outdated and dangerous cars with 400 new wagons from China and “revolutionise” the system.

At Friday’s protests, family members of the victims read letter addressing the government’s response to the crash. Constructed by many relatives of the victims, the document was read aloud by María Luján Rey and Paolo Menghini, mother and father of the last victim to be found after the accident, Lucas Meghini. The family members’ document addressed the president’s projects, which have not yet been realised, saying it is too little too late.

“Improving the lines that are devastated by union, business, and state corruption is not a revolution. Completing one’s duties as a public figure is not a revolution. That is an obligation of those who form our government,” Luján Rey read.

Search for Justice

The trial is set to begin in the second half of the year, though the date has not been decided yet, for the 28 people under investigation for the incident. Those charged include two former transport secretaries and two TBA executives, Claudio and Mario Cirigliano, who prosecutors say pocketed billions intended for the trains.

“Justice! Justice for the victims! Justice for the survivors!” the crowd shouted across the Plaza, towards the presidential office on the other side.

The document read by the families also lambasted President Fernández for her inaction in the year since the accident and for the corruption that led up to the tragedy. The president has been criticised for not commenting on the incident until four days after the fact.

Many say ongoing government corruption caused the crash, and that officials had ample warnings. In a document released by the families earlier this year, they said “Why does the executive branch remain silent, without assuming responsibility in the tragedy when their former employees are being charged?”

The newest document continued with the same criticisms of government corruption and silence on the issue.

“What happened on the 22nd February was not an accident, nor the work of a reckless driver — it was a foreseeable tragedy: the product of the disastrous way the service is being run, the product of the excessive ambition and the chaos of officials, businessmen, and workers,” Luján Rey read from the document.

“Justice for the victims of the Once tragedy” (photo by Stephanie Halovanic)

Activist group Frente Popular Darío Santillán handed out stacks of fliers at the event, which read “If it could have been avoided, it was not a tragedy. It was a massacre.”

Daniela Ramos, a spokeswoman for the group, said the government is not doing enough to complete its responsibility to fix the broken public transport system.

“There is no way to give back the lives of those lost to their family members who remain. The only thing the government can do is work to ensure this never happens again, and they have an obligation to do so.

“The working public needs public transport to get to work and get home after work safely. And right now that is not possible because of how much the public transport has deteriorated. We believe that a safe way of public transport is a right, not a negotiation,” she added.

Safe transport is a priority for protesters, but government accountability is the message that rang out above all other demands.

“Wherever they are from, whatever they call themselves, murderers are murderers, corrupt (people) are corrupt, and accomplices are accomplices. Because of this, they should be judged and condemned, ” Paolo Menghini shouted.

María Luján Rey then added, to roaring applause from the audience, “The Once tragedy was the consequence of the choice of some to line their pockets without caring about the consequences. They acted with complete disregard to life, thinking themselves immune to punishment. Today, we fight to end this impunity.”

How do Argentines think the Once tragedy has been handled by the government? Click here to find out.

Leonardo Ariel Andrada, a key witness to the Once train crash tragedy, was found dead on Friday at a bus stop in Ituzaingó with four gunshot wounds in his back.

His death comes shortly before what will be the one-year anniversary of the crash that killed 51 people and injured nearly 800 others. Andrada was operating the Sarmiento line the day of the accident and had testified that the conductor blamed for the accident had left from the Moreno station 20 minutes late. Many say it is because of this that the train was going faster than it had the capacity to, causing the tragedy.

The central witness’s cell phone was stolen in the attack but none of his money had been taken from his wallet. Andrada was 53 years old and had two children.

Minister of Industry Débora Giorgi and Transportation Secretary Alejandro Ramos pitched a plan for a railroad industry development plan yesterday to a room full of business executives, making the case for domestic investment.

“The Argentina Industrial Development Plan for Railroad Network Providers and Import Substitution aims to put the railroad industry on its feet, substituting imports and affording security and comfort as it applies to transportation politics,” summarised Giorgi.

The plan includes “a renovation of 1,500 kilometres of track in 2-3 years as a minimal objective and a greater objective of 6,400 kilometres, renovation of the rolling stock for the metropolitan area, the Buenos Aires-Rosario and Buenos Aires-Mar del Plata stretches, and fundamentally of freight services,” as well as improved signalling systems.

“One will have to invest,” Giorgi contended, “we are going to put at your [the business executives] disposition all the tools to facilitate that investment, but you will have to take a risk; we will have to drop the discourse to take hold of the hammer, metal, and the blowtorch, and that means gambling in a good sense of the word as a businessperson has to do.” She continued on to list the exact materials are needed and corresponding quality standards and prices.

Executives have been invited to participate in a series of meetings, which will analyse the issue and plan the next steps for three key development areas: tracks, rolling stock such as passenger coaches and cargo cars, and signalling systems. The first will take place on 30^th January.

The meeting comes after last week’s announcement that the Sarmiento and Mitre lines will be receiving 409 coaches from a Chinese company. It also follows the advancement of the Once train crash case from investigation to public trial and the opening of platform 2, the site of the accident. Lastly, it also follows the announcement of the closure of the “Old Patagonian Express” in Chubut due to “technical problems”. A strike on the 22nd January was announced yesterday but cancelled after negotiations today.

The front of the train involved in the Once train crash (Photo Beatrice Murch)

The 2^nd Chamber of the Federal Court confirmed the prosecution of two former transport secretaries, Juan Pablo Schiavi and Ricardo Jaime, for their responsibility in the train crash that killed 51 people in February 2012.

The prosecution of the two Cirigliano brothers, businessmen from Cometrans and TBA, the two companies in charge of the rail network, were also confirmed. The court also decided that the two should be arrested and put into preventive custody.

The ruling released by the court stated that the accident could have been avoided and that “the negligence in the operation of the train and its maintenance made it a tragedy of enormous magnitude”.

On 22nd February the Sarmiento Line train failed to brake when entering the Once station while carrying more than 1,200 passengers. It crashed into the platform at the end of the line causing 51 deaths and over 800 injuries.

The three members of the court who signed the ruling, Horacio Rolando Cattani, Martín Irurzun and Eduardo G. Farah, considered that the public servants “had failed to fulfil their duties”. The ruling says that the officials’ monitoring of the train lines was “insufficient”.

The driver of the train, Antonio Córdoba, was also deemed to be responsible by the court, overruling the decision of Judge Claudio Bonadío, and adding him to the list of those prosecuted. In his case the court stated that the driver was going faster than the maximum authorised speed and had turned off security safeguards.

The court also put an embargo and all the property of the suspects being processed “up to the sum of $600m”.

This ruling comes less than 24 hours after President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced on national television that the trains of the Sarmiento and Mitre lines would be entirely replaced in the next 21 months.

Family, friends, and loved ones of the victims of the Once train crash today released black balloons in the station terminal to mark eight months since the accident that killed 51 and injured more than 700 people.

At 8.32am, the exact time of the crash, a siren sounded in the Sarmiento terminal and the group carried out a commemorative service, named the “Heart Memorial”, on platform one in memory of their loved ones.  Speeches from parents of the deceased, celebrated last Friday’s prosecution of former Transport secretaries Ricardo Jaime and Juan Pablo Schiavi while at the same time pressing the need for “further progress”. Luján Rey, mother of Lucas Menghini, said “one door closed on Friday and today another one opens. We expect confirmation of the prosecutions to come from the public prosecutor and the chamber”.

The families also denounced the failure by officials to improve conditions on public transport, saying “it’s embarrassing that eight months after the tragedy, the trains continue to run in such appalling conditions, putting the public permanently at risk”. The government were urged to “think of the people and forget political loyalties and winning votes”.

The driver of the train, Marcos Antonio Córdoba, was dismissed by the Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) for being responsible for the crash, although the disaster can be attributed to the “terrible conditions in which trains are being run” according to Claudio Bonadío, the judge responsible for the case.

After the memorial events at Once station, the group will take to the streets and march to Congress. This evening, they will move to San Martín Square to  take photos for the “500,000 Faces for Justice” campaign that seeks to achieve justice for the victims of the crash. This campaign involves taking photos of members of the public who support the cause, 200,000 photos of people from all over Argentina have already been collected.

The minister of the interior and transport, Florencio Randazzo, announced an $800 million investment over the span of a year into the Sarmiento train line in order to provide a safer service.

Starting the 30^th July for 60 days, the line between Moreno and Once will be suspended from 10pm until 4am during the week and the whole day on Sundays in order to jump start the amelioration project. The project includes massive renovations to railways, garages and platforms, modernising the signal systems as well as reparations to stations.

The responsibility of the train lines has been in contestation since the tragic Once Crash the 22nd February where 51 people were killed and over 700 were wounded. Since the crash, the contract for the Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) has been rescinded from the Cirigliano group and is now managed by the Operational Management Group (UGO).

The upcoming cuts to service will affect 5% of the 190,000 daily users of the Sarmiento line and the Sunday suspensions will affect 50,000 users for the day. There will also be an increase in bus services to help ease passenger congestion.

The investment proposal also comes after Metrovias announced that it would pull 20 trains from the subte.

Next week, the government plans to announce a similar investment plan of $500 million into the Mitre line.

Judge Claudio Bonadío will reach a decision within two weeks about who was responsible for February’s Once Train Crash that killed 51 and injured hundreds.

This week, he will be looking at the final details leading up to the crash, including whether the driver of train, Marcos Antonio Córdoba, had an epileptic episode seconds before impact.

The decision comes after Federal Prosecutor Federico Delgado called for due process of those charged last month. Former Ministry of Transport officials Juan Pablo Schiavi and Ricardo Jaime, Buenos Aires Trains (TBA) executives Carlo Michele Ferrari and Antonio Cirigliano and Cometrans President Claudio Cirigliano have all been accused, in addition to the Córdoba.

According to Pagina 12, Bonadío will continue investigating the culpability of the driver, although he will also take into account the responsibility of the TBA executives and government officials. Bonadio’s decision will be a difficult one, as it will be one that addresses imprudence and negligence as opposed to intent.

Pagina 12 reports that there remain two key elements that Bonadío needs to look at before his decision can be reached: to investigate the complexities around the TBA’s use of state funding and the medical records of Córdoba, as the driver claimed he applied the brakes, which just did not work.

Delgado hopes that the focus remains on the conditions of service of the TBA and the role of the government in the matter. He explained that the fatal crash should be a wake-up call to the state the transit is in.

Ultimately, Bonadío’s decision will be one that addresses the “improper” use and infrastructure that the current transit system faces as well as a push to offer a more efficient and safe service to the public.

Marcos Córdoba, driver of the train that crashed at Once station on Feb 22^nd, extended his preliminary testimony in court this morning.

Córdoba extended his statement in front of Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio at the high court. In his preliminary statement Córdoba cited technical problems and brake failure. However a medical examination suggests the driver could have had a physical problem, possibly epilepsy, preventing him from stopping the train.

Defence attorney Valeria Corbaccio, who, according to news agencies has previously defended members of the police, is representing Córdoba in the case on the crash which killed 51 people, and left 700 injured.

Córdoba’s new statement comes after court appearances from former Transport Minister Juan Schiavi and head of TBA Claudio Cirigliano, who testified in the last few days. Schiavi blamed the driver for the crash in his statement on Tuesday, suggesting Córdoba “failed to stop for some physical or psychological health problem.”

Yesterday, Cirigliano stated in front of the court that, “the experts say it was a human problem. It must have been something the driver missed; he must not have been in the right mind frame to stop the train. The systems functioned.”

The Federal Criminal Court today quashed federal judge Claudio Bonadio’s decision to accept the state as plaintiff investigating the cause of the Once train crash in February, which killed 51 and wounded more than 700.

The court also ruled that Bonadio will continue to lead the investigation, rejecting the challenge raised by prosecution attorney Gregorio Dalbón.

Federal Planning Ministry’s legal subsecretary Rafael Enrique Llorens was set to represent the national government as plaintiff in the case, which Judge Claudio Bonadío is overseeing.

Judges Martín Irurzun and Eduardo Farah, considered that “strictly speaking, it’s common sense – by those qualities, prima facie stands as an obstacle to granting the power to (the state) to act as complainant in the process.”

According to La Nación, the information was published in the Judicial Information Centre.

Federal Planning Minister Julio de Vido, and former transport minister Juan Pablo Schiavi, had announced the day after the tragedy that the government would stand as plaintiff.

“At the request of the president, we are going to present as a private plaintiff to defend the public interest and assist the wounded and families of the victims,” Schiavi said on that occasion. “We will be part of the court record.”

On 22nd February, a train crashed into Once Station, killing 51 people and injuring more than 700. Since then, there have been protests demanding justice and answers, and an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the crash.

The federal government took over the privately-run Buenos Aires Trains (TBA) after the crash, a company under heavy scrutiny for its role in the deaths.

Two weeks after the tragedy at Once train station, transportation secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi resigned today. He will be replaced by Alejandro Ramos, mayor of Granadero Baigorria, a town in Santa Fe province, according to official sources.

The former official faced harsh criticism over the train crash, which killed 51 people and injured more than 700 others, with several groups calling for his dismissal.

However, it was a direct order from the president that sealed Schiavi’s fate. La Nación reported that the former secretary received a call last night from his boss, planning minister Julio de Vido, who informed Schiavi that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said Schiavi “had to go”.

Schiavi has been widely chastised by both the ruling and opposition parties for his choice of words shortly following the accident. He stated that had the crash happened a day earlier, on a national holiday, the results would have been less deadly.

Schiavi faced a series of ordeals in the days leading up to his resignation. On Monday, judge Claudio Bonadío banned Schiavi from leaving the country, and on 29 February the former transportation secretary underwent heart surgery. He had additionally been suspended from a meeting scheduled with the National Civil Aviation aeronautical unions on matters regarding transportation safety.

According to La Nación, Schiavi was in his home last night, recovering from the surgery, when one of his children brought him the phone to give him the news.

Schiavi has served as the secretary of transportation since 2009, under the Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services. He was trained as an agricultural engineer from the University of Buenos Aires.