In 1857 the government of Buenos Aires Province granted a concession to Eduardo Hopkins, owner of Buenos Aires and San Fernando Railway to build a railway from the city of Buenos Aires to San Fernando in Greater Buenos Aires, a distance of 28 km. The contract was signed between Hopkins and Gobernor of Buenos Aires, Valentín Alsina, committing to build a horse-drawn railway that departed from Aduana Nueva to Retiro where it transfer to a steam train, continuing the trip to Fernando, with several stops in Belgrano and San Isidro stations. Therefore, the "Compañía del Ferrocarril a San Fernando" SA was established, with a capital of $ 750,000. The Province granted a 7% of interest for 20 years, apart from donating all the lands necessary for the construction of the railway. As the profit increased, the company committed to build stations in Retiro, Palermo and Olivos. Concession was declared forfeit due to the company did not to start works in the period of time stipulated, therefore a new concession was granted to José Rodney Crosky on February 25, 1862. Nevertheless, the concession was transferred again to "Compañía del Ferrocarril del Norte de Buenos Aires", a company founded in London, on October 17.
Expansion
Works began in Retiro, and shortly after that, more precisely in December 1862, the line to "Valentín Alsina" station was inaugurated. In 1863 the train reached San Isidro, with intermediate stops in Rivadavia and Olivos station. In February 1864 the Government allowed the company to use locomotives instead of horsecars for the Aduana-Retiro path. The railway continued its expansion, reaching San Fernando in 1864 and finally Tigre in 1865, totalizing 29 km length. Despite having requested an extension of the line to Zárate, the BANR would not build any track until it was transferred to Central Argentine Railway in 1889. By 1870 the railway stations were: 25 de Mayo, Retiro, Palermo, Belgrano, Rivadavia, Olivos, San Isidro, San Fernando and Tigre. During its first years, the BANR achieved positive business results, with 8.19% of interest in 1870 and 15.22% one year later. The company also built a little 1,700-metre length branch to San Fernando Canal, built by "Hopkins y Ocampo Constructora" and opened in 1872. The branch was run by freight trains that transported goods coming from the Littoral region. When the Port of Buenos Aires was opened in 1897, commercial activities on the branch decreased considerably. The San Fernando Canal branch was finally closed in the 1970s and most of the rail tracks removed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos, the operator by then.
