Budget cuts continue with dissolution of state railway firm, institute

Argentina’s government has announced the closure of a state firm dedicated to railway archives, training and heritage, a move that will lead to the loss of almost 1,400 workers.

The shuttering of Trenes Argentinos Capital Humano (legally known as Desarrollo del Capital Humano Ferroviario S.A., or DECAHF) – described as a “railway company which did not run any trains” by officials this week – will save the state some 42 billion pesos a year in salaries, according to the government.

“We’re complying with the mandate granted by over 55 percent to President Javier Milei, and given his instructions to reduce the deficit and eliminate unnecessary expenses, we have made the decision to close DECAHF – a railway company which did not run any trains,” announced Transport Secretary Franco Mogetta on Tuesday.

DECAHF employs 1,388 staff, with 23 senior roles with remuneration of between two million and four million pesos a month, said the official, adding that the state rail firm’s closure will translate into savings of 42 billion pesos a year.

This is the second state closure in the sector in a matter of days. In a decree issued Monday, President Javier Milei’s government ordered the shuttering of the IAT Instituto Argentino del Transporte (IAT), a strategic planning body created in 2014 under former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Mogetta said the IAT decision was a result of the body’s generation of unnecessary administrative expenditure.

Attempting to highlight government waste, Mogetta claimed that former president Alberto Fernández’s  (2015-2019) administration had allocated US$180 million in funds to DECAHF that he stated were used for “the improvement of works of arts at some railway stations” and “had to do with the cronies of some mayor.”

He did not provide further information. 

Mogetta also alleged irregularities in the hiring of staff, audiovisual producers and said that the firm’s authorities had hired “popular artists” and “given parties with huge free barbeques that cost Argentines thousands and thousands of dollars.”

“Today is a great day because we’re reducing expenditure, on the road to decreasing the state’s deficit as instructed by the President, eliminating wholly unnecessary expenses,” concluded the secretary.

The DECAHF had three main focal points: the national train archive, founded in 1993; the Centro Nacional de Capacitación Ferroviaria, a training institute founded in 1985; and the Museo Nacional Ferroviario Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz, a museum that opened to the public in 1971.

According to its website, the institute worked to “strengthen and enrich the development and transfer of railway knowledge and culture in the human and technical resources that make up the national railway system.”

Its work incorporated new technologies, managed international relations and preserved the history of Argentina’s rail network.
 

IAT shuttered

The IAT, created in 2014 to advise on the strategic planning of transport in Argentina, was officially dissolved earlier this week via Decree 870/2024.

This measure, the government argued, was necessary to streamline public expenditure and eliminate state companies that overlap in their remits.

The institute was founded by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and then-transport minister Florencio Randazzo in a bid to integrate private and public rail providers, promote research and improve the network.

Back in April, control of the agency was transferred to the Transport Secretariat, dependent on the Economy Ministry. 

Following an evaluation by the government, it was determined that many of its functions were redundant, leading to its dissolution, said officials.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL