The World Bank has approved a $347m loan to improve the service and infrastructure of Argentina’s Mitre railway line, which serves 7 million people a year in Buenos Aires Province.

Funding will be spent on:

Construction of the Law Faculty station, which will link to the city’s subway

An elevated station in Bancalari that will act as a hub for multiple feeder lines

The remodelling of 16 stations

The expansion and renovation of Retiro station’s railyard

Renewal of the Tigre feeder line

Electrical improvements.

In the wake of Covid-19, funding will be spent on ventilation and tracking carriage occupancy in real time to encourage social distancing.

Alexis Guerrera, Argentina’s transport minister, said: “This is a very important step forward in the path set by President Alberto Fernández, and already started by Mario Meoni, to modernise our passenger railroad transportation.

“The train is one of the most used means of transportation by Argentine men and women, and thanks to this financing we are going to be able to initiate an historic transformation in the Mitre line that will improve the quality of life of millions of people.”

Jordan Schwartz, the World Bank’s director for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, said: “Today more than ever it is necessary to modernise transport systems so that they are safe, efficient and sustainable for all people who travel to work, study or use the train as a means of transportation.”