Santa Fe Province pushes railway freight licensing and road‑safety measures

The government of Santa Fe Province submitted a set of proposals to the national Transport Secretariat aimed at reorganising and tendering the Argentine freight‑rail system (Belgrano, San Martín and Urquiza lines). The province highlighted that only 18.8 million of the roughly 450 million tonnes of cargo moved annually travel by rail and argued that expanding rail use would cut logistics costs, boost export competitiveness and lessen reliance on road transport. Among the proposals are the creation of a coordination table with the national transport secretary, ADIF and ATEP, the incorporation of the nearly‑completed Santa Fe railway circumferential into tender specifications, and the prioritisation of new rail branches to link cooperatives, ports and emerging cargo sectors such as mining and agro‑industry.

Separately, on 10 June the province marked National Road‑Safety Day with a week‑long campaign of education, inspections and training to curb traffic fatalities, especially among motorcyclists. APSV secretary Carlos Torres warned that motorcyclists account for about half of road‑death victims, citing 2025 data with 152 motorcyclist deaths and 41 % of all fatalities. Activities included inspector training in Villa Constitución, school talks, an urban intervention in Rosario featuring QR‑linked survivor stories, and a strong push for helmet use. The initiative seeks to lower the high urban accident rate and protect the largely young demographic most affected.