Where will the train? State and railroad after

The crisis that erupted in 2001 in Argentina catalyzed a wide range of challenges to the model of privatizations imposed during the decade of the 1990s. Among them, there have been criticisms to the privatization of railways and initiatives aimed at recovering the railways system that, as a result of the previous retreat of the state, was at the brink of unfeasibility. These criticisms and the recognition of the importance of the state in the area have been accompanied by policies that modified the forms of involvement of the state in the sector. But they have not been part of a reformulation in the forms of relations that had shaped the logic of the privatized railways system. Thus, the recent changes modify some of the conditions of the working of railways but deepen others. This paper will review the combination between change and continuity occurred after the crisis of the privatization project with the purpose of reflecting about the scope and limitations of the redefinition of the action of the state in the area.