The Interior and Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo announced that 400 gendarmes will start patrolling the Sarmiento and Mitre lines starting tomorrow.

“We will double the number of agents in order to ensure security on the Mitre and Sarmiento lines”, said Randazzo at a press conference held at the Casa Rosada.

Randazzo added that President Fernandez is behind the new measures and that newly mobilised police officers would focus on “stations with the most conflicts and the biggest number of passengers”. He also said they would be mobile in order to deal with problems when and where they occur.

The minister announced that federal police presence would be stepped up at Constitución, Retiro and Once the three main train hubs in Buenos Aires.

These new security measures come into place after the two lines concerned were paralysed by strikes last week following an attack on a security guard on the Mitre line.

The Argentine Gendarmerie counts 42,000 policemen and its primary role is to ensure national security along the countries border and national premises on foreign soil. They also are responsible for some high security complexes inside the country such as nuclear plants.

Minister of Interior and Transportation, Florencio Randazzo, announced a $633 million improvement plan for the Mitre train line. The plan includes workshop maintenance, rolling stock improvement and track renovation in Tigre, José León Suárez and Mitre. A bid for signage improvement is expected to be made soon.

“This is going to improve the frecuency and comfort of the service,” Randazzo said.

Work will start next Wednesday on the tracks at Hipódromo and Carranza in Palermo. Randazzo assures commuters that the plan’s first stage will not affect services on the line, as work will be done from 23:15 until 4 a.m..

He also said that the Mitre’s emergency program will be announced within a week.

Randazzo asked for the collaboration of employes and users in the upcoming improvements.

The improvement plan announcement comes a few weeks after Randazzo revealed a $800 million improvement plan on the Sarmiento train line.