BUENOS AIRES, Argentina · Argentina's president on Wednesday threatened to crack down on private rail operators for failing to make upgrades after frustration over poor service boiled over into a riot at a major commuter station.
Commuters enraged by constant delays in train service to Buenos Aires' poor suburbs set fire Tuesday evening to parts of the capital's Constitucion station, looted nearby shops and clashed with riot police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Passengers' aggravation came to a head at the evening rush hour when a train broke down on a track just outside the station, blocking other trains from leaving the station that serves some 300,000 commuters daily.
Buenos Aires area commuter rail lines were privatized in the 1990s, and passengers for years have complained about the failure of new operators to provide timely service on oft-crowded routes.
In response to the riots, President Nestor Kirchner on Wednesday criticized commuter rail operators for neglecting needed overhauls.
"The state is going to give a swift kick where it counts," Kirchner said during a Government House meeting. He said privatized railroad operators who have yet to upgrade trains were "shameless."
Sergio Taselli, the head of the Metropolitano concession that runs trains out of the Constitucion station, rejected the criticism.
"There was a breakdown on just one train," he said on Radio 10, adding it regrettably forced delays on other lines at rush hour.
He said the number of passengers on Metropolitano routes had doubled in three years and "improvements to service can't be made" at the same pace.
Workers cleaned up broken glass and sought to rebuild a shattered ticket office at the Constitucion station as trains ran again normally Wednesday morning. There were no reports of delays and calm returned with the morning rush hour.
Twelve police officers were slightly injured in Tuesday's rioting and nine people were also treated for smoke inhalation.
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