In August 1861, Edward Lumb, a British entrepreneur, requested the concession of a railway line, initially projected to run from Constitución to Chascomús, 120 km from Buenos Aires. During a visit to Mar del Plata, Governor of Buenos Aires, Dardo Rocha, saw the potential of the city, assuring a promising future for it. Before leaving the city, he promised to call manager of Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, Guillermo Moores, to request the extension of the railway line from Maipú to Mar del Plata. Moreover, Rocha stated that in case the BAGSR declined the request, the Provincial Government would finance the construction of the line to the coast city. On September 26, 1886, the first train arrived to the city of Mar del Plata, which was the main tourist destination during summer season. By 1910 Mar del Plata was the main beach city of Argentina, receiving a huge number of tourists during the summer. Due to the intense traffic of passengers, the railway station exceeded its capacity and the Municipality demanded the company to increase the facilities. The company had always denied to this request alleging that the station was only overcrowded during two months per year. During the first decade of the 20th century, the urban development of Mar del Plata moved from the downtown to the South West so the train station was far from the residences and hotels where the tourist were hosted. In June 1908, the Congress promulgated Law 5.535, authorizing the BAGSR to build a new station in Mar del Plata. Although the construction of a new station had been approved, a residents' committee opposed the old station being demolished, requesting its preservation. Percy Clarke, manager of the company had to accept the residents' claim. The other point of conflict with the inhabitants of the city was the path of the new line. While the company wanted to build the new station near to the coast, the residents demanded that the station should be located far from the most populated areas of the city. Eventually, the BAGSR agreed to build the new station where the neighbours had demanded. With a project designed by Belgian Architect Jules Dormal, works began in 1909 and finished one year later, when the station building began to be constructed. The project of the company also included to extend the tracks to the city of Miramar. The new station in Mar del Plata was opened on December 1, 1910, although the main building was not still finished, so a provisional wooden-structure was opened to the public for the 1910–11 summer season. As Mar del Plata Norte remained active, the Sud station would be only used during the summer seasons. It had two large platforms, the main building, a post warehouse, and a signal cabin. When the new station opened, all the trains that arrived to the old station were reprogrammed to make their arrival to the South station. It totalled four services per day, including the two express services. Nevertheless, a few days before the inauguration, the BAGSR requested to the Government that only the express services arrived to the new station, due to the other three trains programmed having to end their routes in Miramar and could not change their path to the south station. The request was approved and therefore only the express services stopped at the new station. When the entire Argentine railway network was nationalised in 1948, Mar del Plata became part of General Roca Railway, one of the six divisions of state-owned Ferrocarriles Argentinos. On May 3, 1949, the Mar del Plata Sud station was definitively closed so Mar del Plata Norte became the only station in the city. In 1951 Ferrocarriles Argentinos acquired a total of 46 coaches from American Budd Company, used for The Marplatense, a luxury service from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata. In 1952 the FADEL locomotives were added to tow the Marplatense express with a journey time of 3 hours and 45 minutes. FA ran trains until 1993 when the service was taken over by Ferrobaires, a company owned by the Buenos Aires Province. Ferrobaires operated the standard services between Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires until its closure in 2018. In 2009, the bus terminus moved to a new building, very close to the still active railway station in the centre of the city. It was also announced that the old building would be preserved as a cultural centre, designed by Arq. César Pelli. Two years later, rail tracks were extended to connect with the bus station, adding new platforms to receive trains arriving from Constitución in Buenos Aires, therefore the old station entered into disuse.
