New U.S.-Mexico rail bridge to open in second half of 2015

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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In a photo from September 2014, U.S. Ambassador Anthony Wayne (right) and U.S. Consul General Tom Mittnacht (left) on the new West Rail Bypass Bridge.
U.S. Department of State

The first railroad bridge to be built in more than a century connecting the U.S. and Mexico is expected to be operational by the second half of 2015.

Kansas City Southern de Mexico participated in a forum held March 12 to celebrate the West Rail International Bridge that will connect Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Business leaders from throughout the region attended the forum to discuss the competitive advantages of the new bridge.

The bridge was developed as a partnership between the governments of the U.S. and Mexico and was designed to alleviate urban congestion by re-routing rail traffic out of the most populated areas in both border cities and to expand regional transportation capacity.

The bridge is part of the Cameron County West Railroad Relocation Project, which involved the installation of approximately seven miles of relocated track and subgrade.

Completion of the bridge has been identified as a high bilateral priority under the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue, because of the importance of efficient border crossings to bilateral trade.

“With more than one billion dollars in goods and services crossing the U.S.-Mexico border every day, rail crossings like this one are critical to economic growth and opportunity on both sides of our border,” said the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Anthony Wayne.

KCSMS gerente de relaciones institucionales Vladimir Robles, said, “This is an historic moment for the railroad industry in both the U.S. and Mexico and a demonstration of the U.S. and Mexican governments working together.”

Construction of the project began in 2010, following 10 years of planning. The bridge’s center span was placed in September 2012 and final inspection of the bridge took place in early April.

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