Eagle Pass, El Paso Rail Crossings Resume Operations –– From Our Colleagues at Railway Age

Union Pacific International Railroad Bridge view from Piedras Negras, Mexico. Wikimedia Commons/Manuel Velez

EAGLE PASS AND EL PASO, Texas –– Following five days of closures at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Dec. 22 the reopening of these key international crossings, according to an Association of American Railroads (AAR) release.

Operations at the U.S./Mexico international railway crossing bridges—two on Union Pacific (UP) and one on BNSF resumed 24/7 operations at 1:00 PM CST.

According to AAR, with each passing day, rail customers, communities and the larger supply chain experienced “increasing impacts” as rail shipments remained halted at the border. Today, the Biden Administration answered “widespread, resounding calls to restore this critical link in the supply chain,” AAR said in the release.

“The Biden Administration made the right decision to protect our supply chain and keep goods moving between the U.S. and Mexico,” said AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies. “In the face of the unprecedented humanitarian crisis, CBP has been working under exceptionally difficult circumstances, but these ill-advised closures were a blunt force tool that did nothing to bolster law enforcement capacity. As CBP continues their work to address this crisis, railroads strongly encourage the agency to abandon this tactic moving forward in favor of approaches that are capable of meaningfully enhancing its response capabilities.

“With the crossings reopened, railroads are focused on closely partnering with CBP to maintain the secure, reliable service that customers deserve, and our nation requires.”

“Union Pacific is relieved the border crossings at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, will reopen,” the Class I railroad stated. “These crossings are critical gateways for international commerce, and the closures had real-world impacts for families, businesses and our customers on both sides of the border. We will restore normal operations as quickly as possible as we work through the five-day backlog of shipments holding to cross the border.”

Meanwhile, BNSF announced Dec. 22 that it had issued a temporary permit embargo affecting southbound traffic moving through Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas to Mexico. This embargo impacts all shipments excluding automotive and intermodal. Automotive and intermodal shipments, which are being managed through alternate means, are not covered by this embargo, according to the Class I railroad.

“The purpose of this embargo is to ensure the fluidity of traffic and avoid congestion as rail operations resume across the border,” BNSF said. “While this embargo action may lead to some additional disruption to our affected customers in the short term, we are confident that this measure will provide the additional capacity needed to expedite recovery.”

BNSF will issue permits on a case-by-case basis. 

Editor’s Commentary

The Biden Administration, after five days of closures, finally reversed the non-sensical, crippling decision it never should have made in the first place, releasing a chokehold that cost the North American economy by some estimates as much as a quarter-billion dollars a day. The AAR statement that was respectful, yet rightfully critical: “These ill-advised closures were a blunt force tool that did nothing to bolster law enforcement capacity … Railroads strongly encourage the [CBP] to abandon this tactic moving forward in favor of approaches that are capable of meaningfully enhancing its response capabilities.” Well said! Union Pacific, BNSF and Ferromex have begun the painful, time-consuming process of clearing thousands of freight cars halted in dozens of stalled trains. It will take several days to reset their North American network operations, rebalance traffic flows and return to operations that had been experiencing marked improvement during the past few weeks. The traffic backlog will require railroaders from all functions, agreement and non-agreement alike, from C-Suite to crew-change point, to work their collective butts off over Christmas. I’m betting they’ll do it without complaining, and get the job done, because that’s what railroaders do. – William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief, Railway Age

Further Reading:

• USCPB Border Blockage Still Suffocating Railroads
• USCPB Shuts Down Eagle Pass, El Paso Rail Crossings—Again
• The Strange Case of STB Laryngitis