November 8, 2015 - Special to TRA

Union Pacific Railroad has officially opened their new Union Pacific Kinney County Railport in Kinney County, Texas. The mayors of Brackettville, Del Rio and Eagle Pass joined members of the Kinney County Commissioner's Court, representatives from area lawmakers' offices, and executives from Union Pacific to celebrate the new railport and tour the grounds.

The $40 million facility is located between Eagle Pass and Brackettville covering 100 acres with space to expand up to 470 acres. It will provide cleaning and repair services for boxcars carrying packaged beer from Union Pacific customers along the border. At full operation, the facility will count over 100 employees, filling positions such as supervisors, car men, laborers and support personnel.

The Union Pacific Kinney County Railport will clean and prepare rail cars to meet food-grade guidelines so they are ready to be loaded by customers in Mexico and return to the United States with product for distribution. This will improve operational efficiency and network fluidity which should help alleviate congestion that causes stopped or slow trains. As a result, drivers in the area may see fewer blocked crossings and have their wait times at those crossings reduced.

"This new railport is strategically located to support our growing import beer business," said Jason Hess, vice president - Agricultural Products. "The Eagle Pass gateway will become a pipeline for crossing millions of cases of beer annually."

"We appreciate the support from our regional partners in bringing this facility on line," said Ivan Jaime, director - Public Affairs. "This is a great example of economic development and job creation."