January 24, 2026 - TRA Newswire -

There are only seven international rail crossings along the U.S./Mexico border to handle all the freight traffic between the two nations at present. That is expected to change later this year when an 8th crossing between Presidio, Texas and Ojinaga, Chihuahua reopens for freight trains after almost two decades of closure.

The Presidio-Ojinaga International Rail Bridge, also known as the Presidio Rail Bridge, had been out of service since a fire destroyed the wooden structure across the Rio Grande River in February 2008.

Progress continues today as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) railroad inspection facility is taking shape at the border city of Presidio. Once built and inspection equipment is in place, the station will examine rail shipments entering the United States. 

The bridge, jointly owned by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Mexican government, had to undergo a myriad of international and federal agreements before construction of a concrete and steel structure could begin in 2018. Known as the South Orient Rail Line, it is operated under a lease agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation's Rail Division by Grupo Mexico and their affiliate, Texas Pacifico, since 2001.

A spokesperson with Texas Pacifico was hopeful that the railroad would be able to operate some test trains across the bridge by  mid-year.

The bridge and 391-mile long rail line owned by the state of Texas stretches across the Big Bend region through Alpine, Fort Stockton and San Angelo to Coleman in Central Texas. Reopening of the bridge over the Rio Grande could open up new lanes of commerce between the deep water port of Topolobampo, on the west coast of Mexico, through Presidio and Alpine in West Texas to major distribution center at Dallas-Fort Worth. 

One of the biggest engineering challenges was rebuilding the track at a higher elevation, since construction of the new-and-improved levees to protect Presidio from major flooding partially buried the remains of the bridge. 

Texas Rail Advocates and other stakeholders had been urging officials to rebuild the international rail crossing and restore freight rail service in this important trans-border crossing since the bridge was destroyed by fire.

It has been a slow and sometimes torturous years-long process. Funds had to be received from the federal government and the Texas legislature, international commissions agreements had to be signed off, and federal and state agencies all had to OK a number of steps to get to the final stage of the CBP facility monitoring train shipments crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico.

In 2017, the Texas Department of Transportation received a $7 million federal grant to help rebuild the Presidio-Ojinaga Rail Bridge and 72 miles of track north to a junction with Union Pacific Railroad at Paisano Junction, west of Alpine, Texas. With funding from Texas Pacifico, the total reconstruction and rehabilitation project was over $16 million.

“The Presidio bridge is a critical project to increase jobs and investment in the Permian Basin and Texas’ oil and gas industry,” said Rep. Drew Darby, who was Chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee in 2017.

At a groundbreaking ceremony for the rebuilt international bridge in 2018 Texas Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg Jr. said "as one of the eight rail gateways between the United States and Mexico, this crossing is extremely important to the economy of Texas and the rest of the United States. This project will have positive impacts on both the regional and national levels in support of our energy sector and local communities.”

The first train to reach Presidio in over 15 years occurred in December 2020 when two heavy haul locomotives pulling a 100 car ballast train from Alpine made their way over the long mothballed section of the South Orient line to Presidio, spreading rock to stabilize the track along the way. 

The start of operations, expected in 2020, was pushed back even further by the pandemic and federal agencies saying that Texas should pay for the border inspection station. 

What was thought to be the last stumbling block was removed by the state legislature in 2021 with a $15.5 million dollar appropriation secured from the Texas House and Senate and signed by Governor Greg Abbott. The state appropriation, along with federal funding, comprised $33 million required for the inspection facility. 

While Presidio, the "Gateway to Big Bend Country" attracts a lot of tourists to the desert environment, it's also in an isolated part of the state and that required TxDOT to put the inspection station contract out to bid twice, with the agency citing a lack of companies willing to commit to the work.

That dragged the start of construction out into 2024. 

The transportation agency also had difficulties in finding a specialized "NII" machine, a non-invasive inspection unit that customs and border agents required to inspect freight cars. A contract was finally secured for the x-ray equipment but there were unanticipated delays in receiving the unit. It is now being put into place. 

A construction contract was finally awarded in March 2024 by the Texas Transportation Commission. The base of the CBP facility was poured in January 2025 and construction continues today. 

Photo credit: City of Presidio, RT&S