IMPACT ON THE RAILROAD INDUSTRY

This paper focuses on the issues that are still outstanding, and that need to be addressed to get the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to really work in terms of railroads. There are six or seven rail crossings on the U.S.- Mexico border. One of the key crossings is served by the Union Pacific (UP) and the Tex-Mex Railroad. The other key crossing is at Brownsville and Matamoros. It is also served by UP, primarily, and by Southern Pacific (SP). The SP is dominant at most of the rest of the crossing points. An important region in NAFTA trade is called "The Triangle" - Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City are the corners. Laredo, Texas is almost on a direct line to the Triangle from the U.S. heartland. The majority of trade will come through Laredo. There are terminal facilities in Mexico, and these terminal points are in some ways choke points. The main concern of the U. S. railroads at the border is multiple agencies on both sides of the border. The railroads would like a single binational agency instead of multiple agencies who don't necessarily agree on issues and policy. The Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico (FNM - the Mexican railroad) is government owned, and it needs locomotives. In addition, they do not have a bulk transload facility there. If you want to receive bulk, you need to be able to turn those trains. They are really not able to do that in Mexico. Due to infrastructure problems and institutional issues, the FNM can not clear the border fast enough. An increase in FNM capacity would improve the situation.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/10527524
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was presented in Forum Session ""NAFTA's impact on Transportation: An Overview". These proceedings, Volume 8 of the TRF 36th Annual Conference, were funded for publication by the UPS Foundation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Forum

  11250-8 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 8
  Reston, VA  United States  20190
• Authors:
  • Maltz, A B
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Forum, Post-Meeting Proceedings, 36th Annual Meeting, Volume 8
  • Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
  • Date: 1994-11-3 to 1994-11-5
• Publication Date: 1994

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 359-364
• Serial:
  • Publication of: Transportation Research Forum
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Forum
  • ISSN: 1052-7524

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bulk cargo handling; Bulk cargo terminals; Government agencies; Infrastructure; Intermodal terminals; International borders; Marine terminals; Railroads; Trade
• Identifier Terms: Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico; North American Free Trade Agreement; Southern Pacific Railroad; Union Pacific Railroad
• Uncontrolled Terms: Agencies; Capacity
• Geographic Terms: Laredo (Texas); Mexico; United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Terminal facilities
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Security and Emergencies; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00728807
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Volume 8
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 15 1996 12:00AM