Chihuahua: La Entrada’s
coming someday, but by rail

By STERRY BUTCHER

CIUDAD CHIHUAHUA, Chih. – Mexico’s focus in La Entrada al Pacifico is rail, say those close to the planning process.

Armando Correa is a chief engineer in the department of industrial development for the state of Chihuahua. His job is specifically tied to the development of La Entrada, a trade route that proponents hope will deliver Asian goods from a deepwater port in Topolobampo to Ciudad Chihuahua and into the United States from Presidio.

“When we talk of the corridor, it is the railroad also,” Correa said Tuesday from his office in Ciudad Chihuahua. “The highway is behind schedule in the state of Chihuahua. There are many kilometers of highway to widen and many kilometers to finish.”

The Mexican portion of La Entrada remains an ambitious undertaking. Sections of a Chihuahua roadway substantial enough to handle commercial traffic has been improved or newly constructed in recent years, notably, a bypass around the Peguis Mountains between Ciudad Chihuahua and Ojinaga. Constructing a roadway, however, that will successfully and safely cross vertiginous Sierra Madre and Copper Canyon territory is another matter. What’s likely, said Correa, is that cargo that sails into the Pacific coast port of Topolobampo will simply stay on rail, and utilize the existing rail line that snakes through the rough and winding canyon country.

“The trucks are going to be delayed, if they are to come,” he said. “Traffic on the railway will be coming sooner.”

Jake Giesbrecht agrees. He’s the operator of Bullet Transport, a firm out of Presidio that deals with the logistics of moving freight from one place to another. He’s also the president of the Presidio County Rural Rail District. His affiliation with the rail district and his expertise in trucking and freight landed him on an eight-person cabinet that counsels Chihuahua Governor Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas on economic development issues. Like Correa, Giesbrecht says rail is the way to go.

“We were at meetings about the feasibility of a commercial highway through the mountains,” he said this week. “And that’s years away. Mexico is looking at La Entrada as rail. The highway side of it is tourism. They’re not going to build a superhighway; it’s not feasible.”

Giesbrecht points out that Copper Canyon is among Mexico’s most precious natural wonders, and that it draws millions in tourist dollars annually. Nearly all the tourists who see Copper Canyon do so by the passenger train that traverses the canyon’s spectacular terrain.

“They’re not going to ruin the best tourist attraction the state of Chihuahua has,” he said. “They’re going to do everything they can to protect it, and one of the best ways to do it is the train.”

The state of Chihuahua is serious about La Entrada’s development. Chihuahua keeps a state-sponsored office in Beijing to help entice trade to Mexico. Correa is due to meet later this week with representatives from a port management company called Hutchinson Port Holdings, one of three such companies interested in developing the Topolobampo resource. Work is needed there, too, according to the Chihuahua official.

“At the moment the port is not ready,” he said. “The port of Topolobampo currently has a depth of 12-13 meters and it needs at least 16 meters. It also needs to be widened and needs cranes to unload cargo. Ships that currently come to Topolobampo have their own cranes to unload grain and fertilizers, which are the main goods shipped to the port.”

If a management company signs on and the port is sufficiently developed, Correa estimated that eight trains per day would be loaded with goods at Topolobampo. Those trains would have 30 cars each, for a total of 240 containers total.

The governor’s economic advisory council, state government officials, representatives from the private sector and university scholars are collaborating as a think tank on La Entrada and other development options, according to Giesbrecht. Both Correa and Giesbrecht referenced a $6-million study now underway from the Mexican government that looks at comprehensive ways to boost and diversify economy along 14 different corridors in that country. La Entrada is among those corridors.

“It’ll cover every aspect,” said Giesbrecht, “everything that is going into New Mexico, an intermodal facility in Chihuahua City, how to build Topolobampo, how to handle rail from Presidio to Dallas.”

Correa said the study could be complete as soon as next winter.

The Mexican study of various economic corridors is concurrent with a Texas Department of Transportation study going on now that looks at the various routes, challenges, and options available for the Texas portion of La Entrada. The Texas Pacifico rail line between Presidio and Fort Stockton needs considerable rehabilitation to bring it from a 10 mph track to something more reasonable. Owned by TxDoT and leased to Grupo Mexico, a subsidiary of the Mexican rail giant Ferromex, the U.S. portion of the rail line is a key element in the regional La Entrada equation.

“The basic rule of thumb is that one train equals 280 trucks,” said Don Dowdey, of the Big Bend Chapter of the Sierra Club. “A train uses a third of the energy of those trucks and puts out one third of the pollution. Putting [cargo] on trains is a no brainer.”

It’s economically sensible, too.

“Rail is going to be cheaper than trucks,” Giesbrecht said unequivocally. “If we play our cards right, we can steer almost everything to rail. The best way to move freight is always by rail.”

He’s hopeful that, once the Mexican federal study and the TxDoT study come out, the state of Texas, the U.S. federal government, the states of Chihuahua and Sinaloa, Ferromex, and Chinese investors can help make those rail improvements happen for the Texas Pacifico tracks. He believes that a Copper Canyon-bound tourist train that initiates in Alpine or Fort Stockton could be a boon for all involved.

Correa also knows that there’s much to be done before port-related traffic would begin to flow through his state and into Texas.

“There is still studying and work to be done on both sides of the border,” he said. “The custom houses on both sides need to be enlarged, personnel added and the inhabitants need to accept the trade route.”

He envisions that trains from Topolobampo would stop in Ciudad Chihuahua, where goods would be finished by Mexican workers and put back onto the trains headed to the U.S.

“We don’t just want goods going through our state,” he stated. “We want to benefit from this commerce. Otherwise, we won’t gain anything if it all goes north.”

Giesbrecht has attended two dozen rail meetings as a representative of the Presidio County Rural Rail District and economic advisory cabinet member. At a major meeting last month in Los Mochis, which featured a number of state officials, academics and a rep from the New Mexico governor’s office, he was asked why he was the sole Texas representative.

“We need Texas involved,” he said. “We need the secretary of state’s office and governor’s attention.” He’s drafted a letter to the state government, asking for dedicated time and input from the state level. He said that letters from others also concerned about La Entrada could help the Texas Pacifico track get the rehabilitation it needs.

The traffic from Topolobampo won’t hit high gear anytime in the very near future, said Correa. Still, the trade route warrants prudence and foresight.

“I probably won’t see it in my lifetime,” said the 71-year old official. “But we have to begin the planning and coordinating all the same.”

(with additional reporting by Rosario Salgado Halpern)