Baja California Railroad
Baja California Railroad, Inc. (BJRR) is a class III railroad operating in the northwest of Baja California, interchanging with San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad in San Ysidro, California. After rehabilitation efforts are completed on the Desert Line portion of the railroad, an interchange is also planned with the Union Pacific Railroad in Plaster City, California.
 García Station, Tijuana | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Av. Ferrocarril #1, Col. Libertad Parte Baja Tijuana, Baja California C.P. 22300 |
| Dates of operation | 2010– |
| Other | |
| Website | bajarr.com |
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The railroad is managed by ADMICARGA (Administradora de la Vía Corta Tijuana-Tecate), a Baja California government entity. It does not connect to any other railroads in Mexico's rail system.
Operations
BJRR's biggest clients are Z Gas, North StarGas, Empacadora Rosarito, and Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery in Tecate, which receives large amounts of grain and corn syrup imports.[1]
Other clients receive shipments such as borax, pig lard, lumber, steel, paper, and cattle feed.[2]
History
Operations began in 2012, using 71.48 kilometres (44.42 mi) of the former track of the Ferrocarril Tijuana y Tecate, which was constructed in 1910 by the San Diego & Arizona Railway from San Diego to El Centro. The BJRR is the technical operating and maintenance assistant of the rail line's Baja California segment under agreement from the railroad's operator, ADMICARGA.
In February 2013, the local Baja California directors of BJRR announced an investment of $20 million to upgrade the neglected track.[2] The first area to be developed was the first 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the border in Tijuana to El Florido as far as Matanuco. Work started in May 2013 with the building of the Tijuana railroad yard; the focus was on more track capacity, in conjunction with the upcoming San Ysidro Freight Rail Yard Improvement Project by SANDAG.
In June 2016, Baja California Railroad secured a 100-year lease with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) to rehabilitate and operate an additional 112.75 kilometres (70.06 mi) of track in the United States between Campo, California and Plaster City, California. The line, with 57 bridges and 17 tunnels, will be rehabilitated in three phases: Phase 1, Campo to Jacumba Hot Springs, California; phase 2, Dos Cabezas (near Ocotillo Wells, California) to Plaster City; and phase 3, from Jacumba to Dos Cabezas.[3] The railroad paid SDMTS $1 million per year to retain its lease;[4] Baja California Railroad stopped paying SDMTS beginning in 2020, breaking its lease.[5]
Route and stations
Tijuana Station
Tijuana Station is located immediately to the south of the US San Ysidro Port of Entry. The station is now in a 1,000-square-metre (11,000 sq ft) three-story building that contains new administrative offices, an operations and logistics control center, offices for ADMICARGA (the railroad's operator), customs control, a customs agency (broker), the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the State Committee of Vegetable Sanitation (CESV). There is also space for sixty-eight 60-foot (18 m) cars.[6] The original railway station, built in the late 1920s, will become a railway museum.
García Station
García Station is farther east, near La Mesa of Tijuana municipality. It has a 470-square-metre (5,100 sq ft) two-story building with a reception area and offices for customer service, administration, and logistics. Also, after renovations, the storage capacity was increased to 3,400 square metres (37,000 sq ft), of which 435 square metres (4,680 sq ft) is for cold storage.[7]
References
- Santillán, Roberto (October 4, 2015). "Promueve Baja Rail Road transporte de carga en tren". Diario Tijuana. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- Santillán, Roberto (October 11, 2015). "Aumentará competitividad de B.C. con obras de la vía corta". Diario Tijuana. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- "DESERT LINE | Baja Railroad". www.bajarr.com. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
- Smith, Joshua Emerson (7 February 2019). "Baja Railroad's overhaul of MTS-owned Desert Line appears stuck in the sand". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- Smith, James Emerson (13 November 2021). "San Diego MTS determined to rehab 'Impossible Railroad' despite latest setback in the desert". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- Mondragón, Adán (August 30, 2015). "Buscan mejorar vía férrea de Tijuana-Tecate". El Mexicano. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- "Buscan mejorar vías del ferrocarril para aumentar competitividad mega región". El Tijuanense. August 31, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-11-18. Retrieved November 25, 2015.