Instead of building a wall separating the United States and Mexico, officials from both countries celebrated the opening on August 25, 2015 of the West Rail Bypass International Bridge.
The new rail bridge connects Brownsville [population at the 2010 census of 175,023], Texas with “Matamoros [population of 489,193 in 2010] in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas,” writes David Jackson of USA TODAY. “It’s part of an overall effort to expand trade between the United States and Mexico.”
“The trains began rolling across the new bridge on Aug. 7,” writes Andrew V. Pestano of UPI. “It took more than 15 years for the West Rail Bypass International Bridge to become a reality.”
Total cost was more than $100 million.
The rail line will replace one that went through the downtown areas of Brownsville and Matamoros, slowing down trains.
That old line has operated since 1910, the last time a rail project crossed the U.S.-Mexican border.