The long awaited train has finally come through Presidio, and a short line of five cars now runs down a few hundred yards of track. This new phase allows the capabilities of a customs screening facility to be tested before commercial traffic resumes.
The first commercial freight is expected to roll through in early 2027, serving trains in each direction, running between Dallas/Fort Worth and Chihuahua. The Presidio County sheriff posted a notice on Facebook last week reminding residents to be careful at newly active rail crossings.
“It’s going to be a crawl, and then walk, and then run,” says Stan Meador, a senior vice president at Texas Pacifico, the rail company running the line. “We’re starting from zero. We need to get good at just moving first.”
The Presidio railyard has been idle for over two decades. Restarting the train has been a project that has been beset by delays, including reopening the train bridge in 2024 and building a multimillion dollar noninvasive customs screening facility. The facility was specially built by Texas Department of Transportation Railway Division and will be operationally handed off to Customs and Border Patrol once testing is complete. It will allow trains to run through for inspection without being fully unloaded.
A single rail car can carry four to five truckloads of goods, making it well suited for heavy materials such as steel and consumer goods. The Presidio railyard will focus on nonperishable items while it restarts train service, with unclear economic impact to the town itself. Commercial freight has been a lucrative addition to other border towns, where it often shifts from rail to interstate travel by truck.
Newspapers, including this one, have been heralding the arrival of the train as a renaissance opportunity for Presidio. It will be one of just eight rail crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border, which saw nearly $95 billion in rail freight traffic in 2025 according to the Bureau of Transportation.
