Nearshoring , industrial growth, and the need for more efficient and sustainable logistics solutions in the Cali-Baja region are among the opportunities for freight rail to drive its growth. Baja California Railroad (BJRR) , operator of the short-gauge rail line in northwest Mexico, knows the path forward and has a defined plan for 2026 to ensure that this mode of transport is not just an alternative, but becomes the primary logistics option for industry.

“The development of customs infrastructure, binational integration, and market diversification can position rail as the ideal means for transporting large volumes of cargo, particularly in sectors such as energy, agribusiness, and advanced manufacturing. The Cali-Baja mega-region has enormous potential due to its productive integration between Mexico and the United States,” says Roberto Romandía, the company’s CEO, in an interview with T21.

He asserts that strengthening cross-border trade, optimizing rail crossing times, and promoting integrated logistics schemes will attract more companies seeking to reduce costs and improve their international competitiveness . “The trend of industrial relocation also represents a great opportunity to consolidate rail as the backbone of logistics.”

Romandía argues that the railroad is vital for Baja California , since the region has more than a thousand maquiladoras that depend on efficient and competitive supply chains, and this mode of transport offers capacity, safety, cost reduction, less environmental impact and operational stability.

“Many companies are facing complex situations related to union issues, work stoppages, and internal cost pressures. The rail model allows maquiladoras to reduce their internal operating burden—less need for their own operators, less exposure to labor disputes in ground logistics, and less dependence on union schemes in transportation—which has become a strategic asset. Furthermore, they will soon be able to optimize returns to the United States with finished products, further reducing their costs,” he mentions.

The second edition of ETYL Cali-Baja (Transportation and Logistics Meeting) will take place on May 14th.  This forum, organized by  Grupo T21  , will bring together industry leaders and nearly 200 attendees at the Real Inn Hotel in Tijuana. Through four panels, specialists will analyze the  challenges and opportunities in the binational logistics context and their impact on supply chains . For more information about ETYL Cali-Baja, please visit  https://baja.etylmx.com/ .

If you wish to continue reading this text published in the April 2026 edition of T21 magazine, we invite you to consult the digital version by clicking here .

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El cargo Cali-Baja, the route for the growth of the freight railway apareció primero en T21.

Baja California Railroad (BJRR) , the operator of the short-haul railroad in northwestern Mexico, has set itself the “new destination” for diesel imports from Texas, United States, to Tijuana, Baja California , a project whose investment has been 80 million pesos, earmarked for infrastructure such as a transfer terminal. Roberto Romandía, the company’s general director, asserts that this would lower transportation costs for the molecule and fuel.

“We’re pursuing a very important project to begin importing diesel in significant quantities, which would represent an increase of approximately 154% in our current imports. We’re going to expand into gasoline and diesel,” he said in an interview with T21.

Remember that the main commodity (raw material) they have handled for 12 years is LP gas, specializing in the transportation of this hydrocarbon. However, handling the new product has been extended due to the procedures and permits required to begin transporting it via rail . Operations are planned to begin between July and August of this year, and the estimated transportation of 3,780 tanker trucks per year.

“We’ve been delayed due to the permitting issue. It’s not a simple matter, especially given the events that have been unfolding in Mexico. We want to do things very well, with great transparency regarding all the permits and authorizations necessary to carry out this type of operation, which is why it’s taken us so long to be ready. We’re 95% complete in terms of permits, authorizations, and the infrastructure needed to begin our transfers,” he says.

He explains that part of the investment is being allocated to the infrastructure of the “García Station ,” which includes a yard for transfers, hydraulic pumps, contingency plans, permits, a water storage tank, and other equipment. To begin operations, the company is only awaiting the environmental impact statement from the state government.

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El cargo A rolling bet on hydrocarbons apareció primero en T21.

Admiral Luis Javier Robinson Portillo Villanueva, general director of Asipona Ensenada, stated that the 98.7-kilometer (km) Tecate-El Sauzal railroad needs to be developed for general cargo transportation and tourism services.

“It represents a strategic transportation route for improved economic development in a shorter timeframe. Considering the different modes of transportation—sea, air, land, and rail—to move goods, it will optimize costs, time, and efficiency,” he said.

During the panel Modernization of the Port of Ensenada, the Railroad and Beyond that took place in the first edition of the  Transportation and Logistics Meeting (ETYL) CALI-BAJA 2025 , he reiterated that it is necessary to consolidate this new infrastructure in the future because it would be the best option to transport cargo, since land transport will be insufficient.

“Once El Sauzal exists, it’s important to have a consolidated multimodal transportation system to improve communication and freight transportation; it’s the best logistical solution,” he said.

Roberto Romandia, CEO of Baja Railway, agreed that a port cannot fully develop without the support of a railway. “We are an extremely important part of the logistics chain, economically, safely, and affordably. Once we integrate maritime, customs, rail, and wheeled transport, we will be integrating everything necessary into the supply chain to be more efficient, productive, and safer for all future projects.”

He specified that the train currently runs from San Isidro to Tecate with 71.4 km of track, but once this Asipona project is integrated, there will be nearly 200 km of rail track.

For his part, Javier Rodríguez, general manager of Ensenada International Terminal , mentioned that the group’s vision was to invest heavily in Ensenada, “because it is a very kind port.”

He explained that they recently made an investment of more than 150 million dollars , resources that allowed them to carry out the extension of the yard and acquisition of port equipment that allowed them to increase their static capacity by more than 50% and a dynamic capacity of 800 thousand TEU (20-foot containers), and the length of the dock from 300 to 600 meters.

“We’ve diverted cargo from Los Angeles and Long Beach, but they move 19 million TEUs a year, and we’ll have a field day if we reach 500,000. So, yes, we’ve diverted cargo, but I think we can divert a lot more and they won’t even realize it, and maybe they’ll even be grateful, because they go there and they’re always very saturated,” he said.

Mateo Cepeda Jaramillo, Sales and Logistics Manager for Cosco Shipping Lines , noted that the shipping company has accumulated nearly 600,000 TEUs of cargo at the port of Ensenada since its arrival at this facility; and in 2018, they launched their first exclusive service.

“Cosco saw the region’s capabilities and vision, made a significant investment, and thank God we’ve become the leading shipping company in the port right now,” he said.

Portillo Villanueva also commented that the modernization includes the expansion of the basin from 450 meters in diameter with a depth of 14.5 meters to 550 meters in diameter and also an expansion of the approach and secondary channels that require 700 million pesos, in addition to a multipurpose facility, the construction of a tourist marina that will be 150 million pesos, a cruise terminal with two billion pesos, among other projects that total 4.29 billion pesos.

He indicated that the investment for El Sauzal is 4.985 billion pesos to construct the 4 km of breakwater and also a social project.

Meanwhile, private investment will include the specialized container terminal, a multipurpose terminal for general cargo, bulk cargo, and fluids and petroleum products, which will require an investment of 22 billion pesos.

“By 2040, with all the planned development, we will have 1.5 million TEUs. To address the issue of moving containerized cargo, we are planning to expand the bypass by 24 km and also connect it to all highways in the region along the Ensenada-Tijuana stretch,” he explained.

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El cargo New railway line could boost cargo at the port of Ensenada apareció primero en T21.