Amtrak Reopens Capital Rail Link as Mexico Freight Strike Ends

Amtrak restored direct service between Washington and Virginia this week after a nine-day shutdown to rebuild a critical junction beneath the capital. In Mexico, a nationwide truckers’ strike that threatened cross-border freight ended after just one day.

The national passenger railroad said on Monday that it had finished replacing the ageing switches and crossovers at A-Interlocking, in the First Street Tunnel just south of Washington Union Station. The junction routes all Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains between the capital and points south. Crews also rehabilitated 350 feet of tunnel track base, laid 550 tons of ballast, replaced 1,000 feet of rail and 215 ties, and installed new electric switch machines.

The work, which Amtrak called “Pause for Progress,” required about 13,300 labor hours a day. It disrupted Northeast Regional and long-distance services such as the Crescent and Silver Meteor, with passengers transferring to buses at Alexandria. “This concentrated construction period allowed our teams to make significant improvements to critical infrastructure,” said Jennifer Mitchell, Amtrak’s executive vice president of strategy and planning.

South of the border, Mexico’s National Chamber of Freight Transportation, known as CANACAR, called off its indefinite strike on Tuesday after reaching a deal with the Interior Ministry. The government agreed to set up five permanent working groups covering highway security, infrastructure, tax policy, social security and labor conditions. The groups will be coordinated with the National Guard.

Truckers had protested over cargo robberies, which industry groups put at 30 to 40 a day, and a planned cut to a tax credit on highway tolls. The Interior Ministry recorded protests at 38 points across 19 states on the first day, though CANACAR said mobilizations reached all 32. Industry leaders had warned that a full stoppage could cost as much as 21.5 billion pesos a day, roughly 1 billion dollars. That threat loomed over a trade corridor that runs through Laredo, Texas, the busiest US inland port.