(Reuters) – Union Pacific said on Friday that it was informed by the authorities that railroad crossings in two Texas border towns would reopen this afternoon, nearly a week after U.S. border officials closed two rail bridges.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection had announced a temporary suspension of operations at the international railway crossing bridges at El Paso and Eagle Pass to deal with an influx of migrants on the country’s southern border.
“We will work to restore normal operations as quickly as possible as we work through the five-day backlog of shipments at the border,” the railroad operator said in a statement.
On Wednesday, numerous prominent U.S. agricultural organizations and railroad companies appealed for reopening two rail crossings along the Texas-Mexico border.
The two railroad crossings are among the six available between the U.S. and Mexico.
Union Pacific estimated the economic impact to businesses from the closures at more than $200 million a day in goods, wages and transportation costs.
The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended about 10,800 migrants at the southwest border on Monday, according to an internal agency report reviewed by Reuters.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
