advertisement

---

Carrizo Gorge Railway Inc. (CZRY) recently filed an exemption notice with the Surface Transportation Board to operate a 70-mile line between Division and Plaster City, Calif., owned by San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development.

In May 2002, the transit agency granted CZRY trackage rights to the east-west line, which links San Diego and northern Baja port cities with the rest of the United States and Mexico.

The line — which hasn't been used for more than 20 years — winds through desert gorges east to Plaster City, where it connects with Union Pacific Railroad.

CZRY spent about $15 million to repair collapsed tunnels, damaged track and deteriorated bridges to enable freight trains to move directly east from San Diego and northern Baja, rather than heading north to Los Angeles, and then east.

The line will enable shippers between Tijuana and Tecate, Mexico, to directly ship freight between northern Baja, and the United States and Mexico, shortening existing routes by 500 track miles, CZRY officials believe.