Austin company gets the greenlight for autonomous Texas-Mexico elevated railway
AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin company is looking to revolutionize the way products move between Texas and Mexico.
Green Corridors, LLC just got the green light from the White House via a permit to build an elevated railway for autonomous vehicles.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump issued a permit for the company to build the corridor between Laredo, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico.
The company would also construct a bridge over the Rio Grande River at the U.S.-Mexico border.
KXAN’s Tom Miller talked with Austin Business Journal Editor-In-Chief Colin Pope about the project.
The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
TOM MILLER: Describe what this Austin company is hoping to build between Mexico and Texas and how this would work.
COLIN POPE: When I saw the renderings of what they’ve got planned, it kind of took me back to Disney World and the monorail. You’ve got an elevated rail line and futuristic vehicles going back and forth on that thing, pretty much 24/7. That is the grand vision – to build one of these elevated freight rails, with completely autonomous vehicles going on them, no drivers.
TOM: What is it promising when it comes to improving traffic and improving road conditions?
COLIN: It’s promising a lot for truckers. Number one, we’re still going to rely on regular old trucks to get freight back and forth across the border, but it’s going to reduce congestion times, especially at the border. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the wait times in Laredo, trying to get in or out of the U.S. Long wait times. If truckers can just cut 10 minutes off of their wait times, collectively, the estimates are that our economy would be saving over $300 million.
TOM: Does it feel like this now has new momentum with President Trump getting involved?
COLIN: It does, yeah. The company wants to do all of this without public dollars or public sector help. They want it all private, where it’s funded by investors, but they needed a permit to be able to develop a new border crossing. They’ve got that permit now.
TOM: What is the price tag to build something like this? And how long would it take to build something like this?
COLIN: The CEO of Green Corridors is eyeballing a 2031 launch date for this. In terms of the cost, he’s a little bit in the dark, anywhere from $6 billion to $10 billion. I know that this is a huge difference, but the CEO says it all depends on how inflation treats the company in the coming years, and then tariffs will be part of the equation too.
