FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF has informed customers that it will take a week to 10 days for service to “improve and fully normalize” on its Southern Transcon in the wake of the derailment and fire that closed the line near the Arizona-New Mexico state line for three days.
In a Monday service advisory, the railroad said “a significant number of trains” had been affected by the April 25 derailment and fire, which also led to an extended closure of Interstate 40 [see “I-40 fully reopens …,” Trains News Wire, April 28, 2024]. The derailment occurred about 12:45 p.m. on Friday; one track reopened at 5:30 p.m. local time on Sunday and the other at 9:45 p.m.
“We are working to quickly reduce the number of trains held and rebalance equipment flows and resources,” BNSF wrote in its advisory. “To help accelerate recovery, we have sent additional response teams to the area and have 24/7 command centers coordinating key resources.”
The Federal Railroad Administration is investigating the incident.
Train #4 took 1:58 from closest stations. That was only :18 minutes delay. Not bad.
BNSF will burn thru crews at a fast pace. Wonder if BNSF has any qualified crew they can bring in for the various crew districts affected for temporary service of the mentioned 10 days?