Empire Builder reroute imminent

[cav1865]

3 May BNSF customer update reports Devils Lake sub is out-of-service at Churches Ferry, ND. BNSF update reads BNSF will assess the situation daily.

 

[anir dendroica]

Both #7 and #8 lost 3-4 hours on the Surrey line last night/this morning. Must be some real congestion, or else the dispatcher for that line isn't used to giving Amtrak priority.

Mark

 

[Trogdor]

Both #7 and #8 lost 3-4 hours on the Surrey line last night/this morning. Must be some real congestion, or else the dispatcher for that line isn't used to giving Amtrak priority.

Mark

The weather out there has been horrendous, and there are numerous slow orders related to the wet groundwith maintenance crews having to make repairs to keep up with it all. Add congestion to all that, and you have trains that lose several hours enroute.

 

[TraneMan]

Seeing on the status, west bound 7 is just over 7 hours late! Yikes!

 

[Brian]

Sure hope everything is dried up by may 21, taking the EB from SEA to Chi, supposed to arrive in CHI at 3:55pm on may 21, and supposed to have a connecting train to St. Louis that day at like 5:15pm, and am worried what will happen if I miss that connection.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Sure hope everything is dried up by may 21, taking the EB from SEA to Chi, supposed to arrive in CHI at 3:55pm on may 21, and supposed to have a connecting train to St. Louis that day at like 5:15pm, and am worried what will happen if I miss that connection.

You'll likely be put up in a hotel on Amtraks dime and sent out on the next days train.

 

[Trogdor]

There is a 7:00 pm train, if you miss the 5:15.

 

[cav1865]

Amtrak announced today (5 May)it will resume route through Devils Lake, Rugby, Grand Forks. Long-term solution still up in the air.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Amtrak announced today (5 May)it will resume route through Devils Lake, Rugby, Grand Forks. Long-term solution still up in the air.

Sounds like BNSF isn't too interested in letting them use the Surrey cutoff indefinitely......

 

[anir dendroica]

#7 and #8 ran on the Devils Lake route this morning. Lost about two hours between Minot and Fargo, which is better than they were doing on the New Rockford line.

Mark

 

[Guest]

Sure hope everything is dried up by may 21, taking the EB from SEA to Chi, supposed to arrive in CHI at 3:55pm on may 21, and supposed to have a connecting train to St. Louis that day at like 5:15pm, and am worried what will happen if I miss that connection.

You'll likely be put up in a hotel on Amtraks dime and sent out on the next days train.

I gotta be into St Louis by 3:00 am the next morning for a meeting, just thought taking the train would be fun!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Amtrak announced today (5 May)it will resume route through Devils Lake, Rugby, Grand Forks. Long-term solution still up in the air.

Sounds like BNSF isn't too interested in letting them use the Surrey cutoff indefinitely......

Why doesn't BNSF make up its mind. First it tells amtrak to move to the cutoff or pay to keep the devils lake above water. amtrak at first said it would keep devils lake now it realizes it might not be able to keep it and now BNSF is like tough luck you had your chance.

 

[jis]

Amtrak announced today (5 May)it will resume route through Devils Lake, Rugby, Grand Forks. Long-term solution still up in the air.

Sounds like BNSF isn't too interested in letting them use the Surrey cutoff indefinitely......

Why doesn't BNSF make up its mind. First it tells amtrak to move to the cutoff or pay to keep the devils lake above water. amtrak at first said it would keep devils lake now it realizes it might not be able to keep it and now BNSF is like tough luck you had your chance.

???

 

[amtrakwolverine]

from wikipedia

The line has come under threat from flooding multiple times, and has occasionally had to suspend or alter service when waters rise. While most service gets restored in days or weeks, the rising water of Devils Lake in North Dakota, which has no natural outlet, poses a more long-standing threat to the route. Amtrak has stated that they will suspend operations over a bridge near Churchs Ferry if water reaches the level of 1,453 feet (443 m). By April 2010, the water level at that point had reached 1,450 ft (442 m).[9] BNSF estimates that it will cost US$100 million to upgrade the line in the area to keep traffic moving. If the water level limit is reached, service will be rerouted to the south, dropping service to Rugby, Devils Lake, and Grand Forks.[10]

In August 2010, despite BNSF ceasing freight activity along this section of track, it was reported that North Dakota's members of the House of Representatives and the Senate had declared that there will be no reroute, as suggested by BNSF, to go directly between Fargo, ND, and Minot, ND, and possibly serve New Rockford, ND. Instead, they have declared that they will "find the necessary funding needed" in order to help Amtrak cover the maintenance costs handed off by BNSF for continued use.[11]