(The Associated Press circulated the following article on August 21.)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Derailments, such as three that occurred in less than two weeks on Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern track, have been a problem for the Sioux Falls-based railroad, DM&E President Kevin Schieffer says.
But a proposed upgrade would help solve that problem, he said.
Earlier this month, train cars derailed near Colony, Wyo. Eleven days before that, two trains derailed on the same day — one south of Rapid City and another involving cars of a DM&E sister railroad, the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern, near Cotter, Iowa.
Opponents of the railroad’s plan to upgrade the line say the derailments illustrate a poor safety record. But Schieffer said the project is designed to improve the record.
“It’s a constant problem we’ve had since startup 20 years ago. This railroad was built out of a line someone wanted to abandon,” Schieffer said.
Parts of the line amount to a patchwork, he said. “You can have one stick of rail in 1940 beside one that was in 1930 beside one that was in 1960 beside one that’s in 1872.”
Under the upgrade, old jointed track would be replaced by state-of-the-art welded track, virtually guaranteeing no track-related derailments, according to Schieffer.
The DM&E wants to rehabilitate its existing line across South Dakota and southern Minnesota and build new track to Wyoming’s coal fields to haul coal east.
The city of Rochester, Minn., and the Mayo Clinic have been fighting the plan. Officials there say the DM&E safety record shows the railroad doesn’t deserve a federal loan to help pay for its upgrades.
“Our main concern is protecting the patients that come to our city, the staff that work there with the Mayo Clinic and the community itself,” said Ken Brown, chairman of the county board in Olmsted County, Minn.
DM&E’s record shows the railroad itself isn’t being properly managed, Rochester officials said.