(The following story by Debra Gruszecki appeared on The Desert Sun website on March 6.)
RIVERSIDE COUNTY – Union Pacific, one of the largest railroads in North America, knows that idled freight cars cost money.
And those costs are felt all the way along the line.
As a major freight handler in California, the railroad’s first concern following Monday’s derailment near Mecca has been for the welfare of those impacted by the hazardous material spill.
After that, there’ll be costs to clear the scene, restore the tracks to full operation and pay the price for extended freight delivery time and rail rerouting.
Every minute adds up.
“It’s critical to business,” said Joseph Schofer, director of Northwestern University’s Infrastructure Technology Institute in Evanston, Ill.
“With a major disruption such as this, Union Pacific will be strongly motivated to recover full operations quickly.”
Zoë Richmond, a spokeswoman for Union Pacific Corp., said the crews are working as quickly as they can to get the line restored, noting that the activity falls into place like dominos.
“Everything hinges on the HazMat response,” she said. “We need to make sure the hazards are removed first.”
Richmond said Union Pacific’s goal is to restore the line within 48 hours.
“The serious economic impact will come not just from the loss involving the 29-car derailment,” Schofer said. “It will be the disruption of the line for whatever period of time.”
Since the derailment, Union Pacific trains have been rerouted through Salt Lake City and, in some cases, are traversing over Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks to move through the rail system.
Seven of the 25 trains idled Tuesday are still waiting for their cue to move on, Richmond said.
The product they were shipping along the rail corridor from the Los Angeles Basin was not identified to determine the economic impact.
“It’s too early to quantify the dollars and cents” of the cleanup, restoration work and extended delivery time as of yet, Richmond said.
While there is no hard and fast formula, the May 27, 2000, derailment of 33 Union Pacific cars near Eunice, La., which involved 15 hazardous materials cars and the evacuation of about 3,500 people, exceeded $35 million in total damages, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Transportation experts do not think the damages incurred by the railroad that moves more than 250 million tons of coal annually, as well as chemicals, manufactured goods, vegetables and canned goods, across the Golden State will be that high.
“This is a flat and open area,” Schofer said. “It’s possible the rail bed and track infrastructure can be pretty rapidly repaired once the HazMat situation is cleaned up.”
And in at least one other key sector of the transportation network, the derailment had only a small ripple effect.
The Alameda Corridor has reported no noticeable disruption and usage since Monday, said Jeff Lustgarten, a spokesman for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.
“Even in a pinch, Union Pacific can share the Burlington Northern line for segments” of their service, he said.