(The following appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on April 26, 2011.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Severe spring storms are hampering freight transportation in the Midwest, as several major railroads closed tracks from as far south as Texas to as far north as Canada.
Union Pacific Railroad said debris and power outages from Monday storms disrupted its operations in northern Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri.
BNSF Railway said as of April 25 it still had tracks out of service due to flooding in Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and Missouri.
Last week, both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway saw some track closures as authorities built a dike over tracks in southern Manitoba, a bit north of the U.S.-Canada border. Regional rail traffic has been rerouted since then.
The full story is at www.joc.com.