Flooding in Texas continued to hamper Union Pacific operations on Monday, although the railroad was able to reopen its busy Sunset Route on Saturday, according to Trains.com.
The Corpus Christi Subdivision remained out of service today due to flooding of the Medina River, UP spokesman Mark Davis said. The railroad said the line, shut down late last week, should reopen sometime tonight. It hosts a pair of daily trains.
Floodwaters — the product of as much as 40 inches of rain received over the past week — are receding. The flooding claimed eight lives and caused more than $1 billion in damage.
The Sunset Route’s Del Rio Subdivision reopened Saturday afternoon after repairs to washouts and the 306-foot Sabinal River bridge, Davis said. The line had been closed since Tuesday, forcing UP to detour priority trains over the former Texas & Pacific and hold other trains.
The route handles 24 freight trains per day, plus Amtrak’s Sunset Limited. On July 4 and 6, Amtrak bused Sunset passengers between San Antonio and El Paso.
Based on a forecast of continued heavy rain, and uncertainty over the reopening of the Sunset Route, Amtrak on Saturday decided to annul the trains entirely for Sunday. The tri-weekly trains will resume normal service from Orlando, Fla., and Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday, Amtrak spokesman Howard Riefs said.
The Chicago-San Antonio Texas Eagle also has been affected by flooding on UP’s Austin Subdivision. The southbound terminated at Fort Worth on Saturday, forcing Sunday’s northbound to originate at Fort Worth. Service was back to normal today.