(The Associated Press circulated the following on June 20.)
MADISON, Wisc. — Wisconsin’s severe flooding is taking a toll on railroad service, both freight and passenger, because of washouts and damaged track left by the high water that hit the state this month.
“The flooding has pretty much crippled our operations,” said Ken Lucht of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. “A lot of what we’re doing right now is waiting for the water to recede so we can see what the damage is.”
Lucht estimated that repairing the line between Madison and Prairie du Chien will cost about $1 million.
The railroad is responsible for maintenance and the cost of repairing tracks it leases from the state, he said, and it might eligible for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The line between Madison and Reedsburg is owned by the railroad and likely won’t quality for aid.
The flood-related problems aren’t limited to his railroad, he said.
“All of the major railroads have been incurring temporary shutdowns and embargoes,” Lucht said.
Also, Amtrak has had to bus passengers on a Wisconsin segment of its Empire Builder line, which runs between Chicago and Seattle and Portland. The bus service is taking passengers from Wisconsin Dells, Tomah and La Crosse to St. Paul, Minn., where they’re able to board the train.
One exception is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s route along the Mississippi River. It hasn’t been disrupted in Wisconsin, and other railroads are using it as an alternate route.
But the BNSF has tracks flooded near St. Louis, said spokesman Steve Forsberg.
“We’re doing so much rerouting of our own traffic because of problems farther south that we’ve added to the congestion on alternate routes,” he said.
Among the worst problems:
* The Canadian Pacific line that runs from La Crosse to Milwaukee and south to Illinois, also used by Amtrak, is closed because of flooded tracks near the Reeseville Marsh west of Watertown. The same flooding has shut down the Wisconsin & Southern line between Madison and Watertown. The Union Pacific route between Chicago and Minneapolis also has flooded tracks.
* The Wisconsin & Southern line between Madison and Reedsburg is closed because of flooded and damaged tracks near Reedsburg and at Devil’s Lake.
* The Wisconsin & Southern line between Madison and Prairie du Chien is closed west of Avoca, and 500 feet of the line has washed out at Wauzeka.