Katrina: Railroads nearing New Orleans with repair work

07 September 2005 00:01  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US railroads said on Tuesday they were continuing to repair their Gulf Coast facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

 

Flooded New Orleans, Louisiana is a rail hub where eastern, western, and northern railroads connect. The American Association of Railroads (AAR) said rail traffic that normally might be interchanged at New Orleans had been shifted to other gateways such as Memphis, Tennessee, St Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois.

 

AAR said six major railroads serve New Orleans: Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, CSX, Canadian National (CN), Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. CSX and Norfolk Southern were hardest hit.

 

The Norfolk, Virginia-based railroad said its Gulf Coast system was completely operational to Slidell, Louisiana. On Tuesday it was repairing its line that links Slidell, Louisiana and New Orleans via a 5.8-mile trestle over Lake Ponchartrain.

 

Spokesman Bob Fort said the bridge was only slightly damaged but Hurricane Katrina swept 4.5 miles of track from the structure.

 

Ford said Norfolk Southern will finish the repair in a few days, enabling it to run trains into New Orleans when flood waters are drained from the city. He said the company's Oliver railyard in New Orleans was inundated and damages there are unknown.

 

CSX Railroad, based in Jacksonville, Florida, was continuing repairs to a 100-mile section of track between Pascagoula, Mississippi and New Orleans. That work was complicated by the damage or destruction of five bridges.

 

CN said on Tuesday that local traffic to and from New Orleans on its system remains under embargo - including service to Louisiana manufacturing areas such as Convent, Garyville, St Rose, Norco, Destrehan, and others.

 

CN said it is repairing its direct route between Hammond, Louisiana and New Orleans and service should be resumed by mid-September.

 

Union Pacific said it was moving 300 trailer loads of drinking water from California to Memphis, where it will be trucked to hurricane victims. Those shipments are expected to continue for three months.

By: Patrick Crow
+1 713 525 2653

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