8 Inches of Rain Shut Down Busiest US Rail Line for 60 Hours

North American rail traffic saw a mixed performance in Week 43, with significant disruptions impacting major lines. Bill Stephens of Trains Magazine breaks down how record-breaking rainfall in New Mexico and a massive CSX tech outage led to operational challenges. Learn how these events impacted intermodal and carload volumes, and what Q3 earnings reveal about the resilience of Class 1 railroads.

North American rail traffic rose 4.3% in week 43 compared to a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported, but that headline figure masked two acute service disruptions that pulled U.S. intermodal growth sharply below its recent 10% pace. BNSF’s Southern Transcon — the busiest mainline and intermodal corridor in North America — was shut down for roughly 60 hours after record flooding in New Mexico, while a nearly 30-hour technology outage paralyzed CSX operations in the East.

Laguna, N.M., received 8 inches of rain over three days — against an annual average of 10 inches — triggering flooding that closed the Southern Transcon beginning Saturday, Oct. 24, and running through that Tuesday. BNSF’s intermodal volume for the week fell 0.4%, a stark reversal from a 14% gain the prior week. By contrast, Union Pacific, which also operates in the West and was unaffected, posted a 17% year-over-year intermodal gain for the same period.

This story was originally published by FreightWaves. Read the full story at FreightWaves →