Columbus Subdivision Reopening; Update on Remaining Outages

Announcement Number: CN2019-20
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: March 25, 2019

To Our Customers,

Our Engineering and Operating teams have been working diligently to restore service to areas in the Midwest impacted by record flooding. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of recovery crews, we will be opening our Columbus Subdivision (Fremont to Grand Island, Nebraska) this evening (3/25), two days ahead of previous projections.

Because safety is our chief concern, trains moving along the Columbus Subdivision will operate under speed restrictions until further notice. Manifest customers with shipments moving through the Columbus Subdivision should expect 3-5 day transit time impacts over the next several weeks following our opening, as we begin to move traffic over the previously impacted area. Embargoes for this area will stay in place during the reopening phase, but we will be adjusting the embargo parameters to include permit requests.

New Areas with Flooding Related Outages

  • River Subdivision (Kansas City to Jefferson City, Missouri, via Marshall, Missouri)

Remaining Areas with Flooding Related Outages

  • Lincoln Subdivision (Valley to Lincoln, Nebraska)
  • Falls City Subdivision (Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Kansas City, Kansas)

The estimated times of opening for the new and remaining areas will be determined following further inspection. Where possible, Union Pacific will continue to reroute traffic around the affected areas. Manifest customers with rerouted shipments may experience an additional 72-96 hours of transit time.

Resources to Consult
We appreciate your continual understanding and cooperation as we work through the vast impact of these weather and flooding events. Please continue to refer to the resources below for updates; we will post information on changing conditions as it becomes available.

  • Published embargo notices for the specific parameters regarding the embargoes related to the aforementioned outages.
  • Flood Planning and Recovery web page for the latest map of flood-impacted areas of our network and best practices to follow during these events.
  • Sales managers and Customer Care & Support representatives for answers to questions specific to customers with bulk and intermodal shipments.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience as we work to resume normal operations in these areas and across the Midwest. We will continue to post updates on changing conditions on our website.

If you have any questions, please contact Customer Care & Support at 800-272-8777 or your Union Pacific representative.