BNSF Customer Notification:
To: All BNSF Customers 07/31/2015
Service Update for Friday, July 31, 2015
The operation delivered steady performance and good fluidity across the network this week. Velocity for trains, locomotives and cars all improved, along with a substantial double-digit decline in total trains held. Total volume also exceeded 200,000 units for the first time in six weeks and average trains on the system reached its highest level since mid-April.
While we have experienced generally favorable weather conditions across the network, the return of a summer monsoon pattern may bring heavy rainfall and storms to areas of the desert Southwest through the weekend. Flash flood watches are currently in effect for much of northern and central New Mexico, as well as parts of southeastern California and northwestern Arizona. Triple-digit temperatures have also returned to interior portions of the Pacific Northwest. Our crews are conducting additional track inspections in these areas and will implement temporary speed restrictions as necessary.
Our capital gangs continue to make great progress on this year’s capacity expansion projects, which includes installing more than 800 miles of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) on the network. On our busy Aurora Subdivision, part of our Twin Cities to Chicago main line, new crossovers are in place and the entire subdivision will be ready to operate under CTC beginning next week. CTC is a signaling system where a central dispatcher can control railroad switches rather than a train crew switching tracks manually. With CTC, trains can switch tracks without stopping, which allows us to manage train flows more efficiently. CTC-enabled areas can provide an additional 25 percent more capacity on average, depending on the traffic flow.
Below is a look at the key operational performance categories for the week ending July 28:
Total trains held for the week decreased by more than 21 percent to an average of 67.0 versus 85.3 recorded the prior week.
- Versus the same week last year: down by 70.9%
Versus the same week in 2013: down by 36.5%
Total trains on the system was up by nearly three percent from the prior week with an average of 1,601 trains on the system.
Locomotive velocity, measured in miles per day (MPD), was 277.4, which is up more than one percent from the prior week’s 274.2 MPD.
Locomotive dwell decreased by more than two percent from the prior week at 17.2 hours.
Car velocity was up by less than one percent at 214.1 MPD versus 213.0 MPD recorded the prior week.
- Versus the same week last year: up by 20.2%
Versus the same week in 2013: up by 1.6%
Train velocity was up by nearly two percent from the prior week at 18.1 miles per hour.
- Versus the same week last year: up by 24.0%
Versus the same week in 2013: up by 3.4%
Total volume exceeded 200,000 units, with a robust 202,630 units moved in Week 29 (ending July 25).
Terminal dwell was essentially unchanged from the prior week at 24.4 hours.
- Versus the same week last year: down by 13.8%
Versus the same week in 2013: up by 2.5%As always, we thank you for your business and appreciate the opportunity to serve as your transportation service provider. We welcome your feedback and questions.
