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Last year, BNSF Railway Co. loaded 287.2 million tons of coal, shattering its previous record of 259.2 million tons set in 2005 and increasing tonnage 10.8 percent year over year.

The Class I also set a monthly tonnage record in December, when the railroad loaded 25.3 million tons of coal. BNSF set the previous high-water mark of 25 million tons in October 2006.

In the Powder River Basin (PRB), the Class I’s daily train loadings in 2006 averaged 49.7, a 10.4 percent increase compared with 2005 data. In December, BNSF averaged 51.7 train loadings per day in the PRB — a new monthly record.

Nationwide, coal stockpiles climbed 42 percent in October compared with October 2005 data, according to a report issued Dec. 21 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. Stockpiles reached levels typically attained in spring, the agency said.