With western coal production increasing 2000 percent during the past 35 years and coal moves now accounting for 23 percent of its business, Union Pacific Railroad has tried to keep pace by expanding its Powder River Basin (PRB) coal-corridor rail infrastructure and improving train cycle times.
UP has spent $5 billion on track projects during a multi-year expansion and optimization program aimed at better serving PRB customers, said UP President and Chief Operating Officer Ike Evans Nov. 6 at Western Coal Transportation Association's annual meeting and conference in Denver, according to a prepared statement.
The railroad also plans in the near future to install a third mainline at certain sections of its Wyoming-to-Kansas coal corridor.
Year-to-date, UP has increased coal carloadings 11 percent compared with a similar period last year. The railroad in March originated a UP record 1,056 coal trains, and loaded its 100,000th coal train out of PRB since UP and the former Chicago & North Western Railroad completed a 107-mile line to the region in August 1984.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
