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March coal traffic was good, but not great for Union Pacific Railroad in the Southern Powder River Basin (SPRB), and Colorado and Utah. Chalk it up to lower demand for electricity.

Despite severe weather and blizzard conditions that greatly reduced train loadings March 23-25, the Class I loaded 937 trains in the SPRB vs. 1,120 coal trains in March 2008.

UP reported 121 missed loading opportunities last month, including 28 attributable to mines, 34 to utilities, 58 to weather and one to the railroad. The missed loadings were partially offset by 108 extra loadings, UP said.

In Colorado/Utah, the Class I loaded 273 coal trains in March — the most since November. In March 2008, the railroad loaded 333 trains in the states.