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In September, Union Pacific Railroad loaded 1,009 coal trains in the Southern Power River Basin (SPRB) compared with 949 trains in September 2009.

For the month, the Class I logged 146 missed loading opportunities, 58 of which were attributable to UP issues — including a derailment that occurred Sept. 8 — 50 to slow unloading operations at utility plants and 38 to mines. Two coal trains derailed near Optic, Neb., blocking all three tracks on the railroad’s mainline through Nebraska and interrupting the flow of loaded and empty SPRB coal trains, but tracks were re-opened on Sept. 10 and the train backlog subsequently was cleared, UP officials said in a weekly coal loading performance report. Missed loadings partially were offset by 75 extra loadings, they said.

In the Colorado/Utah region, September coal train loadings totaled 235 compared with 255 in September 2009.