CPRS Published the following notice on April 12, 2011:

April 12, 2011

 

 

Customer Bulletin: Update on Spring Thaw Impacts

 

CP's Spring Thaw Contingency Plan is in full effect as some areas on the Network are being impacted by high water. There are no safety or environmental issues at any of these locations. CP crews are at each site and work is progressing well.

 

Current Branchline outages due to water impacts:

 

·         Menteith, Manitoba - A train impacted a breached culvert, line repair is underway

·         Northwest of Virden, Manitoba – Minor washout is being repaired.

·         Newtown Subdivision from Parshall to Newtown, ND due to washouts and at the Max interchange due to high water on the DMVW and at the interchange

 

Water level monitoring updates and upcoming line closures:

 

·         St. Paul, MN - The Mississippi River at St. Paul reached its second crest today and is now receding with no direct impact to CP’s St. Paul yard which will now be brought back to full operation by mid-week this week. Evaluation of the interchanges and surrounding areas is underway with the goal of removing embargos currently in place as soon as safely possible. At this time, we anticipate notification to occur around the weekend.

·         Mason City and Marquette Subdivisions - At the current rate of rise, water is expected to impact CP’s north line out of the Mason City as of April 13. It is anticipated that trains will be able to continue operations around the area until the weekend when the south line is expected to be out of service in support of a levee being closed for community safety. CP is completing detour plans around the area.

·         Davenport, IA - Water is forecast to rise, impacting CP’s operations in or around April 17. Detours are also planned around this area until the water recedes.

·         Emerson & LaRiviere Subdivisions, MB – The Red River is forecast to crest at approximately 791’ between April 23-26. CP’s Emerson subdivision is impacted at 789’, which is estimated to occur late next week. Historically, the LaRiviere Subdivision goes out of service a few days after the Emerson as a community protection dike is installed at Morris. Detour plans are in place where possible and CP is making arrangements with local customers.

 

The situation is very dynamic with forecasts changing daily, depending on the rate of thaw.  With several areas under watch, embargos are being managed as conditions change. To view or subscribe to updates on embargoed locations, please click here.

 

We will continue to monitor our network and provide regular updates. For more information on specific impacts to your shipments or other problem resolution inquiries, please contact our Customer Service Team at 1-888-333-8111. To trace your shipment, visit www.mycpr.ca.

 

Ian MacKay

Vice President, Customer Services

& Intermodal Operations

 

Canadian Pacific