Crews can’t keep up with mudslides along train tracks
Posted January 4, 2013 12:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The company that maintains the train tracks from Vancouver to Seattle says it can’t keep up with the number of mudslides affecting passenger travel this year.
Another slide this morning has closed the stretch once again; BNSF Railway says nearby property owners may be to blame.
Disruptions and derailments plagued the stretch throughout December. It seems as soon as it reopens, another problem needs to be cleared.
“Seattle-Puget Sound area… this has been the fifth most problematic year that I’ve seen,” says Gus Melonas with BNSF Railway, adding heavy rainfall saturates the cliffs.
“We try to stabilize areas. We slope the hills. There are some areas above our property line that illegal piping has occurred; water will flow in areas not designed for water to come down and that has created problems… and building in some areas above.”
“Our team, as-a-matter-of-fact, has just sent out some photos today. There were complaints about a tree that was trimmed that was on our property… the reason there are slides in this area is because they have been put in a residential area… and we don’t know if it is a private citizen yet,” he adds.
He notes they are cracking down. “We want to identify every source possible. This is critical, it is expensive, it is important, we are spending millions and millions of dollars.”
Meantime busses have be put in to move passengers around.
