Amtrak, Missouri blame Union Pacific for delays

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The state transportation department and Amtrak are blaming Union Pacific for delays in passenger service caused by recent flooding.

Amtrak, which resumed full service from Kansas City to St. Louis on Wednesday, said Union Pacific did not adequately clear its tracks for passenger trains, causing delays of four to five hours for Amtrak.

The Missouri Department of Transportation said Union Pacific sent trains over its track through Sedalia after flood damage to a freight-only route farther north. Union Pacific diverted 25 to 30 trains a day onto the tracks that Amtrak uses to get to St. Louis through Sedalia and Warrensburg.

"Amtrak passengers have been shortchanged this month, having to endure slow service and canceled trains because Union Pacific is not providing sufficient track access," said Rod Massman, railroad administrator for MoDOT.

"Union Pacific has certainly had a challenging month, but rail passengers have been treated like second-class citizens while UP's freight schedule has used nearly all available track time."

Massman said Union Pacific wouldn't give Amtrak trains priority, despite being required by federal law to do so, causing delays of four to five hours for Amtrak trains.

Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes said Wednesday that the railroad was surprised by the "naive assessment" and "strident tone" of MoDOT's and Amtrak's remarks.

"We would hope going forward that any communications during such challenging times can be more conciliatory and reflect greater understanding of the enormity of the obstacles that had to be overcome to restore service," Barnes said.

Barnes said Wednesday that Union Pacific takes its commitments seriously.

"This outage had a huge impact on both passenger and freight service, and our employees worked very diligently to restore service as efficiently and as safely as possible," he said. "Their efforts to overcome disruptions caused by Mother Nature benefit both freight and passenger service."

---

Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com