BNSF News

WSDOT commends BNSF for service after bridge collapse

2013-06-19

When the Skagit River Bridge near Burlington, Wash., collapsed on May 23, BNSF quickly stepped up to add another Amtrak round-trip train to the schedule to help alleviate passenger traffic woes.

The bridge collapsed after a vehicle carrying an oversized load struck one of the supporting steel trusses. The 58-year-old bridge typically carried 71,000 vehicles per day and served as a major connection along Interstate 5 from Seattle to the northern parts of Washington.

With a temporary bridge nearly in place over the Skagit River and Interstate 5 soon back in service, the additional Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)-sponsored Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Bellingham will be discontinued.

"Amtrak, Sound Transit and BNSF stepped up in the hours after the bridge collapse to help WSDOT quickly offer another mobility option for the traveling public," said Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson. "I am grateful for these efforts, and that this partnership came together at a critical moment to find solutions for Washingtonians."

"The bridge collapse created a highly difficult and unusual situation for those having to travel the I-5 corridor and called for extraordinary measures to temporarily add additional service," said Mark Schulze, BNSF vice president, Safety, Training and Operations Support. "BNSF did our best to accommodate the additional traffic and we were pleased to help travelers during this crisis."

"We are thankful we could help the community and now it is time to get back to running our normally scheduled trains and delivering our rail-construction projects," said WSDOT Rail Division Director Ron Pate.

BNSF Headquarters

BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000

For more information on the company and its transportation solutions, visit the BNSF Web site at www.bnsf.com