Western railroads' PRB movements reach 35 mil. short tons in Feb.

Washington (Platts)--12Mar2007

Union Pacific and BNSF Railway moved almost 35 million short tons of Powder
River Basin coal in February, equal to a 4% increase over the same month a
year ago.

The volumes could have been even higher if not for the difficult weather
conditions that affected the railroads during the month, the carriers told
Platts.

Almost all of the overall PRB tonnage increase in February was due to higher
volumes on BNSF. The railroad posted a 6% volume increase in February to 20
million st, compared with 18.8 million st handled in the year-ago month. Rival
UP's PRB volumes were almost flat in February, increasing just 1% to 14.7
million st, compared with 14.5 million st in the year-ago month, according to
data provided by the railroad.

UP spokesman James Barnes said the weather proved to be a challenge for the
railroad in February and affected its ability to increase PRB tonnage during
the month. He said comparing this February to the year-ago month is not easy
because this year there has been "greater weather impact."

UP was affected by a winter storm in Nebraska and Iowa the weekend of February
24-25, which caused electrical outages and reduced loadings. The tough weather
conditions also extended into March, as a major blizzard that struck the upper
Midwest on March 1 and 2 further reduced coal train operations.

For BNSF, the weather did not pose a major challenge, spokesman Pat Hiatte
said. BNSF loaded on average almost 50 trains/day in February, compared with
almost 47 trains/day loaded in the year-ago period.

UP does not release daily PRB train loadings, but the railroad said that the
number of trains it loaded during the month has actually declined slightly in
February. The railroad loaded 979 coal trains in February, compared with 982
trains in the year-ago month. Improvements in efficiency and higher volumes
loaded on a single train allowed the railroad to increase the tonnage
modestly.