In one of the most challenging years in the railroad’s history, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spokesperson said it has continued to invest in Montana, hiring employees and rebuilding track.
In 2011, BNSF hired 41 new employees in Whitefish and 415 across the state. Spokesperson Gus Melonas said the company also invested $3.8 billion into infrastructure, including on the main line through Northwest Montana, a critical link between the Midwest and Pacific ports.
“It’s the busiest route across Montana and today, and in the future, it plays a significant role in the local, national and international economy,” Melonas said.
The past year was challenging for BNSF, Melonas said. There was flooding in North Dakota and eastern Montana and it was a tough winter on the Hi-Line where, on at least two occasions, trains were stuck in deep snowdrifts near Browning. Even though there were no disruptions in the Flathead Valley, those elsewhere affected rail traffic through Whitefish, with trains needing to be detoured on other rail lines, including through the southern part of the state.
“This year was one of the most challenging in Montana that we’ve seen in decades,” Melonas said.
After those disruptions, track crews went to work enhancing pieces of railroad throughout Montana, replacing thousands of ties and sections of rail. Melonas said even though the economy hasn’t fully turned around, the railroad is building for the future. Currently more than 30 freight trains a day travel through Whitefish, although that is still down from a few years ago, Melonas said.
“Montana’s customers are very reliant on a safe and efficient rail network,” he said, adding that a strong employee base is important to that effort.
Currently, the rail company employs about 2,000 people in the state and more than 250 in Whitefish. Melonas said the addition of 41 jobs in Whitefish this year would better prepare BNSF for more traffic, but it was also a result of retirements: “A significant driver of hiring is filling vacancies,” he said. Across Montana more than 400 people were hired by BNSF in 2011, including 78 in Havre and 68 in Great Falls.
Holly Arthur, a spokesperson for the American Association of Railroads, said the country’s largest railroads planned on hiring more than 15,000 people in 2011. Arthur said within five years about 30 percent of the current railroad workforce will be eligible for retirement. She said railroads are actively recruiting to replace the workforce and one of the best employee pools has been recently returning veterans. She said one in five people hired by railroads now have served in the military and part of that is because they are accustomed to the lifestyle of odd hours and tough working conditions.
“Rail jobs are literally everywhere when you’ve got a 140,000-mile network,” Arthur said.
Melonas said data from the AAR shows that freight rail traffic was up at the end of 2011. According to economic traffic trends released by AAR, freight rail traffic in October was up 1.7 percent from the previous year. Intermodal and container traffic was up 3.6 percent during the same time period.