Business & Tech
'Working Around the Clock': CSX Responds to North Baltimore Enbankment Collapse
Impacts of road collapse ripple over to Port of Baltimore.
After a road gave way in north Baltimore City during Wednesday's downpour, some residents have evacuated and CSX traffic to the Port of Baltimore has stopped, officials said.
"We had a street collapse," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said at a news conference, on 26th Street, where several cars were "swallowed" down an embankment.
A sidewalk, retaining wall, gate, cars and part of 26th street fell onto the CSX train tracks, she said, between Saint Paul and Charles streets.
Residents from that block were evacuated and were being assisted by the city, she added.
CSX said a shipment of containers set to leave from Chicago Thursday was staying in the Windy City, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"They had to stop rail service. The tracks are totally covered with debris," Rawlings-Blake said. "The wrought-iron fence was on the tracks, the sidewalk was down there, cars..."
The rail cars weren't the only thing that stopped. According to The Baltimore Sun, work was "at a standstill" at Seagirt Marine Terminal, which handles freight for the Port of Baltimore, usually 20 to 25 trains a day from this CSX line.
CSX reported that it was addressing the issue with urgency.
"CSX is working around the clock in Baltimore to support fast and full recovery from the embankment collapse Wednesday afternoon that covered a segment of a rail line," CSX said in a statement. "The company’s primary focus is on the well being of area residents, especially those who had to leave their homes, on first responders and other agencies, and on restoring customer service."
As for restoration time, "...assessments of the embankment collapse continue and there are no immediate estimates..." CSX reported.
According to the Wall Street Journal, delays would not last more than a few days.
This was one of three major incidents CSX was handling in the mid-Atlantic over the past 24 hours. A train carrying coal derailed in Prince George's County Thursday morning and on Wednesday afternoon, some of its tanker trains derailed in Lynchburg, VA, in unrelated incidents.
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