Norfolk Southern reports Hoosac Tunnel will be out of service at least through the end of March

Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
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Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern’s short line partner, Pan Am Southern, suffered a partial tunnel wall collapse in mid-February. NS is now reporting that the line which passes through the tunnel will be out of service until at least the end of March. NS released the following service alert yesterday:

Following is an update on the Hoosac Tunnel service disruption on Norfolk Southern’s partner line, Pan Am Southern, which affects all trains operating between Mechanicville, New York, and Ayer, Massachusetts.

Pan Am Railway continues to work on repairs but the line is expected to remain out of service until at least the end of March. NS continues to work with our interline rail partners on detouring over alternate routes:

  • General Merchandise traffic to Ayer is moving over a detour route. Due to lower detour capacity than originally calculated, NS is reestablishing the embargo on this traffic that was lifted Sunday, Feb. 23. NS will allow permits as the backlog of traffic is worked off.
  • Automotive traffic to Davisville, Rhode Island, will move over a detour route. The embargo was lifted Friday, Feb. 21.
  • Automotive traffic to Ayer remains under embargo but is allowing permits to match our detour capacity.
    Intermodal gates remain closed to all shipments billed for movement to and from Ayer.
  • Detour routes have a maximum railcar gross capacity of 270,890 lbs. Traffic with a greater weight will need to be waybilled over a different route/junction.

Customers with traffic moving through this area should expect delays of 48-72 hours.

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