DENVER—Cold weather and blowing snow slowed freight train traffic across the Plains on Friday and forced Amtrak to suspend service between Chicago and Denver.
The one train that runs between Chicago and Denver won’t operate on Friday. Service is suspended through Saturday on eastbound trains and through Sunday on westbound trains.
Passengers on the train that runs from the San Francisco area through Salt Lake City and Denver will be put on buses once they reach Denver.
Depending on their destination, passengers will either head east by bus to Nebraska or south to La Junta where they can catch another train to points in Iowa and Illinois, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe said the cold weather and snow was causing its freight trains to be delayed between 24 and 72 hours in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana and North and South Dakota.
Mark Davis, a spokesman for Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific, said the bad weather has also forced Union Pacific to warn its customers to expect similar delays on shipments.
Trains simply can’t move as fast through the nation’s northern tier of states because of the cold, snow and ice.
The braking systems don’t work as well, Davis said, so trains must be shorter. The diesel locomotives are more prone to mechanical problems in the cold, so repairs can cause delays.
Snow and ice can clog switches, which must be cleared and tested before trains can continue on their routes through them.
BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg said trains have been able to plow through drifts of snow up to 6 feet in Nebraska, but crews have to stop to clear off snow from windshields.
Four to 5 inches of snow preceded the bone-chilling cold that has gripped Nebraska and other Plains and Midwest states.
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Associated Press writer Nelson Lampe in Omaha contributed to this report.
