[Press Release] : Press Release

[pr-l at news.gocolumbiamo.com]

You have received this message because you subscribe to the City of
Columbia's Web Mail service. To view linked material click on provided
links or copy and paste them into your browser's address menu.
______________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2004

CONTACT: Christian Johanningmeier
Supervising Engineer
Phone: (573) 874-6373

Columbia Terminal Railroad sets traffic record

	(COLUMBIA, MO) - The Columbia Terminal Railroad (COLT) set a new
traffic record in July by delivering 229 rail cars, more than 19,000
tons of materials, to mid-Missouri businesses. COLT rail traffic for the
current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2003, has grown by 240 rail
cars. This is a 17.9 percent increase over the same period last year. 
Increased rail traffic for COLT is due to the opening of Columbia
Transload Incorportated (CTI) and from growing demand for rail delivery
from several other Columbia customers.   
	CTI is a rail transfer and warehouse facility located in north
Columbia that opened in March 2004. CTI was COLT's largest customer in
July with the delivery of 122 rail cars of steel and lumber. Other rail
cars delivered by COLT in July includes 34 rail cars of petroleum and
chemicals, 29 rail cars of coal for the Municipal Power Plant, 28 rail
cars of plastic and 16 rail cars of lumber and building supplies for
area lumber yards.  	
	COLT is owned by the city of Columbia and operated by Columbia
Water and Light.  The railroad consists of a 21-mile long rail line that
connects with the Norfolk Southern Railway in Centralia, Mo. The COLT
railroad was purchased by the city of Columbia in 1987 when the rail
line was going to be shut down. The city wanted to insure rail service
for Columbia as part of the city's balanced transportation system. The
railroad has grown under city ownership  from transporting 600 car loads
in 1988 to 1,627 in fiscal year 2003. 
	According to Christian Johanningmeier, supervising engineer for
the Columbia Terminal Railroad, "With 201 carloads in June and 229
carloads in July, I think we can say that we are on pace to do better
than our stated goals (which were produced some 18 months ago) on an
annualized basis. Traffic over the past two months is 430 cars or on
pace for 2,580 per year on an annualized basis, which is better than our
original FY04 estimate of 2300". 

- 30 -
______________________________________________________

Archived press releases can be viewed online at: 
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/ (GoWord: GoPressRelease)
______________________________________________________

If you would like to stop receiving messages, modify list options, or
subscribe to other lists visit the Web Mail section of our Web site and
follow the instructions provided. 

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/ (GoWord: GoWebMail)