When I arrived home yesterday evening I received an e-mail from Iowa Pacific’s president asking me to get the word out to the rail community as to why the Polar Express would not resume operation until December 10th.

This is the reason for the 10-day cessation of operation.

“After we did the repairs, we should have notified FRA we were lifting the excepted track status, which is a ten-day notice. They correctly noted that we did not provide the notice, which has now been provided. So we can’t run until next Saturday.”

In addition, I was able to confirm with Iowa Pacific that their track inspector will walk and inspect the entire length of track the Polar Express operates on with the rail contractor that will do any necessary repairs. Any repairs, if required will be in compliance with FRA Class 1 requirements and will be done before the Polar Express resumes operation on December 10th.

I am under the impression the required repairs are minor. The big mistake was failing to comply with the ten-day notice. Obviously this is a PR disaster for Iowa Pacific and it should never have happened.