Baucus asks BNSF to keep line open

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus sent a letter to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway asking that the branch line from Havre to Big Sandy be kept open.

The letter, sent Thursday to BNSF president and chief executive officer Matt Rose, also asks the railroad not to cancel a discount on grain freight rates and to keep open branch lines from Plentywood to Scobey and from Glendive to Circle.

"All he's asking them to do is treat ag producers fairly and give them a fair price and at the same time enhance service," Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said today.

BNSF on Jan. 1 canceled a discount on grain freight r...