Derailed? Local Train Crash Disrupts Internet For Many Montanans

In case you didn't know, a Montana Rail Link train derailed and then took out a bridge over the Yellowstone River early on Saturday morning.

The rail bridge, located near Columbus, Montana was demolished by the derailment and has made national headlines as multiple train cars plunged into the very popular river. There were no injuries reported during the derailment, which is great news considering the damage that took place.

The train was carrying both petroleum products as well as hazardous materials and there was fear that there could be severe damage to the waterway, however, Governor Greg Gianforte stated in a press conference that early reports were positive as far as water contamination was concerned.

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So while hundreds of folks rush to the area to figure out how to remove the cars from the river as well are rebuild the bridge, there is another issue that has arisen from the train derailment, and this is affecting tens of thousands of people across the state of Montana.

It's been reported that Global Net, an internet provider for much of Montana was having issues after the train derailment cut one of their major fiber internet cables. In fact, over the weekend there was a short time when there were no services available, including access to 911.

This has caused issues across the state including the cities of Bozeman and Great Falls.

Over the weekend, there was a message on the Global Net helpline that stated there is service, however, the service will be downgraded until their techs can get into the area and physically repair the fiber at the derailment site.

However, after speaking to a Globel Net representative, they've been working on a temporary fix all weekend long, and while service has been restored to most of their service area, Great Falls is still without service. While there is no definite timeline for a permanent replacement, they hope to have full service restored as soon as possible.