Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 6, 1995                   TAG: 9509060149
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

Bedford Cable Vision Co. will hold a ceremony Friday to promote a yearlong upgrade of its cable system. By next September, the company expects to replace most of its coaxial cable with more efficient fiber-optic cable, said Bedford Cable Vision general manager Chuck Flournoy. Customers also will have access to additional channels, which haven't been chosen yet.

Bedford government officials will have the capability to produce a government access channel that could broadcast city council meetings, Fluornoy said, and the city government will be able to use closed-circuit channels to communicate between offices.

Bedford Cable Vision also is discussing providing residential Internet access through the cable system that would vastly exceed the speed of most computer modems, he said.

- Staff report

Rail freight traffic hits 1995 high

The U.S. rail industry's freight traffic reached its highest level for the year during the week ending Aug. 26, riding the strength of its traditional business: coal, grain and other bulk commodities.

Total freight volume during the week was estimated at 25 billion ton-miles, the freight industry's basic unit of service. The week's total represented an increase of 2.5 percent from the comparable week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported. Carload freight was up 0.7 percent and intermodal freight down 4.9 percent from last year.

For the first 34 weeks of the year, the association said, carloads of freight numbered 11.9 million, up 3.4 percent from last year. Intermodal trailers and containers totaled 5.2 million, virtually the same as last year

- Associated Press