While the slides are a problem.. The 48 hr rule makes sense. Better careful then the potential of a trainload of passengers derailed with injuries, loss of life and equipment damage in the event the ground was still supersaturated and another slide occurs as a train rumbles by.
BNSF seems to have many issues with the lines of late.
It *might* make sense, but I'd like to see some data.
Number of mudslides that impacted tracks when Amtrak trains were running: X
Number of mudslides that impacted tracks during moratorium periods: Y
Now calculate A = Y/(X+Y) - i.e. the percentage of mudslides that occur during moratorium periods.
Number of days in which trains were canceled due to slides: Z
Number of days in the slide season: 150 (approximate)
Now calculate B = Z/150 - i.e. the percentage of slide-season trains that were canceled due to the moratorium.
Now compare A and B. If A exceeds B by a large margin, the rule makes sense. If, as I suspect, A is less than or equal to B, then the rule is not reducing risk. It would be easy enough to perform these calculations with a hypothetical 6-hour, 12-hour, or 24-hour moratorium to see if shorter restrictions would be better-justified.