This past week, the Eno Center issued a report entitled “Freight Rail for the 21^st Century: Opportunities for Mode Shift to Improve Efficiency and Resiliency.” The main objective of the report is to provide policymakers and industry professionals with a resource including analyses and strategies to improve freight rail policy, with a specific focus on improving efficiency and resiliency. The report was developed with the support of Henry Posner, of the Railroad Development Corporation and Iowa Interstate Railroad, along with an advisory panel made up of several industry experts.

The Report at a Glance

The report builds on the main objective in a series of sections. First, the report includes an analysis of the freight sector in general, looking at freight volumes, major commodities, fuel consumption, and distances, all with breakdowns between different transportation modes. The intention of a general freight sector analysis is to establish the context in which the report then discusses the value of rail in the freight sector. There is a short discussion on a modal shift towards rail, outlining the areas in which rail can take on freight traffic from other modes. The goal of the discussion on mode shift is to show that rail is a competitive, reliable, and safe mode of transport, especially for long-distance, heavy, and low-value freight (although it is important to note that rail is an option for high-value intermodal goods).

The report includes a section on resiliency, which is defined in the context of infrastructure resilience as “ability to reduce the magnitude or duration of disruptive events, by anticipating, adapting to and/or recovering from a potentially disruptive event.” Improving infrastructure, transportation planning, data collection, and fostering innovation are all components of building resilience in the freight network. The report then includes a section on efficiency, specifically comparing greenhouse gas emissions between modes, fuel efficiency, and fuel alternatives in the rail industry.

There are several key points that can be extrapolated from the comprehensive report:

1. Freight volumes in the U.S. are projected to increase by 2050, placing significant strain on existing transportation infrastructure, which is already constrained by bottlenecks, trucking workforce shortages, and limited intermodal capacity. Rail transport, currently underutilized, offers a crucial opportunity to relieve road congestion, improve efficiency, and mitigate environmental impacts.
2. Freight rail provides significant environmental and economic advantages over trucking, including greater fuel efficiency, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and cost-effectiveness for long-haul and bulk freight. Encouraging a mode shift from road to rail can help achieve emissions reductions and improve overall freight sustainability.
3. Strategic policy actions are needed to leverage rail’s potential fully. Recommended actions include increasing public funding for rail infrastructure, enhancing data sharing for effective planning, modernizing emissions standards, providing tax incentives for alternative fuels, and strengthening organizational capacity for multimodal freight planning. These measures collectively aim to enhance the resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability of the national freight transportation system.

The report has two components. The full report provides a detailed analysis on the freight sector, the value of freight rail, resiliency and efficiency in the freight sector, and presentation of public policy recommendations.

The second component is called the “Summary for Policymakers,” or “Policymaker’s Summary.” The objective behind this component is to provide a stand-alone document that provides the high-level analysis and recommendations from the full report in a concise and shorter document designed for the busy policymaker or industry professional. This is similar to an executive summary, except that the policymaker’s summary does not exist within the full report like an executive summary.

Current Considerations for Freight Rail

This report comes at an important juncture for freight rail, with the recent announcement of the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger. The merger is going to bring about the first transcontinental railroad under one company in the United States, and with it, the potential for the companies to think about improving efficiency of the freight rail network. While the two railroads see the merger as a method of improving efficiency in the freight rail network, understanding the implications of a merger (of which there are many, both positive and negative) warrants a separate article.

While this report focuses on freight rail, the value of rail as an efficient, resilient, and reliable form of transportation can apply to passenger rail as well. Further research on strategies to boost resiliency and efficiency in the passenger rail network can be a valuable resource in strengthening the viability of passenger rail to provide essential, reliable, and enjoyable service.

Rail has been a part of the United States’ transportation conscience for nearly 200 years. From the major Class I railroads moving bulk commodities across the country to the short lines supporting local businesses and industries, freight rail is a valuable and integral part of the freight transportation network. This report seeks to strengthen that notion through its analysis and recommendations. The United States boasts the largest freight rail network in the world, and policymakers and industry professionals can implement strategies to make this vast rail network to become a more resilient and efficient piece of infrastructure and support the many people who keep the rail network moving.

Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are looking to merge, which would create the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. The deal still needs to be approved by regulators, but many in Altoona are closely watching as previous mergers reduced the city’s relevance in the railroad industry.

The “World Famous Horseshoe Curve” was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. The tracks are still used today to transport goods and Amtrak passengers.

“This area has had several railroad companies over its history and each one has had job loss with transition,” said Kevin Stiver, an author and historian of the Horseshoe Curve.

At its height in the early 1900s, Stiver said there were up to 18,000 workers at the Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona. It was the biggest repair shop of its kind in the world. Today, Norfolk Southern says it’s still one of the largest facilities for locomotive repair in the industry. But, there are only about 400 employees there today.

Stiver worries another railroad company consolidation could mean further layoffs at the locomotive repair shop, or fewer rails at the Horseshoe Curve. Conrail, the operator before Norfolk Southern, removed one of the tracks in 1981, citing decreased rail travel.

Some people, however, are optimistic about the potential merger between Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.

“The hope would be that they would maintain the Altoona shops and perhaps grow them because we would obviously be the closest shop to the northeast United States, and New England,” said Michael Farrow, a board member of the Blair County Historical Society.

Besides the convenient location, Farrow said Altoona is also a great place for rail companies to grow new talent. He points to Penn State Altoona, which recently announced the first and only Bachelor’s of Science degree in Rail Transportation Engineering.

In a statement to WPSU, a Norfolk Southern spokesperson said the merger will advance the railroad industry, preserve and strengthen union jobs, and help American companies reach new customers.

“We look forward to engaging with the communities we live and work in to share the many benefits of our plan to create America’s First Transcontinental Railroad,” the spokesperson said.

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern say they hope to merge by early 2027.