The United States lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to passenger trains but when it comes to the freight railroad the U.S. is dominating. The U.S. freight rail network operates over 140,000 miles of privately-owned track in every state except Hawaii, according to the Association of American Railroads. It moves one-third of all U.S. exports and roughly 40% of long distance freight volume.
It competes directly with the trucking industry to move goods around the country. Shipping everything from coal to cars to chemicals. And with the rise of e-commerce companies like Amazon, trains are increasingly moving consumer goods as well.
There are seven major freight railroads that connect North America. Union Pacific and BNSF dominate the west. CSX and Norfolk Southern are the primary east coast operators, while Kansas City Southern, along with Canadian Pacific and Canadian National run routes north and south. Amtrak, which is the United State’s passenger service, owns only 3% of the country’s rail.
In 2019, the five top railroads in the U.S. had a total operating revenue of more than $71 billion dollars.
But the freight rail industry’s success has not come without its challenges. The industry has dealt with bankruptcies, the lack of demand for coal and the more recent supply chain bottlenecks and rise in thefts. The seven top railroads, which own the majority of the tracks in North America, have also been criticized for power over the rail industry.
CNBC explores how freight railroads became so profitable and how the industry plans to evolve to stay on top.
Correction (February 3, 2022): At 1:41, Craig Fuller incorrectly states Amtrak is for-profit but Amtrak is not a for-profit corporation.
» Subscribe to CNBC: http://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: http://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: http://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic
About CNBC: From ‘Wall Street’ to ‘Main Street’ to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: http://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: http://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: http://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC
#CNBC
Why U.S. Freight Trains Are So Much Better Than Passenger Rail
source
日本の貨物列車と違ってトップリフターで積み下ろしするわけじゃないのね
If Tesla is still failing with FSD, there will be no autonomous trucks careening through cars on highways anytime soon.
Profitable passenger rail is the exception rather than the rule. Around the world, most passenger rail services are heavily subsidized by governments. The only places where passenger rail really works is in places where there is a high population density and there is a long-standing culture around using it – like Germany, Japan, and Hong Kong. Passenger rail could only work in select places in the US, like the NYC-DC corridor, but could never see widespread adoption throughout the entire country.
The reason is because the infrastructure is privately owned and a non competitor operation. We should have a rail system like The EU , where there is real completion in freight and passenger service not a monopoly.
Because we have cars
transit scheduling software
transportation scheduling software
if something makes money then america will exploit it to within an inch of it's life…. literally, just look at the healthcare xD
Garbage reporting.
This is absolute click-bait. It never addresses the subject line at all. And ironically the USSR not only beat every country with how they managed their Freight Rail service, they humiliated the U.S. of America when compared.
One thing about autonomous trucks is the problem of hijacking. It wouldn`t be long before the criminal element took advantage.
The reason freight trains are profitable and passenger service isn`t is because of a few main reasons.
Freight doesn`t cars if it sits idle on a siding for a few hours while other trains move through on a different time schedule.People demand a certain amount of service and need more room in a certain amount of space.People expect to be on time down to the hour at a reasonable hour of the day.Beside freight trains the trucking industry are in a symbiotic relationship to make trains so useful.They provide the last leg of the journey before the consumer gets their product.So trucking helps determine and regulate freight prices, nice balance
It would be stupid to change this efficiency to promote more passenger services on the same set of tracks.If the government wants to expand passenger service they will need to add separate trackage and build up more infrastructure for passengers, this is real expensive. The government would have to outlaw private cars or get rid of the highway system. Yeah right.
Do roads need to make a profit?
They can have double-stacked wagons because they don't need to worry about bridges. Most countries can only have wagons that are loaded to fit under the bridges. Private railroads only build bridges where necessary to save money, other countries build bridges to save lives, life is cheap in the USA, and people come a distant second to business.
Because it is profitable. Money talks.
The US should not get highspeed trains. Let them stay in their cars on crowded highways.
They really gloss over the very legitimate probelms the unions have with precision railroading. I mean they want to go from two man crews to one man crews for trains carrying 200+ containers and that can be miles long. Doesnt that already sound about as lean as you could make it?
Averaging 3 derailment a day? Better?
Autonomous Trucking? Fairy tail! Who's performing all the safety checks and engine checks? The sensors that help the truck navigate may work in a warm dry climate like California year round, but will not function in ice and snow for 6 months of the year. What insurance company will insure these driverless truck? If State Farm or Berkshire announced they will be insuring these trucking companies, as an investor I'd pull my money out the next day and shorting the stock.
PROFITS
00:39 this is Russian railroad RZD)
If you want on time rail-passenger service, have Congress legislate that Amtrak must carry US Mail consignments cross-country.
Are you interested to build this in Thailand ?
I would say Switzerland is at least on a similar level when it comes to freight rail.
WOW…this is graet….geiler Zug….greets from Germany….i love your Trains
US will never understand that everything is not meant for direct profit you made thing good also for future profit or indirect profit.😅
And yet they keep ripping the tracks out
In countries that prioritizes people over profit they have a robust transportation system, for people and not for products, in America though they are quite profitable.
India is running double container all electric freight train on dedicated Freight corridors. US needs to electric it's network like India. As India has second largest electrified network in the world, even though US has larger overall network than India but we have roughly 30 times more electrified network than US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93ZOSDC0vk4&ab_channel=NishantMeena
Do me a favor; Tell me how many trains can take you through the drive-through at McDonalds, or to the beauty parlor, or take you to the bowling alley, or directly to work. The economy of the United States is superior to any other economy on Earth because of the automobile. It is so versatile that it can take you from any point in the USA, to any other, and fast!
I believe railroad 🚂 industry is fine like y take money 💰 out ppl pockets especially has much this company’s making they be fine most them are millionaires so stop try cheap ur way out paying this company what they owe Biden is tripping 💯
CP bought KCS recently. Looks smart as it's the only major north/south, Mexico to Canada system.
Can’t believe they didn’t mention electrification or emissions in this
A great video on about USA railroading its inportant that rail roads must keep going to keep this country aflot at all wave lengths
Profitability and shareprice of operator companies = / = successful industry
Comments are closed.