Rail

Condition & Capacity

Approximately 140,000 rail miles are operated by Class I, II, and III freight railroads.  Amtrak, the national intercity passenger carrier, operates over a 21,400-mile network. Approximately 70% of the 21,400 miles traveled by Amtrak trains are over tracks owned by other railroads.

Freight Rail

Freight rail is divided into three classifications based on yearly earnings and service distance.

According to the American Association of Railroads, from 2017 to 2019, Class I capital expenditures — including track, structures, and equipment — totaled $38.3 billion over 198,554 operating track miles. Included below is the latest operating data from the top four Class I railroads:

Class II and III serve in partnerships with Class I railroads to provide first and last-mile service and delivery. Shortline and regional railroads (Classes II and III) in 2017 operated in 49 states over 47,500 miles of track, or 29% of the national rail network. The short line industry reports a$10 billion shortfall for the state of good repair projects needed to retain a strong connection to the Class I network.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), in 2018 there was a total of 1.7 million ton-miles per day transported on our nation’s freight rail network, an increase of over 100,000 ton-miles from the previous year and an increase of nearly 400,000 over the past 20 years. Goods moved on the nation’s freight network are projected to grow from 1.40 billion tons in 2018 to 1.58 billion tons in 2045.

Between 2017 and 2019, total U.S. carload traffic decreased from 13.4 million to just under 13.0 million carloads.  This decline is largely associated with reduced coal and mineral/ore shipments and was expected to continue through 2020, reflecting the downturn in the economy associated with the coronavirus pandemic. 

Passenger Rail 

In 2019, Amtrak’s network carried 32.5 million riders to more than 500 destinations across 46 states and the District of Columbia. This translates to a daily average of nearly 89,100 trips on more than 300 Amtrak trains. Passenger travel operates on both privately and publicly owned railroads. Host railroads include 93% freight railroads, with the remainder owned by commuter railroads, commuter authorities, and municipalities. 

Amtrak service is provided along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, D.C., and Boston, and on the national network incorporating state-supported and long-distance services. State-supported service is provided on 28 routes less than 750 miles in length, and long-distance service is provided on 15 routes. Between 2017 and 2019, Amtrak spent $713 million on state-of-good-repair projects. Infrastructure maintenance and replacement is provided to Amtrak by host railroads, but the Amtrak-owned NEC has unique infrastructure.

The NEC is largely owned by Amtrak and is the busiest railroad segment in the passenger rail system, providing 18.8 million trips to 12.5 million riders in 2019. The NEC is shared with eight commuter railroads (MBTA, CTrail, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, NJ TRANSIT, SEPTA, MARC, and VRE) who financially support operating and capital costs. The NEC is at capacity and has a current state-of-good-repair backlog of $45.2 billion. Infrastructure-related issues continued to be the largest source of delay on the corridor in 2019, causing 328,000 train-delay minutes. 

The Northeast Corridor Commission, comprised of eight states (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland) and the District of Columbia, was established by Congress to determine the funding needs of the NEC that would be shared between the commuter railroads and Amtrak. The current NEC Commission report for investment needs for FY2020-24 has identified a $32.2 billion funding requirement, with $18 billion available, $7.6 billion being requested through existing federal grant programs, and $6.6 billion currently unfunded.