Table 4-17M: Class I Rail Freight Fuel Consumption and Travel

Table 4-17M: Class I Rail Freight Fuel Consumption and Travel

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	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Number in use
Locomotivesa	29,031	27,780	27,077	27,846	28,094	22,548	18,835	18,344	18,004	18,161	18,505	18,812	19,269	19,684	20,261	20,256	20,028	19,745	20,506	20,774	22,015	22,779	23,732	24,143	24,003	24,045
Freight carsb	1,965,486	1,800,662	1,784,181	1,723,605	1,710,827	1,421,686	1,212,261	1,189,660	1,173,136	1,173,132	1,192,412	1,218,927	1,240,573	1,270,419	1,315,667	1,368,836	1,380,796	1,314,136	1,299,670	1,278,980	1,287,920	(R) 1,316,522	(R) 1,361,250	1,385,709	1,392,972	1,363,433
Kilometers traveled (millions)
Freight train-kilometersc	651	677	687	648	690	559	611	603	628	653	710	738	754	764	764	789	811	804	804	830	861	881	(R) 905	875	844	702
Locomotive unit-kilometers	N	N	N	2,380	2,464	1,976	2,060	1,992	2,057	2,124	2,261	2,326	2,358	2,290	2,317	2,420	2,419	2,378	2,323	2,388	2,476	2,555	2,671	2,589	2,509	2,107
Freight car-kilometers	45,335	47,212	48,103	44,508	47,117	40,105	42,099	41,244	42,049	43,264	45,842	48,897	51,040	50,952	52,556	54,478	55,667	55,109	55,812	57,220	59,660	60,692	62,692	61,454	59,909	51,684
Average kilometers traveled per liter
Freight trains	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06
Freight cars	3.46	3.47	3.58	3.22	3.19	3.41	3.57	3.75	3.70	3.70	3.63	3.71	3.77	3.77	3.87	3.87	3.97	3.92	3.95	3.95	3.88	3.91	3.95	4.00	4.07	4.28
Fuel consumed (million liters)	13,109	13,597	13,419	13,843	14,778	11,773	11,792	11,000	11,375	11,689	12,621	13,173	13,548	13,533	13,563	14,063	14,006	14,044	14,120	14,483	15,365	15,513	15,868	15,376	14,710	12,083
Revenue tonne-kilometers per liter of fuel consumed	71	84	93	89	101	121	143	154	153	154	155	161	163	162	165	166	170	173	174	174	176	178	182	187	197	206
Average kilometers traveled per locomotive (thousands)	N	N	N	85.5	87.7	87.6	109.4	108.6	114.2	117.0	122.2	123.6	122.4	116.3	114.4	119.5	120.8	120.4	113.3	115.0	112.5	112.2	112.6	107.2	104.5	87.6
Average fuel consumed per locomotivea (thousand liters)	451.5	489.5	495.6	497.1	526.0	522.1	626.0	599.7	631.8	643.7	682.0	700.3	703.1	687.5	669.4	694.3	699.3	711.3	688.6	697.2	697.9	681.0	668.7	636.9	612.8	502.5

KEY: N = data do not exist.

^a For 1960-80, the total includes a small number of steam and electric units, which are not included in the per locomotive fuel consumption figure.

^b Includes cars owned by Class I railroads, other railroads, car companies, and shippers.

^c Based on the distance run between terminals and / or stations; does not include yard or passenger train-kilometers.

NOTES

1.609344 kilometers = 1 mile.

3.785412 liters = 1 gallon.

1.459972 tonne-kilometers = 1 ton-mile.

SOURCES

All data except for locomotive unit-kilometers:

Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), pp. 33, 34, 40, 49, and 51, and similar pages in earlier editions.

Locomotive unit-kilometers:

1975-92, 2002: Ibid., Railroad Ten-Year Trends (Washington, DC: Annual Issues).

1993-2001, 2003-04: Ibid., Analysis of Class I Railroads (Washington, DC: Annual Issues).

2005-09: Association of American Railroads, personal communications, June 13, 2007, Apr. 24, 2008, Apr. 28, 2010, and Aug. 12, 2011.