USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Site Notification

Site Notification

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 4-25M: Energy Intensity of Class I Railroad(a) Freight Service

Friday, July 22, 2016

Excel | CSV

  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Revenue freight tonne-kilometers (millions) 835,555 1,018,882 1,116,600 1,101,187 1,341,653 1,280,372 1,509,566 1,516,728 1,557,470 1,619,560 1,752,990 1,906,268 1,979,686 1,969,394 2,010,092 2,092,813
Car-kilometers (millions) 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
Tonnes per car load 40 44 50 55 61 61 60 60 60 58 58 59 60 58 58 58
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
Energy intensity (kilojoule / revenue freight tonne-kilometer) 606 516 465 486 426 355 302 280 282 279 278 267 265 266 261 260
Energy intensity (kilojoule / car-kilometer) 11,178 11,133 10,784 12,023 12,124 11,347 10,827 10,310 10,457 10,444 10,642 10,414 10,261 10,267 9,976 9,979

 

  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Revenue freight tonne-kilometers (millions) 2,140,261 2,183,347 2,200,194 2,265,056 2,427,347 2,476,733 2,586,920 2,584,946 2,594,715 2,236,990 2,468,818 2,524,665 2,500,300 2,541,354 2,702,743
Car-kilometers (millions) 55,667 55,109 55,812 57,220 59,660 60,692 62,692 61,454 59,909 51,684 57,198 58,981 58,781 56,734 59,856
Tonnes per car load 57 58 57 57 56 55 55 56 57 58 58 57 56 55 55
Fuel consumed (million liters) 14,006 14,044 14,120 14,483 15,365 15,513 15,868 15,376 14,710 12,083 13,226 13,949 13,627 13,938 14,638
Energy intensity (kilojoule / revenue freight tonne-kilometer) 253 249 248 247 245 242 237 230 219 209 207 214 211 212 209
Energy intensity (kilojoule / car-kilometer) 9,726 9,851 9,779 9,784 9,956 9,880 9,784 9,672 9,492 9,037 8,939 9,142 8,962 9,497 9,454

a The threshold for classification as a Class I Railroads is based on operating revenues; the 2014 threshold is $475.75 million.

NOTES

The heat equivalent factor used for joule conversion is 38,655.900 joules/liter.

1.459972 tonne-kilometer = 1 ton-mile.

1.609344 kilometers = 1 mile.

0.9071847 tonnes = 1 ton.

3.785412 liters = 1 gallon.

1.055056 kilojoules = 1 British thermal unit (Btu).

SOURCE

Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts 2015 (Washington, DC: 2015), pp. 3, 37, 40, and 43, and similar tables in earlier editions.