Class I Railroad System Mileage and Ton-Miles of Freight: 1960-2022

Figure

This line graph shows the system mileage and non-miles for freight in millions. System mileage was highest in 1960 at over 200,000 miles and has decreased every year to under 100,000 miles in 2022. Ton-miles increased every year from about 600 billion in 1960 to just under 1.8 trillion in 2005. Since 2005, the ton-miles have fluctuated, peaking at over 1.8 trillion in 2015 to a low of about 1.4 trillion in 2020.

Dataset Excel:

F1-20 Class 1 Ton-miles.xlsx (28.27 KB)

Notes:

Data include every 5 years until 1970. Data are yearly thereafter.

Description:

This graph is from the 2024 Transportation Statistics Annual Report.

Source:

Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts, Statistical Highlights (Washington, DC; annual issues), available at www.aar.org as of August 2024.

Previous Editions:

Class I Railroad System Mileage and Ton-Miles of Freight 1960-2021

Class I Railroad System Mileage and Ton-miles of Freight: 1960, 1965, 1970-2015

Publications:

Transportation Statistics Annual Report Figure 1-20

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Class I Railroad System Mileage and Ton-Miles of Freight: 1960-2022