Freight Rail a Key to California’s Green Economy
Freight rail provides the seamless connections that keep California’s economy on track, from its 11 ports and Mexican border trade, to Inland Empire manufacturers and distribution centers, to its many farms and wineries. Rail is also leading the way to a greener future with its scale and efficiency: a single train can move a ton of freight nearly 500 miles on a single gallon of fuel and carry the load of several hundred trucks.
California’s 25 freight railroads operate over 4,828 miles of track and employ 8,153 in The Golden State.* It would have taken approximately 9 million additional truckloads to move the 162.3 million tons of freight that moved by rail in California in 2017. Intermodal shipments, mostly arriving through California’s world-class ports, make up the majority of freight rail shipments beginning in California. Intermodal shipments and chemicals are the largest rail imports to the state.
*2017 data
