Pelican State Economy Soars on Freight Rail
Louisiana’s railroads play an essential role in connecting local companies and communities to markets throughout North America. Recent soaring growth in Louisiana’s petrochemical industry would not be possible without these key freight rail connections.
Louisiana's 19 freight railroads operate over 2,940 miles of track and employ 3,125 in the Pelican State.* It would have taken approximately 6.8 million additional truckloads to move the 121.9 million tons of freight that moved by rail in Louisiana in 2017. Chemicals and pulp and paper products make up the majority of freight rail shipments beginning in Louisiana. Chemicals and coal are the largest rail imports to the state.
*2017 data
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43 percent
decrease
in rail rates, 1981-2014.
That means the average rail customer today can ship nearly twice as much freight for about the same price it paid more than 30 years ago.
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