Mountaineer State a Vital Link in North American Rail Network
Although domestic coal consumption has waned, the Mountaineer State remains a “railroad state.” As intermodal shipments and traffic in other energy products pick up steam, West Virginia is looking to a more diversified freight mix to revive rail traffic and boost the economy.
West Virginia's 11 freight railroads operate over 2,141 miles of track and employ 1,838 in the Mountain State.* It would have taken approximately 9.2 million additional truckloads to move the 166.4 million tons of freight that moved by rail in West Virginia in 2019. Moving freight by rail prevented 3.75 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of taking 735,000 cars off the road or planting 56.8 million trees. Coal makes up the majority of freight rail shipments beginning and ending in West Virginia.
*2019 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.
State Director
West Virginia
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