Weekly Railroad Service Report Update – 11/20/14
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) published the fifth weekly service report update for Class 1 railroads spanning data acquired from November 9th to November 15th. Overall, results were mixed for ethanol and grain transportation.
Ethanol Transportation:
• Average train speed for ethanol transportation declined slightly week-over-week, down 1.3% to 17.6 MPH. Train speed for ethanol transportation is 13.1% lower than the initial data point released four week ago.
• Ethanol cars held 48-120 hours declined 13.0% from the previous week but remain 22.2% higher than the initial data point released four weeks ago. Union Pacific cars held 48-120 hours declined by 904 cars while combined cars held 48-120 hours within other Class I railroads increased by 302 cars.
• Ethanol cars held 48-120 hours declined 23.0% from the previous week but remain 7.2% higher than the initial data point released four weeks ago.
Grain Transportation:
• Average train speed for grain transportation increased slightly week-over-week, up 1.9% to 20.1 MPH. Train speed for grain transportation remains 3.0% lower than the initial data point released four week ago.
• Grain cars held 48-120 hours declined 18.6% from the previous week but remain 43.2% higher than the initial data point released four weeks ago. Union Pacific cars held 48-120 hours declined by 2,654 cars while combined cars held 48-120 within other Class I railroads declined by only 147 cars.
• Grain cars held longer than 120 hours declined 41.6% from the previous week to a new five week low. Grain cars held longer than 120 hours were 7.8% less than the initial data point released four weeks ago.