Weekly Railroad Service Report Update – 12/25/14
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) published the tenth weekly service report update for Class 1 railroads spanning data acquired from December 14th to December 20th. Overall, results were mixed for ethanol and grain transportation.
Ethanol Transportation:
• Average train speed for ethanol transportation increased by 4.2% week-over-week to 21.2 MPH. Ethanol train speed increased above the previous weekly average speed for the first time in three weeks, up 2.8% from the previous nine week average ethanol train speed.
• Ethanol cars held 48-120 hours increased sharply week-over-week, up 40.8% from the previous nine week low. Ethanol cars held 48-120 hours were 33.6% higher than the initial data point released nine weeks ago and 5.1% higher than the previous nine week average cars held 48-120 hours.
• Ethanol cars held longer than 120 hours declined sharply week-over-week, down 40.8% to a five week low. Ethanol cars held longer than 120 hours were 5.6% lower than the initial data point released nine weeks ago and 28.1% lower than the previous nine week average cars held longer than 120 hours.
Grain Transportation:
• Average train speed for grain transportation declined by 1.8% week-over-week to a four week low of 20.3 MPH. Grain train speed has fallen 2.4% below the initial data point released nine weeks ago and 0.9% below the previous nine week average grain train speed.
• Grain cars held 48-120 hours declined sharply week-over-week, down 20.4%. Grain cars held 48-120 hours remain 34.4% higher than the initial data point released nine weeks ago but are 12.1% lower than the previous nine week average cars held 48-120 hours.
• Grain cars held longer than 120 hours declined sharply week-over-week, falling 28.7% to a new nine week low.