Railroad Service Report Update – Jan ’20
Weekly service report updates for Class 1 railroads provided by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) were recently updated with values spanning through the end of Dec ’19. Overall, total cars online remained near recently experienced five year low levels, however grain and ethanol rail transportation speeds remained higher on a YOY basis, finishing at or near the highest weekly figures on record.
Total Railcars Online:
- Jan 4th week ending total railcars online totaled 986,000, finishing 1.1% below the previous week and remaining lower on a YOY basis for the 60th consecutive week, finishing down 3.6%. Total railcars online finished at the second lowest level experienced throughout the past five years.
- Jan 4th week ending average train speeds for grain transportation finished higher on a YOY basis for the 43rd consecutive week, reaching the highest weekly figure on record. Jan 4th week ending grain train speeds of 25.1 MPH finished 5.2% higher YOY and 12.1% above historical average grain train speeds.
- Jan 4th week ending average train speeds for ethanol transportation finished higher on a YOY basis for the 26th consecutive week, reaching the third highest weekly figure on record. Jan 4th week ending ethanol train speeds of 25.8 MPH finished 8.8% higher YOY and 13.1% above historical average ethanol train speeds.