30/01/2022
Preserving the environment and addressing climate
change is a responsibility railroads take seriously. As a
backbone of the U.S. economy for the last two centuries,
freight railroads have evolved to provide efficient and
advanced transportation solutions to American
businesses and consumers.
Today’s railroads continue to modernize their operations
to meet tomorrow’s challenges, including improvements
that increase efficiency and benefit the environment.
• Less Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse gas
emissions are directly related to fuel consumption.
Freight railroads account for just 0.5% of total U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions, according to EPA data, and
just 1.9% of transportation-related greenhouse gas
emissions.
• More Fuel Efficient: Freight rail is ahead of other land
modes of surface transportation when it comes to
limiting its carbon footprint. U.S. freight railroads, on
average, move one ton of freight more than 480 miles
per gallon of fuel.
• Sustainable Choice: AAR analysis of federal data
finds: If 25% of the truck traffic moving at least 750
miles went by rail instead, annual greenhouse gas
emissions would fall by approximately 13.1 million tons;
If 50% of the truck traffic moving at least 750 miles
went by rail instead, greenhouse gas emissions would
fall by approximately 26.2 million tons.
• Holistic Approach: From advanced locomotive
technology to zero-emission cranes, freight railroads
leverage technology across their operations to limit
their impact on the environment. In 2020 alone, U.S. freight railroads consumed 675 million
fewer gallons of fuel and emitted 7.6 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide than they would
have if their fuel efficiency had remained constant since 2000.
• Reducing Highway Congestion & Pollution: Railroads help reduce the huge economic costs of
highway congestion. According to the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2019 Urban Mobility Report,
highway congestion cost Americans $166 billion in wasted time (8.8 billion hours) and wasted fuel (3.3
billion gallons) in 2017. Lost productivity, cargo delays and other costs add tens of billions of dollars to
this tab. A single freight train, though, can replace several hundred trucks, freeing up space on the
highway for other motorists. Shifting freight from trucks to rail also reduces highway wear and tear
and the pressure to build costly new highways. On average, railroads are three to four times more
fuel efficient than trucks. That means moving freight by rail instead of truck lowers greenhouse gas
emissions by up to 75%, on average.
