Proof? Coal from the Powder River area. Stats: Year to date, BNSF loads 50.2 PRB coal trains daily
In this year's first seven months, BNSF loaded a total daily average of 50.2 trains with Powder River Basin coal, up 2% from the average of 49.2 trains a day in the same period last year. This was accomplished despite weather conditions in June that reduced trainloads to an average of 46.2 trains a day. In July the flow of loaded and empty trains recovered from the effects of flooding along the Mississippi and its tributaries, and July loadings of PRB coal averaged 50.3 a trains day, up 2.7% from the July 2007 daily average of 49 trains.
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Hmm. That address doesnt look right. It looks like the link pointing here was faulty.
Apparently BNsf has been thinkin' about that too! Time to reconsider electrification?
Even though railroads are many more times fuel-efficient than trucks and have not been hurt as badly by soaring diesel fuel costs as their rubber-tired rivals (partly because theyre able to recover a portion of their costs through fuel surcharges), they're looking at additional ways to lower their fuel bill. One of these is electrification, which BNSF Railway is investigating. The railroad already leases its transcontinental rights-of-way to fiber-optic companies in exchange for some capacity for its own communications and data transmission needs. It stands to reason that, in exchange for access to discounted electric traction power for trains, BNSF could lease right-of-way space to an electric utility on, for example, the Transcon, tapping into the high-tension lines for 25Kv or 50Kv catenary to power electric or perhaps even dual-power locomotives. There would be technical and financial challengeserecting catenary poles and wire and substations; doublestack clearances for overhead wire; bridges and tunnels; the higher cost of electric locomotives compared to diesel; the need for people and equipment to operate and maintain the power grid, for examplebut if the economics of electric vs. diesel power can be altered (flipped, actually), electrification may make sense.
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Hmm. That address doesnt look right. It looks like the link pointing here was faulty.