Freight Rail Protects Delaware Roads and Bridges
With freight volumes increasing, highway congestion getting worse and not enough tax dollars to keep up with First State roadway repair needs, the benefits of shipping cargo by rail rather than road are clear. The Port of Wilmington is already the number one U.S. gateway for perishable cargo and it stands to see an uptick in freight movements with an expanded Panama Canal and more ships seeking East Coast delivery points. More of this cargo moving in and out of the Port by rail means fewer trucks and less damage to Delaware roads.
Delaware's seven freight railroads operate over 236 miles of track and employ 168 in the First State.* It would have taken approximately 1.2 million additional truckloads to move the 20.8 million tons of freight that moved by rail in Delaware in 2019. Moving freight by rail prevented 736,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of taking 144,000 cars off the road or planting 11.2 million trees.
*2019 data
