Present at the Creation, Beehive State Still Vital Link in Transcontinental Rail Network
Those present in May of 1869 when the “golden spike” was driven at Promontory Summit to commemorate the completion of the first transcontinental railroad could little have imagined what railroads would become in the 21st century. Yesterday’s steam locomotives have been replaced with double-stack intermodal trains, and Utah is now a major mid-continent staging area for goods destined to reach consumers all across America.
Utah's eight freight railroads operate over 1,386 miles of track and employ 1,463 in the Beehive State.* It would have taken approximately 3.5 million additional truckloads to move the 63.2 million tons of freight that moved by rail in Utah in 2014. Intermodal and coal comprise the majority of freight rail shipments beginning and ending in Utah.
*2017 data
Policy Issues Group Letter Featuring Signatories from 46 States Calls on Policymakers to Preserve Regulatory Balance for Freight Railroads and Customers Washington, D.C. — More than 1000…
Policy Issues Washington, D.C. — If you’re an infrastructure and transportation policy wonk, you may have heard of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980—the foundational piece of…
Infrastructure Alexandria, VA — Railroading is one of America’s oldest and best infrastructure stories, from the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 to the numerous…
43 percent
decrease
in rail rates, 1981-2014.
That means the average rail customer today can ship nearly twice as much freight for about the same price it paid more than 30 years ago.
Let's Subscribe
Subscribe below to get regular updates from GoRail. For our weekly newsletter, join the GoRail Mail list and for a daily update of what's new. 
