RAILROAD TRACK PRODUCTIVITY - A HISTORICAL-PERSPECTIVE

Four factors have historically governed improvements in railroad track maintenance-of-way (MOW) costs: economies of traffic density, technol ogical improvements, network rationalization, and equipment productivi ty. This study demonstrates that the U.S. Class 1 railroad freight ind ustry is saving $7 billion annually in MOW expenditures due to advance ments in track productivity from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. MOW e xpenses over this time increased 6% (in constant dollars), but costs p er revenue ton-mile dropped 39% and costs per gross ton-mile declined 28%. All of this occurred during a period where the demands on the tra ck structure increased dramatically: revenue traffic volume increased 73% and the weight of the average freight carload increased 31%. By us ing mathematical extrapolation techniques to project costs from histor ical data, estimates of the savings originating from the four factors were calculated. The annual productivity savings due to density econom ies, advancements in track technology, rationalization, and equipment productivity are approximately $2.6 billion, $1.8 billion, $1.5 billio n, and $1.3 billion per year, respectively.