Why Railroads:
A Cleaner Environment
Less Air Pollution
Fuel-powered vehicle engines, all of which use some type
of petroleum, primarily emit three types of harmful gases:
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), carbon monoxide CO), and
nitrous oxides (NOx).
Assuming eight 110-mph trains between Chicago and St. Louis
each day, compare the emissions of rail vs. those of air and
car per passenger per mile:
Tons / Millions of Passenger Miles
| Pollutant |
Rail
|
Air |
Car
|
| VOC |
0.084 |
1.582 |
0.703 |
| CO |
0.703 |
2.619
|
5.981 |
| NOX |
1.214 |
1.164 |
1.955 |
110-mph rail would produce fewer of each of the emissions
than cars, and less of VOC and CO than airplanes.
Better Fuel Efficiency: Completing the Chicago
to St. Louis corridor would save more than 6-1/2 million gallons
of fuel each year.
If, in 2010, our transportation choices remain as they are
today between Chicago and St. Louis, the four available modes
would use almost 82 million gallons of fuel. If eight daily
110-mph Chicago-St. Louis round-trips were available fuel
consumpstion would be reduced to 75 million gallons.
90% of the travel between Midwestern cities is actually by
car. The amount of fuel saved could be significantly higher
if a greater number of those drivers than predicted choose
the railroad instead of driving.
Emissions-Freight: Railroads transport more
than 40% of our country’s intercity freight "ton-miles"
(one ton hauled one mile), but account for just 9% of NO2
freight emissions. That’s because a typical truck emits
about three times more NO2 than a typical locomotive per ton
mile.
Congestion-Freight: Freight trains often
carry highway truck trailers or containers. Each of these
"intermodal" trains can remove up to 280 trucks
from our highways. Trains carrying the goods themselves can
remove up to 500 trucks from our highways.
Fuel Efficiency-Freight: Per ton-mile, various
studies have shown that a freight train uses between one-third
and one-ninth as much fuel as trucks.
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