Network Connectivity, Commodities, and the Adoption of Heavy Axle Loading by Short-line Railroads in Canada
The implementation of heavy axle loading (HAL) by North America's freight railroads has improved productivity for Class I railroads, but these benefits are not necessarily realized by short-line railroads. This paper examines the potential impact of HAL on short-line railroads in Canada by analyzing two factors: connectivity to the Class I network and commodity type. Connectivity between a short-line and the Class I system is assessed in terms of a four-tier hierarchy, depending on whether the short-line is physically connected to the Class I network, and if so, the manner in which this connection occurs. In Canada, over half of the short-line mileage is connected to a Class I mainline and is therefore likely to be impacted by IIAL implementation. Of this mileage, the majority is owned by rail transportation management holding companies, but local rail operators and government also own a substantial proportion. The densities of commodities hauled by a short-line also influences the economic viability of HAL implementation. Based on available data on railcar weights, volumetric capacities, and commodity densities, the analysis shows that certain commodity-railcar pairings shift between cube-out and weigh-out conditions when moving to a 286k railcar. Moreover, of the 11 commodity-railcar pairings examined in this paper, there are e ight pairings in which the railcar design density is closer to the commodity density under 286k compared to 263k loading,indicating a potential improvement in railcar productivity. Further research using more detailed operational data tor Canadian short-line railroads will add value to these results.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AR040 Freight Rail Transportation.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Poff, Kristen
- Grande, Giuseppe
- Regehr, Jonathan D
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2015-1-11 to 2015-1-15
- Date: 2015
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 12p
- Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Axle loads; Commodities; Connectivity; Networks; Short line railroads
- Geographic Terms: Canada
- Subject Areas: Economics; Freight Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01557433
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 15-4709
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Mar 20 2015 3:21PM