Freight Rail Data

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is a branch of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). BTS provides transportation data on a variety of transportation modes, including rail. Below are a few selected data sets from BTS.

• North American Transborder Freight Data provides freight flow data by commodity type and transportation mode for U.S. exports and imports to and from Canada and Mexico.
• Pocket Guide to Transportation provides an annual overview of the U.S. transportation system and highlights major transportation trends.
• State Transportation Statistics provides a series of reports highlighting each state's infrastructure, safety, freight movement, passenger travel, vehicles, economy, and the environment.  
• Transportation Statistics Annual Report presents key transportation indicators along with data and information about the performance and impacts of the U.S. transportation system. 

Surface Transportation Board (STB)

The STB is a railroad regulatory oversight agency that resolves railroad rate and service disputes and reviews railroad mergers. Their Carload Waybill Sample is a sample of confidential railroad waybills used to develop a database of rail shipment information. The sample contains data such as origin, destination, commodity, car count, weight, revenue, and length of haul among others. Aggregate, non-confidential data is available in the public-use version.

Resources

Grade Crossing Evaluation Tool (GradeDec)

GradeDec is an online highway rail grade crossing investment analysis tool. It ranks and evaluates grade crossing investments by a complete set of public benefits including safety and travel time and auto emission reductions. 

Intermodal Transportation and Inventory Cost Model (ITIC) and ITIC-Intermodal (ITIC-IM)
ITIC is used to perform policy analysis of issues concerning freight movement such as modal diversion and the assessment of economic benefits associated with changes in transportation strategy or infrastructure. ITIC-IM provides diversion of highway freight traffic to rail intermodal service estimates. Results from the model can provide input to examine other important mode choice impacts including infrastructure investment, safety, energy, environment, and traffic operations. Contact Stephen O'Connor to obtain a copy of the model.

Railroad Geographic Information System 

The FRA provides an interactive mapping application that allows users to view aspects of railroad infrastructure. Public datasets are available in the National Transportation Atlas Database.