US rail network facing congestion ‘calamity’

While the nation’s attention is focused on air travel congestion and the high cost of fuel for highway driving, a crisis is developing under the radar for another form of transportation: the freight trains used to deliver many of the goods that keep the U.S. economy humming.

“For those of you who’ve ever seen a good rail meltdown, this is what it looks like,” Rose, CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., said as the crowded hall shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. “It’s literally chaos in the supply chain.”

But the big choke point is Chicago, where it can take up to two days for trains to wind through the city.

Nearly all the major routes of the weblike rail freight system comes through one or more of the nearly 80 rail yards here. It’s why a single delayed train here can force those thousands of miles away to stop or slow down.

The problem is that the Chicago hub was designed in the mid-1800s, when the area was a comparative backwater of 30,000 people. Now, 10 million residents sprawl into formerly rural areas where trains once rolled along unencumbered.

Associated Press