Washington Business Spring 2019 | Washington Business | Page 36
business backgrounder | transportation
Riding on Rails
Moving people and billions of dollars of in-demand consumer
goods and commodities is only part of the positive impact of
Washington state’s rail system.
Bobbi Cussins
Rail is one of the safest and environmentally friendly ways to transport goods to market. For Washington’s
trade-driven economy, robust and efficient freight rail infrastructure is key. But headwinds like
permitting and local measures to ban certain commodities create an imbalance between the needs
of a growing state economy and build-out of freight rail service to meet consumer demand.
At A Glance
In 2018 alone, BNSF invested $3.4 billion
across its network for maintenance,
technology enhancements and new
locomotives and equipment, $175 million of
which was spent in Washington state.
With 322 employees in Washington state,
Union Pacific railroad made tremendous
investments in 2017: $28 million in payroll,
$14.7 million in capital investment, and
$128.6 million of in-state purchases.
According to data from the Association
of American Railroads, there are 30
freight railroads, spanning 3,056 miles in
Washington state that are operated by
4,381 employees who earn an
average annual wage of $127,770.
For every job in freight rail, an additional nine
jobs are supported elsewhere in the U.S.
In 2017, 787,200 carloads originated in
Washington state and were moved out
of state by rail or through the ports, and
1,105,600 carloads came into the state,
only 8 percent of which contained energy
commodities, such as petroleum and gas.
Just one of BNSF’s double-set trains, or
the trains that have two stacked containers
on them, can take the equivalent of
280 trucks off the road.
36 association of washington business
A lot is riding on the
nation’s rail system. The
economy, for starters.
And, Washington state
is no exception. As a
— Courtney Wallace, regional director of public
lead exporter that enjoys
affairs, BNSF
robust port traffic, freight
rail may be more critical
here than anywhere else in the nation.
BNSF Railway Company, one of the largest railway operators in North America, moves
more than 1.7 million carloads of freight in Washington state each year.
“Freight rail really is the backbone of the economy,” said Courtney Wallace, regional
director of public affairs for BNSF. “Rail carries everything from A to Z. The cars you
drive, the clothes you wear, the energy that powers your home and powers your car, all
will come by rail.”
“When it comes to long-haul shipping,
rail is the most environmentally friendly
way to move things on land.”