Why is freight rail in Canada, and assumably the US, not as popular as it used to be?

Question

I notice when I travel around southern Ontario that so many tracks are removed and often tracks that service factories or farms aren't in use. I just wonder why if a train can carry 100 times what a truck can carry what makes trucks so popular. I understand just-in-time shipping but I assumed trains would be considerably cheaper.

Answer 1

A good majority of the trackage you have seen removed likely was taken up in the 1970s when the rail industry, particularly in the U.S., was at its lowest levels in history (much of this was the result of choking governmental regulation that did not give railroads the ability to more freely set freight rates and abandon unprofitable rail lines, which changed with the 1980 Staggers Act).  

Since 1980 the North American rail industry, as a whole, has been on the rebound, so much so that they are now seeing unprecedented levels of freight (not seen since WWII) and are having trouble keeping up with demand.  

Also, of note, is that railroads have been settling into a redefined role regarding hauling freight, which has been occurring over the last 50+ years or so, where today they are more of a "Point A to Point B" type of carrier.  Trucks clearly have the advantage in short-haul freight traffic.  However, railroads are far superior in long-haul and bulk traffic, where it is much more efficient to be moved by train and profitable for the railroads (per-fuel-mile nothing is more efficient at moving freight or passengers than railroads).

For instance, I don't have an exact percentage, but railroads easily haul the majority of bulk materials like coal and grain and within the last 30 years or so have moved more and more international ship containers (mostly moving from west to east) in large COFC (Container-On-Flat-Car) unit trains (which continues to this day).

Answer 2

There are a lot of factors to this issue.  One is that trucks are faster than trains, which is why perishable stuff like lettuce is shipped by truck.  Trains carry the potatoes.

Also, a lot of heavy industry is no longer done in North America, so you don't see as much demand for bulk goods like iron ore and bauxite as you did 50 years ago.

Rail is only cheaper than trucks when there is a lot of goods going to the same place, and with the cities becoming less centralized and factories moving out into the country, the cost for building rail to all of those places and sending trains to them makes trains more expensive than trucks.

What you usually see today is trains bringing containers from seaports to central distribution sites, then trucks get the containers and take them the rest of the way to their destinations.  Likewise, rail service usually goes to a warehouse, where trucks load up the goods and take them to the customers.  On the other end, scrap metal, recycling, and other waste products are gathered by trucks, taken to a central loading point, and put on trains which carry them to either ships or recycling plants (or incinerators and dumps) to be finally dispoosed of.

Answer 3

the freight isnt being produced like it used to be

Answer 4

well.....................trains r too noisy and huge........and maybe...they jst wanna move on with technology...