Rail transportation

Rail transportation is a preference for a majority of companies that transport freight. Freight trains haul in cargo using freight cars that have been designed to carry a number of freight cargos. Rail transport companies have ensured that freight trains remain efficient with economy of scale and high energy efficiency.

Rail transportation in Canada serves as one of the largest rail networks in the entire world. The railway network covers 48,000 kilometers of track thus making the transportation of Freight, cargo, a safer, secure, accessible, competitive and environmentally responsible.

Container trains have become the dominant type in Canada more so in places such as Ontario, Alberta, BC, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec, and Montreal. Containers are easily transshipped to other modes which include delivery into shipping docks and delivery to truck stops via use of cranes.

Intermodal containerization of cargo has entirely revolutionized supply chain logistics industry drastically reducing shipping costs. Rail transport service has led to the ease of cargo from rail to road transport where road-railers set up in convenient locations are driven on the train making it easy transition between rail and road.

Now trains have specialized containers that cover freight refrigerator cars, auto-racks for road vehicles and stock cars for livestock freight transportation.

Advantages of Rail Transportation

It’s wise to note that freight on Rail highly recognizes that road and rail complement each other, however, only large quantities of long distance freight are usually much more sustainable, more safely carried by rail as opposed to being carried by large trucks.

Rail transportation is three times less likely to be involved in fatal accidents that road trucks due to its combination of  size, superior and proper enforcement of drivers hours, no-overloading and no-oncoming traffic that would cause the train to swerve.

On the environmental side, rail transportation produces 70% less carbon dioxide emissions as opposed to an equivalent road truck journey. The more frequent and regular movements are, the lower the cost becomes. In simple words a simple freight container on rail is way cost effective as opposed to the similar contained being shipped by a road truck.

In a majority of instances, rail delivers logistics advantages via speed where intermodal container trains averagely timed to run on 75mph save a considerable saving over a 56mph HGV. Moreover, heavier and bulky freight trains are faster than road equivalents!

Such efficient speeds help in tightening up logistics and manufacturing processes with rail being able to be used as a safer and faster means of transportation for freight cargo.

Leave a Comment