NATIONAL COOPERATIVE RAIL RESEARCH NCRRP PROGRAM REPORT 3 Sponsored by the Federal Railroad Comparison of Passenger Administration Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2015 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* OFFICERS CHAIR: Daniel Sperling, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy; Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis VICE CHAIR: James M. Crites, Executive Vice President of Operations, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, TX EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Neil J. Pedersen, Transportation Research Board MEMBERS Victoria A. Arroyo, Executive Director, Georgetown Climate Center; Assistant Dean, Centers and Institutes; and Professor and Director, Environmental Law Program, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC Scott E. Bennett, Director, Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, Little Rock Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO (retired), Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA Jennifer Cohan, Secretary, Delaware DOT, Dover Malcolm Dougherty, Director, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento A. Stewart Fotheringham, Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, University of Arizona, Tempe John S. Halikowski, Director, Arizona DOT, Phoenix Michael W. Hancock, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Frankfort Susan Hanson, Distinguished University Professor Emerita, School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA Steve Heminger, Executive Director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Oakland, CA Chris T. Hendrickson, Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA Jeffrey D. Holt, Managing Director, Bank of Montreal Capital Markets, and Chairman, Utah Transportation Commission, Huntsville Roger Huff, Manager, Ford Global Customs, Material Export Operations, and Logistics Standardization, Ford Motor Company, Farmington Hills, MI Geraldine Knatz, Professor, Sol Price School of Public Policy, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Ysela Llort, Consultant, Miami, FL Donald A. Osterberg, Senior Vice President, Safety and Security (retired), Schneider National, Inc., Freedom, WI James Redeker, Commissioner, Connecticut DOT, Newington Mark Rosenberg, President and CEO, The Task Force for Global Health, Inc., Decatur, GA Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor, University of Texas, Austin Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Chairman (retired), Jacobs/Sverdrup Civil, Inc., St. Louis, MO Kumares C. Sinha, Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Kirk T. Steudle, Director, Michigan DOT, Lansing Gary C. Thomas, President and Executive Director, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas, TX Paul Trombino III, Director, Iowa DOT, Ames EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Thomas P. Bostick (Lieutenant General, U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC James C. Card (Vice Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, retired), Maritime Consultant, The Woodlands, TX, and Chair, TRB Marine Board Alison Jane Conway, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, City College of New York, NY, and Chair, TRB Young Members Council T. F. Scott Darling III, Acting Administrator and Chief Counsel, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. DOT Marie Therese Dominguez, Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. DOT Sarah Feinberg, Acting Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. DOT David J. Friedman, Acting Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. DOT LeRoy Gishi, Chief, Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC John T. Gray II, Senior Vice President, Policy and Economics, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC Michael P. Huerta, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. DOT Paul N. Jaenichen, Sr., Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S. DOT Therese W. McMillan, Acting Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. DOT Michael P. Melaniphy, President and CEO, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC Gregory G. Nadeau, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. DOT Peter M. Rogoff, Under Secretary for Transportation Policy, Office of the Secretary, U.S. DOT Mark R. Rosekind, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. DOT Craig A. Rutland, U.S. Air Force Pavement Engineer, Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Tyndall Air Force Base, FL Barry R. Wallerstein, Executive Officer, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, CA Gregory D. Winfree, Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, Office of the Secretary, U.S. DOT Frederick G. (Bud) Wright, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC Paul F. Zukunft (Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security * Membership as of November 2015. NATIONAL COOPERATIVE RAIL RESEARCH PROGRAM NCRRP REPORT 3 Comparison of Passenger Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes TRANSYS RESEARCH LTD. Glenburnie, ON WITH RAILTEC University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign CPCS TRANSCOM Ottawa, ON AND LAWSON ECONOMICS RESEARCH INC. Ottawa, ON Subscriber Categories Railroads • Energy • Planning and Forecasting Research sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2015 www.TRB.org NATIONAL COOPERATIVE RAIL NCRRP REPORT 3 RESEARCH PROGRAM The National Cooperative Rail Research Program (NCRRP) conducts Project 02-01 applied research on problems important to freight, intercity, and commuter ISSN 2376-9165 rail operators. Research is necessary to solve common operating problems, ISBN 978-0-309-37497-2 adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and introduce innovations into the rail industry. NCRRP carries out applied research on Library of Congress Control Number 2015958046 problems that are shared by freight, intercity, and commuter rail operating agencies and are not being adequately addressed by existing federal research © 2015 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. programs. NCRRP undertakes research and other technical activities in various rail subject areas, including design, construction, maintenance, operations, safety, security, finance and economics, policy, planning, human resources, and administration. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION NCRRP was authorized in October 2008 as part of the Passenger Rail Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PL 100-432, Division B). The written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously Program is sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and published or copyrighted material used herein. managed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medi- cine, acting through its Transportation Research Board (TRB), with pro- Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this gram oversight provided by an independent governing board (the NCRRP publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the Oversight Committee [ROC]) including representatives of rail operating understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, agencies. FMCSA, FRA, FTA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, PHMSA, NCRRP carries out applied research on problems that address, among or TDC endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those other matters, (1) intercity rail passenger and freight rail services, includ- reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give ing existing rail passenger and freight technologies and speeds, incremen- appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For tally enhanced rail systems and infrastructure, and new high-speed wheel- other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. on-rail systems; (2) ways to expand the transportation of international trade traffic by rail, enhance the efficiency of intermodal interchange at ports and other intermodal terminals, and increase capacity and avail- ability of rail service for seasonal freight needs; (3) the interconnectedness NOTICE of commuter rail, passenger rail, freight rail, and other rail networks; and (4) regional concerns regarding rail passenger and freight transportation, The report was reviewed by the technical panel and accepted for publication according to including meeting research needs common to designated high-speed cor- procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved ridors, long-distance rail services, and regional intercity rail corridors, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. projects, and entities. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the NCRRP considers research designed to (1) identify the unique aspects researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation and attributes of rail passenger and freight service; (2) develop more accu- Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; or the rate models for evaluating the impact of rail passenger and freight service, program sponsors. including the