Favorable BNSF article in LA Times

[John_Perkowski]

LA Times: Freight trains make big comeback in nation's transportation network

Brief passage:

More than 4,000 miles of train tracks stretch through California, winding up the blustery Cajon Pass and snaking through the desert surrounding Barstow.

Those tracks could be seeing a lot more traffic in the next few years as trains loaded with Chinese-made toys, electronics and clothing roll eastward, connecting West Coast ports with cities across the U.S.

Warren Buffett is a believer. In November, the world's second-richest man paid $34 billion for railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., despite a deep downturn in the railroad industry. Buffett characterized his investment as an "all-in wager on the economic future of the United States." But it's also a bet on globalization and the renewed importance of rail in the nation's transportation network.

Of course, every West Coast port is served by only two class 1 railroads anymore: BNSF, UP. Pick one for your line haul out of the West Coast, or spend more on oceangoing freight to get your cargo to Houston, New Orleans, or an East Coast port...

[mtuandrew]

LA Times: Freight trains make big comeback in nation's transportation network

Of course, every West Coast port is served by only two class 1 railroads anymore: BNSF, UP. Pick one for your line haul out of the West Coast, or spend more on oceangoing freight to get your cargo to Houston, New Orleans, or an East Coast port...

...unless such cargo is bound for the ports of Vancouver, Lazaro Cardenas, or the closest port to most Asian manufacturing centers, Prince Rupert. (I'm assuming that Ferromex, Ferrosur and other Latin American railroads have a much smaller share of the market.)