• Freight Railroad Employees: 6,885
  • Freight Railroads: 27
  • Freight Rail Mileage: 4,985
  • Trucks off the Road: It would have taken 8.5 million trucks to handle the freight that moved by rail in California in 2022.

Freight Rail Traffic

Tons in millions.

Originated

  • Intermodal: 36.9 tons, 2,832,000 cars
  • Food products: 4.4 tons, 50,500 cars
  • Chemicals: 3.0 tons, 29,600 cars
  • Cement: 2.4 tons, 22,200 cars
  • Crushed stone & sand: 2.0 tons, 18,300 cars
  • Other: 8.1 tons, 164,500 cars
  • TOTAL: 56.8M tons, 3,117,100 cars

Terminated

  • Intermodal: 41.0 tons, 2,639,600 cars
  • Food products: 11.7 tons, 120,500 cars
  • Farm products: 10.8 tons, 101,800 cars
  • Chemicals: 10.6 tons, 110,600 cars
  • Refined petrol. products: 5.3 tons, 64,200 cars
  • Other: 24.3 tons, 343,700 cars
  • TOTAL: 103.8M tons, 3,380,500 cars

Freight Rail Miles

Class I Railroads

  • BNSF: 2,087
  • Union Pacific: 3,362
  • TOTAL: 5,449

Short Line Railroads

  • Arizona & California Railroad: 91
  • California Northern Railroad: 282
  • Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad: 65
  • Goose Lake Railway: 95
  • Merced County Central Valley Railroad: 1
  • Modesto & Empire Traction: 5
  • Napa Valley Railroad: 18
  • Pacific Harbor Line: 19
  • Quincy Railroad: 3
  • Richmond Pacific Railroad: 3
  • Sacramento Valley Railroad: 7
  • San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad: 32
  • San Francisco Bay Railway: 5
  • San Joaquin Valley Railroad: 493
  • Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway: 9
  • Santa Maria Valley Railroad: 14
  • Sierra Northern Railway: 120
  • SMART Freight: 42
  • St. Paul & Pacific Railroad: 32
  • Stockton Terminal & Eastern Railroad: 25
  • Trona Railway: 31
  • Ventura County Railroad: 13
  • West Isle Line: 6
  • West Oakland Pacific Railroad: 2
  • Yreka Western Railroad: 9
  • TOTAL: 1,422

State Reps

Note: Data are for 2023 except for rail employment and truck equivalents, which are 2022. Total miles shown for the state exclude trackage rights, but miles shown for individual railroads include trackage rights. Some mileage and employment figures are estimates. Rail traffic figures are based on AAR analysis of industry data.