• Freight Railroad Employees: 2,697
  • Freight Railroads: 8
  • Freight Rail Mileage: 3,687
  • Trucks off the Road: It would have taken 5.4 million trucks to handle the freight that moved by rail in Montana in 2022.

Freight Rail Traffic

Tons in millions.

Originated

  • Coal: 21.3 tons, 177,200 cars
  • Grain: 4.1 tons, 37,900 cars
  • Refined petrol. prod.: 2.9 tons, 31,800 cars
  • Food products: 0.6 tons, 6,000 cars
  • Lumber & wood prod.: 0.5 tons, 5,000 cars
  • Other: 3.0 tons, 33,400 cars
  • TOTAL: 32.2M tons, 291,300 cars

Terminated

  • Refined petrol. prod.: 1.6 tons, 18,200 cars
  • Chemicals: 0.7 tons, 7,300 cars
  • Food products: 0.5 tons, 5,400 cars
  • Stone, clay, & glass pr.: 0.2 tons, 2,300 cars
  • Grain: 0.2 tons, 1,800 cars
  • Other: 1.1 tons, 20,000 cars
  • TOTAL: 4.3M tons, 54,900 cars

Freight Rail Miles

Class I Railroads

  • BNSF: 2,625
  • Union Pacific: 125
  • TOTAL: 2,750

Short Line Railroads

  • Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railroad: 26
  • Central Montana Rail: 87
  • Dakota, Missouri Valley, & Western Railroad: 57
  • Mission Mountain Railroad: 26
  • Montana Rail Link (now part of BNSF): 807
  • TOTAL: 1,003

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.