Fuel efficiency
No other form of land freight transportation is by its very nature more fuel- and resource-efficient than rail. On average, rail is more than three times as fuel efficient as over-the-road transportation options. BNSF trains can move one ton of freight nearly 500 miles on just one gallon of diesel fuel.
We've upgraded the majority of our locomotives to more energy-efficient technologies over the last decade, helping us to make advances in increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing CO2 and particulate emissions. Changes in operations and maintenance practices have also contributed to fuel-efficiency and carbon reductions.
Examples include the addition of locomotive energy management systems that help optimize throttle and brake use as well as the installation of automatic start/stop devices on the majority of our locomotives to prevent unnecessary idling.
