Like Trains? Then Choo-Choose to Learn About Federal Rail Policy

Railways play a key role in American transportation and commerce, moving 28% of U.S. goods and tens of thousands of people across the country every day. The United States boasts 140,000 miles of freight rail lines underpinning an $80 billion industry that employs roughly 167,000 people. Meanwhile, Amtrak, the primary provider of U.S. passenger rail connecting people across rural and urban America, reported record ridership in fiscal year 2024 with 32.8 million passengers. From the crucial Northeast passenger rail corridor to the nation’s largest freight hub in Chicago, rail has the potential to play a key role in a decarbonized transportation sector by displacing emissions from cars, trucks, and planes. This Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) briefing explored the past, current, and future role of rail in the U.S. transportation sector and highlighted key rail programs under the surface transportation bill. Speakers also described opportunities to modernize railways through electrification, faster trains, track expansion, and safety improvements.

You can listen to Like Trains? Then Choo-Choose to Learn About Federal Rail Policy online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Like Trains? Then Choo-Choose to Learn About Federal Rail Policy is an episode from Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) by Carol Werner.

This episode is 63:00 long.

This episode was published on Jun 6, 2025.

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