>>1566150As
https://trforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2013v52n2_04_FreightRailways.pdfsummarizes,
>This paper examines the differences between the United States (U.S.) and European (EU27) freight railways. The inherent or structural factors influencing the railways' modal share will be evaluated. It was found that nearly all of the disparity in modal share can be explained by structural or inherent differences, like the competitiveness of non-surface modes, shipment distances (both influenced by geography), and commodity mix (namely, coal)>In the U.S., coal accounts for about 29% of the ton-miles of surface modes and around 44% of the ton-miles moved by rail, while in Europe, it is less than 3% of the surface modes and around 13% for rail (DOT-BTS 2010, Eurostat)
In other words, while the US has higher productivity and lower operating costs for rail, there really aren't any goods that are trucked in the EU27 which would be shipped by rail over the same distance in the US.
