3 ms·
Cargo trains are much longer than container ships (at least in the US). The average train is over a mile long, and trains that are 3 or more miles long are not
by Quinner 5y ago
Cargo trains are much longer than container ships (at least in the US). The average train is over a mile long, and trains that are 3 or more miles long are not uncommon. A single ship is of course still going to carry a lot more cargo, but don't underestimate the throughput of trains.
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-443.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-443.pdf
- Denvercoder9 5y agoTrains actually get a lot closer to container ships than I had expected. With double stacking you can get up to about 1000 TEU per mile of train. Big container ships are generally about 20,000 TEU.
- Denvercoder9 5y agoFor posterity: I messed up the calculation, it's a little less than 500 TEU per mile of train (double stacked).