California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

Chapter XIV – Introduction
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
The UP is the largest railroad in the State, operating on 3,024 miles of track
including trackage rights. 2 In California, the UP system is made up primarily of
three historic railroad properties:
• The historic UP, with a main line running between Las Vegas, Nevada and
Southern California.
• The former Southern Pacific (SP), with main and branch lines that at one
time reached virtually every corner of the State.
• The former Western Pacific (WP), with a main line running between
northern Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Main line routes are part of the national rail systems. Comparatively high revenue
ton-mile figures 3 are generated on these segments, manifesting their importance to
the UP system. Other UP lines include branch lines and secondary main lines,
which feed traffic to the main lines and contribute relatively low revenue ton-miles.
BNSF RAILWAY
The BNSF, the second largest railroad in California, operates on 1,685 miles 4 of
track (including trackage rights) in the State. The BNSF was created from the
merger of the former Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) and the former Atchison
Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) in 1995. The ATSF originally had a line that ran
from the San Francisco Bay Area through the San Joaquin Valley and into Southern
California. The BN had a line running in northeastern California from the Oregon
border to a junction with the former WP in Bieber in Lassen County. As part of the
1996 UP/SP merger, BNSF was allowed to purchase the former WP line from
Bieber to Keddie in Plumas County and obtain trackage rights to Stockton, thereby
giving California shippers a competing north/south rail option.
The largest amount of freight handled in California is in the southern part of the
State, moving between the Los Angeles region and the rest of the United States.
The least amount of freight handled is in the northeastern corner of the State and
along the coast. Figure 14B shows tons of freight handled by both UP and BNSF
in 2004.
2 California Region Timetable, Altamont Press 2005
3 One ton moved in revenue service one mile is one revenue ton-mile.
4 California Region Timetable, Altamont Press 2005
177