CAPACITY IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe's 2,217 mile Chicago-Los Angeles Transcon is one of the busiest, most fluid rail routes in North America. This article looks at how BNSF balances infrastructure and operations to obtain the perfect capacity. There are no fewer that ten factor that impact line capacity, and they are: number and length of trains; horsepower of trains; peak train counts; terrain; variance in train speeds; types of signal systems; amount of double and triple track mileage; length and spacing of sidings; and terminal infrastructure.