America's Freight Railroads: Simplifying Reciprocal Switching

💡Reciprocal switching is an operational practice where one railroad serves a customer on behalf of another.

🚂Railroads negotiate reciprocal switching agreements to make economic and operational sense.

🔄Yard switching involves moving rail cars between tracks or adding/removing cars from a train in rail yards.

🚚Industry switching allows railroads to move rail cars into and out of customers' facilities for loading and unloading.

🔀Connections are tracks with switches that enable trains to move from one track to another.

What is reciprocal switching?

—Reciprocal switching is an operational practice where one railroad serves a customer on behalf of another by moving rail cars between their networks.

Why do railroads negotiate reciprocal switching agreements?

—Railroads negotiate reciprocal switching agreements to make economic and operational sense for transporting rail cars to customers across different networks.

What is yard switching?

—Yard switching involves moving rail cars between tracks or adding/removing cars from a train in rail yards.

What is industry switching?

—Industry switching is the process of moving rail cars into and out of customers' facilities for loading and unloading.

What are connections in railroad operations?

—Connections are tracks with switches that enable trains to move from one track to another.

00:06America's freight railroads operate a complex network, spanning 140,000 miles and moving 1.5 million rail cars.

00:26Reciprocal switching is an operational practice where one railroad serves a customer on behalf of another.

01:42Yard switching involves moving rail cars between tracks or adding/removing cars from a train in rail yards.

02:19Industry switching allows railroads to move rail cars into and out of customers' facilities for loading and unloading.

03:08Connections are tracks with switches that enable trains to move from one track to another.