b'2American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comThe rail industry to focus onANALYSIS & PERSPECTIVE 2024customer service and digital transformation in 2025Can a digital transformation leverage growth in the future for rail?By Debra Phillips, AJOTUnlike the trucking indus- have a positive impact on the try,whichfacedconsistentpublic because, In the area challengesduring2024,theofsafety,railhasfarfewer freightrailroadindustryhasincidentseachyearthan experiencedgrowthin2024trucking that cause injury or over2023forcertainweeksloss of life.and commodities. On a ton-mile basis, the However,railhasbeenAARsaidrailisabout28 losingmarketshareasantimessaferforthepublic industrysince2017.Theandworkforcethantruck-industryhasquantifiedtheing. Bailey said, Our analy-impactonthepublicandsis estimates that if railroads economyofcontinuedero- could regain share, this would sion in rail market share andsaveapproximately16,000 has developed an aggressivelivesandprevent660,000 plan to continue growing rev- serious injuries between now enue in 2025. (FOCUScontinued on page 6)Double-stack rail will complement the expansion of Seagirt Marine Terminal, operated by Ports America Chesapeake.R ailR esults inn ovembeRFortheweekending November23,accordingto the Association of American Railroads(AAR),weekly rail traffic was 520,798 car-loadsandintermodalunits, up25.6%comparedto lastyear.Thisincludesan increase in carloads of 17.6% andanincreaseinintermo-dalvolumeby32.8%.Nine of the 10 commodity groups also increased over the same week a year ago.i mplications ofc ontinuedR ailRoadm aRkets haRee RosionAtarecentSurface TransportationBoard(STB) meeting, the board expressed concernaboutdecreased market share by the Class 1 railroads.Accordingtothe USDepartmentofTrans-portation(DOT),thistrend is expected to continue until 2050. The DOT predicts the slowestgrowthrateamong freighttransportationmodes through2050,whichmeans thatrailroadsareexpected to lose share to other freight modes over that timeframe.In response to these con-cerns,therailroadindustry testifiedbeforetheSTB. Whileitwasunclearwhat conditionshaveresultedin the market share erosion, the rail industry views the impact oflostmarketshareasdet-rimental to the railroads and the public, especially if more freight is being diverted from rail to truck.Speakingonbehalfof the AAR, AdrieneBailey,a partner with Oliver Wyman, ageneralmanagementcon-sultingfirm,said,Contin-ued market share loss would impacttherailroadsability toraisecapital,tocontinue to invest in infrastructure and assets, and to employ a grow-ingworkforce,allofwhich benefits U.S. businesses and the economy as a whole.She also stated that grow-ingrailmarketsharewould'