In Britain, rail's share of freight traffic has declined from 42% in 1952 to only 6% today.
Coal traffic is down 2% through the first five months of 2007 amid a general slump of freight traffic.
It is now the third busiest airport in the world in terms of freight traffic, with 3, 227, 914 metric tons handled every year.
Moreover, continuing shift in freight traffic from air to the sea, driven by higher fuel prices is not helping the air-cargo industry at all.
Buffett is particularly jazzed about his acquisition last year of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which is enjoying a strong rebound in profits and freight traffic.
Part of the M20 in Kent remains closed as police and port officials continue to regulate freight traffic heading for Dover and the Channel Tunnel.
The backlog prompted the closure of the M20 between the Maidstone and Ashford turn-offs to allow for the complex operation to shift non-freight traffic off the motorway and onto the A20 to make room for the hundreds of lorries waiting to board ferries and trains for France.
An increase in traditional freight-train traffic was slowing up rail service, so potatoes that were top-grade when they were loaded in Idaho were mashed--and not by design--when they arrived in Philadelphia.
Distrust of the GDP numbers has prompted Capital Economics, a research firm based in London, to create its own proxy of economic activity, which includes electricity output, domestic freight volumes, cargo traffic at ports, passenger transport and floor area under construction.
The Americans are happy to sign, but the British are reluctant to conclude agreement on freight without a deal on passenger traffic as well because they are concerned to protect British Airways's transatlantic passenger traffic.
Although the company did not release financial details of how much it makes from Eurostar traffic, as opposed to freight, a spokesman said the passenger service made up the "lion's share" of rail revenues.
Weekly traffic reports also show intermodal freight, or the system of putting tractor-trailer boxes on trains for more efficient cross-country transport, was up 4.4% in the week ending Oct. 1, and up 1.8% so far this year.
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America's rail advantages again began to shine compared with the nationally regulated carriers of Europe, where freight plays a secondary role to passenger traffic (the reverse is true in America, where passenger rail is still a poorly served and money-losing industry).
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The planned bridge, some 40km south-west of the capital, is designed to carry four lanes for traffic, as well as a freight railway and a gas pipeline.
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