How Rail Freight Compares to Road Freight
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Moving freight by rail generally uses considerably less energy per tonne carried over a given distance than moving the same freight by truck, largely because steel wheels on steel rails create far less rolling resistance than rubber tyres on a road surface, allowing a single train to move a very large load efficiently.
Rail freight tends to suit long distance, high volume movements of goods particularly well, such as bulk commodities travelling between major hubs, while road freight remains considerably more flexible for shorter distances and for the final leg of a delivery that a rail line simply cannot reach directly.
Many freight systems in practice combine both modes, using rail for the long haul portion of a journey and trucks for collection and final delivery at each end, an approach that captures much of rail's efficiency advantage while still retaining road transport's flexibility for reaching individual addresses and smaller destinations.