BNSF Railway Reports $3.6 Billion 2026 Capital Plan

For the week ending January 24, 2026, total U.S. rail traffic reached 481,708 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 6.0% compared to the same period in the previous year. The volume change was driven by a 13.7% rise in carloads, which totaled 214,784 units, while intermodal volume of 266,924 containers and trailers showed a minimal 0.5% increase.

All ten carload commodity groups tracked by the Association of American Railroads registered year-over-year gains. Specific commodity increases included a 34.6% rise in nonmetallic minerals, a 17.3% rise in chemicals, and a 12.7% rise in coal shipments.

Concurrent with these traffic reports, BNSF Railway has detailed a $3.6 billion capital expenditure plan for 2026. The program allocates $2.8 billion for maintaining the company’s core network and related assets. The remainder is designated for strategic expansion projects.

Key expansion initiatives within the BNSF plan include continued work on the Barstow International Gateway in California and preliminary development of a new intermodal facility near Phoenix, Arizona. The plan also funds yard capacity expansions at facilities in Galesburg, Illinois, and Winslow, Arizona.

For the first three weeks of 2026, cumulative U.S. rail volume was 1,497,550 carloads and intermodal units, a 5.5% increase from 2025. In a comparison of North American weekly carload traffic, Canadian railroads reported a 0.6% decrease, while Mexican railroads reported a 34.8% increase for the same period.