Delivering on our service promise: 2025 one of BNSF’s best years
By SUSAN GREEN
Staff Writer
Thanks to two focus areas – dwell reduction and velocity increases – and our operating teams’ commitment, 2025 was one of BNSF’s best in service. Here’s how we did it and what a few of our customers have to say about our progress.
Dwell refers to the average amount of time a railcar spends in a terminal before it’s transported to its next stop. When it comes to dwell, the lower the better. Velocity refers to the average miles per day of a railcar or locomotive; the higher, the better. Both measures are indicators of the efficiency of our rail network.
Merchandise trains can be affected most by dwell improvements. Unlike a unit train where railcars carry the same commodity directly from one origin to destination, merchandise trains are assembled in terminals. They’re made up of single cars with multiple types of freight bound for multiple locations.
Here’s how we improved service for these customers last year.
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In our merchandise train network, we reduced dwell by 13% to historic lows in 2025.
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Looking at dwell month by month in 2025, we broke dwell records every month.
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Last year on average, every railcar on our network spent three fewer hours dwelling at a terminal compared with the previous year.
“BNSF’s service has been consistent and reliable, and clear communication has strengthened our planning and day-to-day operations,” said Ryan Lawler, area president for the Pacific Northwest at Republic Services, which provides sustainable recycling and waste solutions. “We look forward to building on this momentum in 2026.”
Velocity is affected by dwell improvements as well because when we improve our capability to move cars through our terminals, we make big gains on the road. For 2025, velocity (in miles per day) increased by about 10% across our network year over year. Additionally, as we built momentum across our network, we improved the efficiency of our resources. Trains holding was cut in half.
To look at that another way, when we run the network so efficiently, it adds capacity – room to grow. For 2025, that capacity increase allowed us to deliver 60,000-plus additional days of service across 615 customer locations.
Looking at our intermodal service, we also excelled. Here are some examples:
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At our Southern California on-dock facilities at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where containers are loaded directly from ships to trains, we surpassed our previous yearly record set in 2024 by more than 125,000 lifts.
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Thanks to our employees and parcel customers working together, we delivered a Perfect Peak with more than 80 million packages.
“BNSF’s approach to service consistency, innovation and network expansion makes them an essential partner as we work to deliver scalable, future-ready intermodal solutions,” said Spencer Frazier, executive vice president of Sales and Marketing at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. “Their leadership positions the entire industry for growth.”
Our agricultural and energy customers also received exceptional service in 2025:
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For the full year, we moved record volumes of corn, oilseeds/meals and ethanol.
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In November and December 2025, the export deliveries in the Pacific Northwest were the highest for both months in the past five years.
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Despite it being the crunch time of year, our shuttle trains operated exceptionally in the fourth quarter, with their velocity running 17% greater than the same 2024 period.
“BNSF’s strong service consistency and reliable transit times have reinforced our rail supply chain and supported increased throughput across our operations,” said Anil Nath, director, Rail Transportation, Global Commercial Operations with P66. “We look forward to building on this momentum into 2026.”
2025 is a year for which we’re very proud, but we’re not resting on our laurels. We’ve rolled into 2026 with intensity, and we’re focused on continuing to deliver safe, reliable, consistent service for our customers.
