A weekly view of rail service.
Follow a railroad’s train speed, terminal dwell and operating activity over time, using its reports to the Surface Transportation Board.
Four measures · Eight reviewed weeksWeeks ending July 24–September 11, 2026. Earlier history is not yet available. Source notes accompany the reported values.
Loading weekly service data…
Weekly snapshot
Values reported by Norfolk Southern to STB · Changes calculated by RailStats.orgSelect one to four cards to compare measures. One measure shows original units; two or more show relative change.
Coverage: weeks ending July 24–September 11, 2026. Earlier history has not yet been validated for this view.
Swipe horizontally to see the full chart.
Trains held: reported causesCrew, locomotive power and other
Average trains holding per day
Reported values · Weekly average
How to read this
- Why a decimal?
- Norfolk Southern uses 6 a.m. observations, with a four-hour in-route threshold and a separate origin-terminal process. Reported totals and component sums can differ; the reason is unconfirmed.
- What does “Crew” mean here?
- It is the railroad’s reported cause category. This report does not provide the specific circumstances behind each hold.
- What does the number leave out?
- It does not measure hours of delay or count all unique trains delayed during the week.
Reported trains held over time
Swipe horizontally to see all reporting weeks.
Weekly values by reported cause
| Week ending | Crew | Locomotive power | Other | Total | Official source |
|---|
Selected-week details by train type
| Train type | Crew | Locomotive power | Other | Reported total | Railroad note |
|---|
Reporting details and limitations
Trains held is a reported daily average, not a weekly count of unique delayed trains. The three reported causes are crew, locomotive power and other. Collection methods differ across railroads.
Norfolk Southern uses 6 a.m. observations, with a four-hour in-route threshold and a separate origin-terminal process. Reported totals and component sums can differ; the reason is unconfirmed.
Exact reported values and calculated changes
Source review notes
Charts preserve the individual workbook’s reported values and precision. Differences between totals and their components are disclosed without adjusting the figures. Missing values remain unavailable, not zero. The original sources are linked for each week.
Terminal dwell, by location
Average hours at the ten terminals listed in the selected Norfolk Southern report. The terminal list can change over time. Cars on run-through trains are excluded. Locations stay in source order; this is not a terminal ranking.
The system average is reported separately. It is not calculated here by averaging these ten locations.
Know what each number measures.
This page uses eight individual weekly STB workbooks, checked against the consolidated reference. Sources were retrieved September 20, 2026. Reporting periods and file dates are shown separately.
Open selected official workbook ↗STB Rail Service Data page ↗Reported values and calculated changes
The four measures come from the “Rail Service (Item Nos. 1–6)” worksheet: system train speed (B13), system terminal dwell (B27), total cars online (B38), and total trains holding (E59).
Weekly change = selected week − preceding week. Percent change = weekly change ÷ preceding week × 100. A zero or unavailable prior value leaves the percentage unavailable. Displayed values are rounded; calculations use source precision.
When two or more measures are selected, index = reported value ÷ value in the first displayed week × 100. The baseline is the same reporting week for every selected measure and resets when the displayed starting week changes. A zero or missing starting value leaves that measure’s index unavailable. Original units remain in the cards and table. An increase is not automatically an improvement, and shared movement does not establish cause.
What these measures do—and do not—tell you
Train speed is an operating measure, not an end-to-end delivery promise. Terminal dwell describes time at terminals and is separate from train speed. Cars online is a weekly average, not carloads originated or delivered. Trains held is an average number per day, not a weekly total.
More or less activity is not automatically better or worse service. No composite score or national average is calculated.
Coverage and source limitations
This explorer offers four reviewed measures for eight weeks. Grayed-out cards identify measures unavailable in the loaded coverage. Individual reporting does not establish cross-railroad comparability.
Other railroads have eight reviewed weeks of all four measures in their individual views. The comparison tab has a separate, bounded methodology review. CN is available individually while its terminal-time treatment needs clarification for comparisons.
Reporting populations and terminal lists can change. This review does not establish historical continuity beyond the eight weeks shown. Source notes explain precision differences and non-additive totals.
Individual measures: methodology and source notes · Download data and source records (JSON)