Two Pennsylvania short line railroads have joined in the SmartWay program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The railroads are East Penn Railroad, which operates 110 miles of track southeastern Pennsylvania, and Tyburn Railroad, which operates a transloading facility and terminal switching operation in Morrisville.
The SmartWay program collects efficiency and air quality data from its member railroads and aggregates that information in five ranked performance ranges.
In a news release, program officials described their mission as providing “a comprehensive and well-recognized system for tracking, documenting and sharing information about fuel use and freight emissions across supply chains.”
The program also said it helps “companies identify and select more efficient freight carriers, transport modes, equipment, and operational strategies to improve supply chain sustainability and lower costs from goods movement; and supports global energy security and offsets environmental risk for companies and countries.”
SmartWay has nearly 4,000 members, which include shippers; logistics companies; and truck, rail, barge and multimodal carriers.