Rail
Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF, Arkansas Midland Railroad, Little Rock Western and Amtrak serve the Little Rock area with freight and passenger rail service.
The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) North Little Rock locomotive overhaul and maintenance facilities are the largest of their kind on UPRR and among the largest in the world. The Jenks Shop locomotive complex employs more than 1,100 skilled and dedicated workers, who perform heavy maintenance on a fleet of 7,000 locomotives that pull more than 2,000 trains each day throughout the western two-thirds of the United States.
The Phase I service facility services about 2,000 locomotives each month, dispensing 4 million gallons of diesel fuel and 30,000 gallons of lube oil. The Phase II Running Repair Facility repairs about 700 locomotives per month with just over 300 employees.
BNSF Railway serves more than half the states in the U.S. In addition, it has operations in two Canadian provinces and rail and intermodal connections with Mexico, Asia and Europe.
BNSF has close ties to the states it serves and works to keep officials up-to-date about the vital role it plays in intra- and interstate commerce.
State and regional strategic transportation plans include responding to future highway construction limitations by using the opportunity to increase rail transportation solutions without major and expensive capital investments.
Using assets for the greater public good, while preserving the high value to customers, is central to bringing progressive and resourceful solutions to the people BNSF serves.
The Arkansas Midland Railroad operates four separate former Union Pacific Railroad branch lines in the state of Arkansas. Arkansas Midland Railroad now handles over 35,000 railcars annually over more than 112 route miles of track and directly serves industries in North Little Rock, Hot Springs, Jones Mill, Malvern and several other communities in the state. Handling from single cars to unit trains, local switching service is tailored specifically to customers’ needs.
Operations serve over 52 customers in a wide variety of industries – including the world’s most efficient aluminum rolling mill, numerous chemical plants, lumber mills, saw mills, a pulp and paper plant, a stone quarry, a plastics extruder, cable manufacturers, feed mills and hatcheries. These industries produce products moving to destinations all over North America and the world. Interchange connections with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) at North Little Rock, Malvern, Lexa and McGehee are seamless
and the excellent relationship between Arkansas Midland and UP allows customers to be more competitive in the marketplace by receiving improved local switching service plus the superior market coverage of UP, the largest railroad in the United States.
In order to allow the many local industries that do not have direct rail access to take advantage of the railroad’s service, Arkansas Midland also provides warehousing, trucking services, indoor and outdoor storage facilities, and transloading services through our affiliate, Railroad Distribution Services (RDS). Commodities such as lumber, plywood, OSB, aluminum, fertilizer, drilling mud, and plastics are handled by RDS.
The Little Rock Western Railway serves Little Rock and cities in the western part of Arkansas south of the Arkansas River. The Little Rock Western has a direct interchange into the Union Pacific main yard in North Little Rock.
For more information, Joey Dean (Vice President, Economic Development; Executive Director, Metro Little Rock Alliance), 501.377.6006.