US Freight transportation
The US Transportation Energy book states the following figures for Freight transportation in 2004:
| Transportation mode | Fuel consumption | |
|---|---|---|
| BTU per short ton mile | kJ per tonne kilometre | |
| Class 1 Railroads | 341 | 246 |
| Domestic Waterbourne | 510 | 370 |
| Heavy Trucks | 3,357 | 2,426 |
| Air freight (aprox) | 9,600 | 6,900 |
PostArctica 
I liked these ones I saw a while ago. I think the
Energy consumed by means of transportation per passenger per kilometer.
Subcompact Car (1 person) – 2800
Autobus (at 50% capacity) – 800
Autobus (at 100% capacity) – 450
Tramway /SLR (50%) – 350
Train de banlieue (50%) – 300
Métro (40%) – 280
http://www.amt.qc.ca/corpo/documents/planstrategique/fichierpdf/Pl_strat_dec2003.pdf p7
They don’t give the energy unit. I seem to remember thinking it was kilojoules.
It’s odd that they cite the metro numbers at 40% capacity. Also it ignores that typical trips on each of these means of transport are decreasingly long-distance — meaning the metro is even more energy efficient because it promotes energy-efficient displacement patterns.
I look at the stats between trains and trucks, think of the video about how the automobile industry destroyed the railroads, tramlines, etc, and realize the evidence is overwhelming – what idiots decided trucks were more efficient at moving goods cross country? Must have been those teamsters’ scientists!