The advantages of rail carriers also seems to be noticed by investors. Despite the rest of the U.S. stock market being down in 2008, Burlington Northern is up 26% this year and Union Pacific is up 32%. Similarly, European and Asian countries are investing billions into passenger and freight rail infrastructure.
One ETF that could potentially capitalize on a new golden era of railroads is the iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average (IYT).
IYT is up 14.4% year-to-date and four of its top 10holdings are major rail freight carriers in North America. Burlington Northern accounts for 11.2% of the fund, CSX is 5.2%, Norfolk Southern is 5.3%, and Union Pacific is 9.3% of this ETF.