How Is Coal Transported?
Trains, barges, trucks, and conveyors transport coal. Nearly 60 percent of all coal is transported by railroad. Barges are used to move coal along the nation’s 25,000 miles of waterways, and trucks and conveyors move smaller amounts of coal over shorter distances. There is even a coal slurry pipeline connecting a mine in Arizona with a power plant in Nevada. With this method, coal is ground to a powder, mixed with water to form a slurry, and pumped through a pipeline.
