STB: 2020 Railroad Cost of Capital Set at 7.89%
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefThe Surface Transportation Board decided on Aug. 4, 2021 that the annual cost of capital for the railroad industry was 7.89% for 2020. This figure represents the Board’s Office of Economics estimate of the average rate of return needed to persuade investors to provide capital to the freight rail industry.
![“Thanks to Secretary Pete [Buttigieg], USDOT, the Federal Railroad Administration and all our partners for making the S-Line passenger rail a reality!!” NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a July 1 LinkedIn post. “Thanks to the hard work of our NCDOT team we broke ground on the first construction project in the Raleigh to Wake Forest segment, a $19M project to grade separate Durant Road 7 months after the grant announcement!!” (Photograph Courtesy of Joey Hopkins)](https://www.railwayage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/slinelead-315x168.png)
