Delaware

Transportation

The New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad, a portage route, was built in 1832; the state's first passenger line—the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad—opened six years later. As of 2000, there were 281 rail mi (452 km) of track. In 1998, Delaware's six railroads carried nearly 14.1 million tons of freight—54% of the rail tonnage originating from within the state were chemicals. Consolidated Rail and CSX are Delaware's main freight carriers. In the mid-1990s, Amtrak operated approximately 70 daily trains through Delaware and served both Newark and Wilmington. The Delaware Authority for Regional Transit (DART) provides state-subsidized bus service.

In 2000, the state had 5,779 mi (9,300 km) of public highways, roads, and streets. In the same year, there were 641,426 registered vehicles and 556,688 licensed drivers. Delaware's first modern highway—and the first dual highway in the US—running about 100 mi (160 km) from Wilmington to the southern border, was financed by industrialist T. Coleman du Pont between 1911 and 1924. The twin spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge connect Delaware highways to those in New Jersey; The Delaware Turnpike section of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway links the bridge system with Maryland. The Lewes–Cape May Ferry provides auto and passenger service between southern Delaware and New Jersey.

In 2000, New Castle, Delaware's chief port, handled 8.7 million tons of goods, followed by Wilmington, with a tonnage of 5.2 million tons that year. The Delaware River is the conduit for much of the oil brought by tanker to the US east coast.

Delaware had 45 airfields (29 airport, 15 heliports, 1 seaplane base) in 2002, of which Greater Wilmington Airport was the largest and busiest.