Right now there is no coal from Utah and Colorado being exported to China nor has there been any for over 3 years. US coal has always been a fall back for other coal which is mined closer and cheaper The price of Austrailian coal is much lower delivered to Japan or China. Port Stockton and Richmond just had one ship which is not going to China with none on the horizon until maybe June. So 9 millions tonsils very optimistic With the current Administrations push for "clean energy" coal is on a downhill slide and the EPA makes it hard to mine and ship and burn. The price of natural gas right now is killing coal fired plants in the US with many mines shutting down. Many cities in California ban the use of coal for electricity boy oh boy when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine I wonder how those folks in San Francisco will charge the IPads, I phones and the electric cars. It's like oil any thing carbon based is bad and evil Railroads as common carriers must take any shipment tendered to them so if there is a market for the coal the railroad is required to haul it to the ports.
On a side note on the Utah end those folks still need to build about 65 miles of new railroad to reach their mines or truck 9 millions tons to the UP get loaded and moved which makes the economics suspect.