Industry Information
Freight railroads have played a transformational role in America’s development—revolutionizing transportation and spurring this country’s economic development for more than 175 years. America’s freight railroads today serve nearly every industrial, wholesale, retail, and resource-based sector of the economy, operating over a network of nearly 140,000 miles. Railroads carry 43 percent of intercity domestic freight – more than any other mode of transportation. Together with their counterparts in Canada and Mexico, America’s freight railroads form the world’s most efficient, lowest-cost freight rail system. In addition to providing shippers with an affordable and efficient way to move their products, freight railroads provide enormous public benefits, including increased fuel efficiency, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and less highway congestion.
The overwhelming majority of U.S. freight railroads are privately owned and operate on tracks that are owned, built, and maintained by the railroads themselves. From 1980 to 2010, railroads spent some $480 billion of their own funds on locomotives, freight cars, tracks, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure.
Class I railroads account for 67% of the industry’s mileage, 89 percent of its employees, and 93 percent of its freight revenue. They operate in 44 states and the District of Columbia concentrate largely on long-haul, high-density intercity traffic lanes. There are seven Class I railroads: BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Grand Trunk Corporation (owned by Canadian National), Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Soo Line (owned by Canadian Pacific), and Union Pacific.
Regional railroads have revenue of between $40 million and the Class I threshold or operate at least 350 miles of road and have revenues of at least $20 million. There were 23 regional railroads in 2009. They typically operate 400 to 650 miles in two or three states and have 100 to 350 employees.
Local railroads are line haul railroads that do not qualify as a Class I or Regional railroad. Seventy-five percent of those railroads operate fewer than 100 miles of railroad line. There were 339 local line haul railroads in 2009.
Switching and Terminal (S&T) Railroads primarily provide switching and/or terminal services. Rather than point-to-point transportation, they usually perform pick-up and delivery services within a port or industrial area, or move traffic between other railroads. In 2009, there were 194 S&T railroads.
For more information on America's freight railroads click here (PDF).