Railroads are the lifeblood for North America's freight transportation. There are seven major railroads in the United States (Class I railroads) and over 500 shortline and regional railroads (Class II & Class III railroads).
This is an interactive map of the major freight railroads, also known as class I railroads in the United States. They include CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF), Union Pacific (UP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Canadian National Railway (CN), and the Kansas City Southern (KCS).
As of 2020, Texas was the U.S. state with the largest railroad mileage, reaching over 10,400 miles. It represented around 7.6 percent of the total mileage for the United States.
Union Pacific's Bailey Yard, located in North Platte, is the largest railroad classification yard in the world. Named in honor of former Union Pacific President Edd H. Bailey, the massive yard covers 2,850 acres, reaching a total length of eight miles.
Chicago is the largest rail hub in the U.S. and third largest intermodal container/trailer port in the world, following only Singapore and Hong Kong. There are over 60 railroad companies that operate trains in and through Illinois, which is the highest in the nation.
The US rail network, with an operating route length over 250,000km, is the biggest in the world. Freight lines constitute about 80% of the country's total rail network, while the total passenger network spans about 35,000km.
In the United States, the Surface Transportation Board categorizes rail carriers into Class I, Class II, and Class III based on carrier's annual revenues.
There are seven major railroads in the United States (Class I railroads) and over 500 shortline and regional railroads (Class II & Class III railroads). These lines are critical for shippers needing an economical solution to long-haul transportation. See our interactive maps below.
Amtrak is a federally chartered corporation, with the federal government as majority stockholder. The Amtrak Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Amtrak is operated as a for-profit company, rather than a public authority.
Planning a trip to all the states by train is quite the endeavor. Amtrak has stops in 46 states - but many of the trips originate out of main hubs in Chicago and northeast coast cities like New York and Washington D.C. Therefore visiting the 46 states in one trip would require some serious backtracking.
American railways were also built on a wider gauge (the distance between the rails), which allows for larger and heavier trains. As a result, American freight railways are much more efficient than their European counterparts, carrying almost three times as much cargo per mile of track.
The largest rail company in the world is Deutsche Bahn, with a revenue of $47.72 billion. As of 2021, the global rail industry has a market size of $295.80 billion.
The world's busiest passenger station, with a passenger throughput of 3.5 million passengers per day (1.27 billion per year), is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. The world's station with most platforms is Grand Central Terminal in New York City with 44 platforms.
No commuter rail. Amtrak for inter-city. No metro or light rail. Columbus is actually the largest city in the USA with no passenger train service of any kind whatsoever.
Amtrak's Acela, which reaches 150 mph (240 km/h) over 49.9 mi (80.3 km) of track and Brightline, which runs at 125 mph (201 km/h) in a dedicated ROW between Orlando and Cocoa, are the US's only high-speed rail services.
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed the Commodore, was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping.