Union Pacific became the safest U.S. Class 1 railroad in employee safety for the third consecutive year. The top-performing railroad had a 0.79 reportable injury rate in 2017, according to Federal Railroad Administration data.
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This unwavering commitment to safety is why CP led the industry for the 17th consecutive year in 2022, with the lowest Federal Railroad Administration reportable train accident frequency (per million train miles) among Class 1 railroads in North America.
What is the safest railway in the world? Japan's Shinkansen high-speed rail network opened for business on 1 October 1964. Since then the system has carried nearly 7 billion passengers without a single fatality due to collision.
The history of the Class 1 railroad traces back to our country's first common-carrier, the Baltimore & Ohio. During the next century more than 140 such systems came to serve this great country. After World War II a series of mergers, bankruptcies, and takeovers reduced the number to the current seven.
There are six Class I freight railroad companies in the United States: BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Canadian National Railway, CPKC, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad. Canadian National also operates in Canada and CPKC operates Canada and Mexico.
With the merger of Canada Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway, the Class I railroads will be much closer in size to each other now that the two smallest railroads have combined.
Truck crashes tend to be local and less dramatic than a pile of derailed train cars on fire, even if they're deadlier. In fact, federal data shows that rail has had far fewer incidents, deaths and damage when moving hazardous materials in the U.S. than trucks.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), since 1975, there has been an average of 1.3 train accidents per year involving fatalities. Compare that with 2,584 aviation accidents and 700 bus accidents over the same time period.
Safety tips:Trains are quieter and faster than you think, can run on any track, at any time, from either direction and do not run on schedules. Walking on or beside railroad tracks is illegal. The only safe place to cross tracks is at designated public crossings with a crossbuck, flashing red lights or a gate.
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.
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).
There are six Class I freight railroad companies in the United States: BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Canadian National Railway, CPKC, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad. Canadian National also operates in Canada and CPKC operates Canada and Mexico.
CSX Transportation (it's name deriving with the “C” standing for Chessie, “S” for Seaboard, and “X” an all-encompassing multiplication symbol that “together we are so much more”) is the railroad division of CSX Corporation. The latter was originally created in 1980 as a holding company for several subsidiaries.