In order of 2010 operating revenue, they are:
1. Union Pacific: $17bnStill operator of the largest route network of any Class I, Union Pacific is also the only one able to trace its history back to the earliest years of the US railroads, having been formed in 1862 to build the eastern end of the historic Iowa to California trans-continental railroad. It was transformed, however, by its 1996 merger with Southern Pacific. Operating west of the Mississippi, UP depends heavily on hauling containers from west coast ports, on hauling coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and transporting mid-western grain and other bulk products.
2. BNSF: $16.8bnThe Burlington Northern and Santa Fe is currently most famous for being owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle, which bought it in 2009. However, the railroad, product of a 1995 merger between Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads, was already well-known in the industry for running a highly efficient railroad – which now rivals Union Pacific in revenue despite having a smaller network.
3. CSX: $10.6bnCSX, operator of the largest railroad network east of the Mississippi, depends heavily on the region’s industrial base for its traffic. The company divided Conrail, the formerly government-owned railroad company, with Norfolk Southern in a 1997 merger.
4. Norfolk Southern: $9.5bnOne of the most efficient railroads, Norfolk Southern has the smaller network of the two east-of-the-Mississippi Class Is but has routes more tightly focused on the main sources of traffic and has long generated better returns than its rivals. It is the most reliant of the Class Is on coal, handling coal produced in the Appalachians, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Much of it is exported through the company’s dedicated coal facility at Lamberts Point in Portsmouth, Virginia.
5. Canadian National: $8.38bnCanadian National operates a substantial network in the US, as well as its core trans-continental line linking Vancouver and Calgary to the main eastern Canadian population centers.
6. Canadian Pacific: $5.05bnCanadian Pacific, operating a network parallel to CN’s, is less profitable than its larger rival but gradually improving.
7. Kansas City Southern: $1.81bnSmallest of the US and Canadian Class Is, Kansas City Southern markets itself as “the Nafta railroad”, since its main routes run north to south, linking Canada to Mexico. It also has extensive operations in Mexico and operates the Panama Canal Railway in Panama.