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Freight railroads in the United States are classified by the Association of American Railroads as Class I, Class II and Class III (also called Classes 1, 2 and 3) in terms of size. The classification has always been by means of annual operating revenue; the exact revenues required to be in each class have varied through the years since they have adjusted for inflation. There was a time when one million dollars annual operating revenue was the definition, but that was back when a million dollars was real money.
As of late 2004, a Class 1 railroad has an operating revenue exceeding $277.7 million. The exact setting of the cut-off figure has always been as much a political decision as anything else; there have always been rumors of the powerful Class 1 companies voting to increase the cut-off to deny an upstart membership of their exclusive "club".
The current Class I United States railroads are:
Three Canadian railways and two Mexican railroads would fit the definition if they were U.S. companies:
History
| Fiscal year
| Cutoff
| Railroads
| Changes from previous year
|
| 1984 | |
AGS,
AMTK,
ATSF,
BLE,
BM,
BN,
BO,
CG,
CN,
CNTP,
CNW,
CO,
CP,
CR,
DH,
DMIR,
EJE,
FEC,
FXE,
GTW,
ICG,
KCS,
MILW,
MKT,
MP,
NW,
PLE,
SBD,
SOO,
SOU,
SP,
SSW,
UP,
WP
|
| 1995 | | ATSF, BNSF, CR, CSXT, GTW, IC, KCS, NS, SOO, SP, UP
|
| 1996 | $255.9 million | BNSF, CR, CSXT, GTW, IC, KCS, NS, SOO, UP
|
| 2000 | $256.4 million | BNSF, CSXT, GTW, IC, KCS, NS, SOO, UP | CN took over IC; IC continued to report as a separate company in 2000
CR was split into CSX and NS
|
| 2002 | $266.7 million | BNSF, CN, CP, CSXT, FXE, GTW, IC, KCS, NS, SOO, TFM, UP
|
| 2004 | $277.7 million | BNSF, CN, CP, CSXT, FXE, GTW, KCS, NS, SOO, TFM, UP
|
Consolidations
Over the years, many Class I railroads have merged to stave off bankruptcy or simply to increase profits. The following is a list of consolidations that have merged at least one Class 1 railroad into a larger one:
See also
| Current (operating) Class I railroads of North America
|
|
AMTK,
BNSF,
CN,
CP,
CSXT,
FXE,
KCS,
NS,
TFM,
UP,
VIA
|
| Former or fallen flag Class I railroads of North America
|
|
ACL,
AGS,
ATSF,
BAR,
BLE,
BM,
BN,
BO,
CBQ,
CG,
CGW,
CNTP,
CNW,
CO,
CR,
CRIP,
CV,
DH,
DMIR,
DRGW,
EJE,
FEC,
GMN,
GN,
GTW,
IC,
ICG,
LA,
LAT,
LN,
MEC,
MILW,
MKT,
MP,
NKP,
NNE,
NOTM,
NW,
NYC,
PC,
PLE,
PM,
PRR,
SAL,
SBD,
SCL,
SOO,
SOU,
SP,
SSW,
STLH,
TNO,
TP,
VGN,
WAB,
WP
YMV
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References
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