Editing Railroad classes (section)

{{Short description|US classification system for railroads}}
{{distinguish|Track class}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
[[File:US railway map.webp|250px|thumb|Class 1 railroads with [[Intermodal freight transport#Railways and intermodal terminals|intermodal terminals]] and [[Maritime transport|maritime]] [[Roll-on/roll-off|RoRo]] ports]]
'''Railroad classes''' are the system by which [[Rail freight transport|freight railroads]] are designated in the [[United States]]. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the [[Surface Transportation Board]] in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$504,803,294 for Class I carriers and US$40,384,263 for Class II carriers. (Smaller carriers were Class III by default.)

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 in Canada and [[Mexico]].

In addition, the national passenger railroad in the United States, [[Amtrak]], would qualify as Class I if it were a freight carrier, as would Canada's [[Via Rail]] passenger service. [[Mexico]]'s [[Ferromex]] freight railroad would also qualify as Class I, but it does not operate within the United States.