Class I railway

In the United States and Canadian railroad industry, Class I refers to the largest railroad companies. Officially, to be classified as a Class I railroad, the company must have over $504M in annual revenue.

Six railroad companies are officially classified as Class I railroads:

• BNSF Railway (BNSF)
• CSX (CSX)
• Canadian National (CN)
• Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC)
• Norfolk Southern (NS)
• Union Pacific (UP)

Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific announced in later 2025 plans to merge, which would create the first actual transcontinental railroad in the United States (both CN and CPKC operate across all of Canada). The application was denied by the Surface Transportation Board in early 2026; however, the companies announced plans to file a revised application.

Amtrak and VIA Rail would qualify under revenue standards as Class I railroads, but as they are primarily passenger railroads with limited package hauling services, they are not classified as such. Similarly, Ferromex (Mexico's largest railroad company) would also qualify, except that it does not own or operate trackage in the United States.