The classification of railroads in the U.S. as Class I, II or III was started by the Interstate Commerce Commission with its report for the year ending 30 June 1911.
Background [edit]
Initially Class I railroads were defined as railroads with annual operating revenue of at least $1 million, while Class III railroads had less than $100,000. (If a railroad slipped below the threshold for a period, it wouldn't necessarily be immediately demoted.) In 1925 the ICC showed 174 Class I, 282 Class II and 348 Class III railroads.
Today, the Surface Transportation Board is responsible for defining the bounds of each railroad class. The bounds are typically redefined every several years, to adjust for inflation and other factors.
Classification history [edit]
The initial $1 million criterion for a Class I railroad was used until January 1, 1956, when it increased to $3 million (equal to $25,332,925 today). In 1956 the ICC counted 113 Class I line-haul operating railroads (excluding "3 class I companies in systems") and 309 Class II (excluding "3 class II companies in systems"). The Class III category was dropped in 1956 but reinstated in 1978. By 1963 the number of Class I railroads had dropped to 102; by 1965 the cut-off had increased to $5 million (equal to $36,425,554 today), to $10 million in 1976 (equal to $40,345,029 today) and to $50 million in 1978 (equal to $175,994,898 today), at which point only 41 railroads were still Class I. In 1979 all switching and terminal railroads, even those with Class I or Class II revenues, were re-designated as Class III.
The Class II and Class III designations are now rarely used outside the rail transport industry. The Association of American Railroads typically divides non-Class I companies into three categories:
Classes [edit]
Any large freight railroad company in the United States, Mexico, or Canada is classified based on operating revenue. Railroads are classified as Class I, Class II, or Class III. The exact revenues required to be in each class have varied over time, and they are now continuously adjusted for inflation.
Class I [edit]
Current class I criteria [edit]
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) defines a Class I railroad in the United States as "having annual carrier operating revenues of $250 million or more" after adjusting for inflation using a Railroad Freight Price Index developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).[1] According to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), Class I railroads had minimum carrier operating revenues of $346.8 million (USD) in 2006,[2] $359 million (USD) in 2007,[3] $401.4 million (USD) in 2008[4] and $378.8 million (USD) in 2009.[5]
In Canada a Class I rail carrier, or a Class I rail carrier, is defined (as of 2004) as a company that has earned gross revenues exceeding $250 million (CAD) for each of the previous two years.
The establishment of the criteria in the United States has always been subjective, since different regulations apply to the different classes. In early 1991 both Montana Rail Link and Wisconsin Central asked the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to increase the minimum annual operating revenue criteria (then established at $93.5 million USD) in order to avoid being re-designated as Class I, due to increased administrative and legal costs resulting from different regulations.[6] This criterion was increased in 1992 to $250 million annually, which resulted in the Florida East Coast Railway having its status changed to Class II. Rail carriers with less than $20 million in revenue remained in Class III.[7]
Currently eleven railroads in North America are designated as Class I, eight of which operate in the United States.
- Canada, with no trackage in the United States
- Trackage in both the United States and Canada
- United States, with no trackage in Canada or Mexico
- Trackage in both the United States and Mexico
- Mexico, with no trackage in the United States
Class II [edit]
A Class II (Class 2) railroad in the United States is a mid-sized freight-hauling railroad, in terms of its operating revenue. As of 2006[update], a railroad with revenues greater than $20.5 million but less than $277.7 million for at least three consecutive years is considered a Class II railroad. Switching and terminal railroads are excluded from Class II status.
Railroads considered by the Association of American Railroads as "Regional Railroads" are typically Class II railroads.
Current class II criteria [edit]
The last major change of the upper bound for a Class II railroad was in 1992; this changed the Florida East Coast Railway from a Class I railroad to Class II.[8] A previous change in 1991 prevented two railroads, Montana RailLink and Wisconsin Central, from being classified as Class I railroads; this change was made at the request of the two railroads involved, as they did not wish to take on the extra cost and paperwork associated with Class I status.[9] Changes since have been adjustments for inflation.
Class III [edit]
A Class III railroad, or a shortline railroad, is a rail company with an annual operating revenue of less than $20 million (1991 dollars).[10] Class III railroads are typically local short line railroads, either serving a small number of towns and industries or haul cars for a larger railroad or few; many Class III railroads were once branch lines of larger railroads that were spun off, or portions of mainlines that had been abandoned. The majority of Class III railroads are owned by railroad holding companies, such as Genesee & Wyoming and the former company RailAmerica.
List of class III railroads by state [edit]
As of April 2013, the class III railroads in operation in the United States are:
-
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Interstate
| Railroad |
AAR rep. mark |
| Bay Line Railroad (AL and FL) |
BAYL |
| Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad |
CFE |
| Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad (IL and IN) |
CSS |
| Cimarron Valley Railroad (CO,KS, and OK) |
CVR |
| Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad (IL and IN) |
KBSR |
| Rail Link, Inc, (operates 26 short line railroads) |
RLIX |
| New York New Jersey Rail, LLC (NJ and NY) |
NYNJ |
| New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NJ, NY, and PA) |
NYSW |
| St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad (ME, NH, and VT) |
SLA |
| Utah Railway (CO and UT) |
UTAH |
| Watco Companies (owners of 17 short lines) |
WATX, WAMX |
| Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway (OK and TX) |
WTJR |
| Housatonic Railroad (MA, CT, and NY) |
HRRC |
Continuation of the class system today [edit]
In the United States, the Surface Transportation Board continues to use the designations of Class II and Class III since there are different labor regulations for the two classes.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ 49 CFR Part 1201, General Instrucutions 1-1, GPO, 2007
- ^ Association of American Railroads|AAR "Class I Railroad Statistics", April 21, 2008,
- ^ Association of American Railroads|AAR "Class I Railroad Statistics", November 18, 2008.
- ^ Association of American Railroads|AAR "Class I Railroad Statistics", May 24, 2010.
- ^ Association of American Railroads|AAR "Class I Railroad Statistics", October 29, 2010.
- ^ Arrivals and Departures, Trains March 1991
- ^ Arrivals and Departures, Trains November 1992
- ^ "Arrivals and Departures". Trains. November 1992.
- ^ Spriet, Ll; Campbell, Cb; Dyck, Dj (March 1991). "Arrivals and Departures". Trains (Free full text) 59 (3): 243–52. ISSN 0047-6374. PMID 1921515.
- ^ 49 CFR Part 1201, General Instructions 1-1, GPO, 2007
- Notes
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