North American railroad companies by revenue 2023

Union Pacific Railroad was the leading U.S. class I freight railroad company in 2023, generating just under 23.87 billion U.S. dollars in operating revenue. 

Union Pacific Railroad leads the market

Union Pacific focuses on hauling freight like coal, industrial, chemical or agricultural products. In 2022, the company generated some 23.16 billion U.S. dollars in freight revenue and employed more than 30,700 people in that year. Its main competitor, BNSF, was second on the list in terms of operating revenue in that year, generating around 23.87 billion U.S. dollars in operating revenue from transporting freight commodities such as coal, industrial or agricultural products.

U.S. rail industry

U.S. railroads as well as their competitors in Canada are among the leading railway companies in the world. The United States has one of the longest railroad networks worldwide. In 2016, U.S. railroads transported some 17.7 billion tons of freight, a volume which was greatly impacted by the economic slowdown and dip in demand in the sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Rail freight traffic rapidly dipped by over 16 percent between January and April 2020, before slowly rebounding through 2021. Despite this setback, demand is expected to grow; by 2040, more than 24 billion tons of freight will be hauled via U.S. railroads.