BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, 33,400 miles (53,800 km) of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.
Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 stations on 11 rail lines. It is the fourth busiest commuter rail system in the United States by ridership and the largest and busiest commuter rail system outside the New York City metropolitan area. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 31,894,900, or about 163,100 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024. The estimated busiest day for Metra ridership occurred on November 4, 2016—the day of the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series victory rally, with a record 460,000+ passengers.
The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, headquartered in Bedford Park, Illinois, is the largest switching terminal railroad in the United States. It is co-owned by the six Class I railroads of the United States — BNSF, Canadian National, CPKC, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific — each of which uses the switching and interchange facilities of the BRC. Owner lines and other railroads bring their trains to the Belt Railway to be separated, classified, and re-blocked into new trains for departure. The BRC also provides rail terminal services to approximately 100 local manufacturing industries. The company employs about 440 people, including its own police force.
A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company.
The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II regional railroad operating in the central United States. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The BNSF Line is a Metra commuter rail line operated by the BNSF Railway in Chicago and its western suburbs, running from Chicago Union Station to Aurora, Illinois through the Chicago Subdivision. In 2010, the BNSF Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership of the 11 Metra lines. While Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, the BNSF line's color on Metra timetables is "Cascade Green," in honor of the Burlington Northern Railroad.
The St. Charles Air Line is a rail line in Chicago, Illinois, partially owned by the BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad (UP), and Canadian National Railway (CN).
The Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad was the owner of Dearborn Station in Chicago and the trackage leading to it. It was owned equally by five of the railroads using it to reach the terminal, and kept those companies from needing their own lines into the city. With the closure of Dearborn Station in 1971 and the Calumet steel mills in 1985, the railroad was gradually downgraded until 1994 when it became a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation.
The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is a Class III switching and terminal railroad that handles traffic in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is co-owned by five of the six Class I railroads that reach the city.
Joliet Union Station is an inactive Beaux-Arts train station in downtown Joliet, Illinois, built in 1912. Union Station was constructed as part of a large improvement project for the six railroads serving Joliet, which converged on the city as an important rail transportation hub just outside Chicago. At its peak, Union Station served over 100 intercity trains per day, with additional commuter and interurban service.
OmniTRAX, Inc. is a transportation and transportation infrastructure holding company based in Denver, Colorado, in the United States. It primarily owns or operates railroads, with a network of 25 regional and shortline railroads in 12 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. It is one of the largest privately owned railroad companies in the United States. The firm also invests in, develops, and operates ports, multimodal transportation terminals, and industrial parks.
The Burlington Junction Railway is a Class III short line railroad which was chartered in 1985. Originally operating on the southernmost 3 miles (4.8 km) of the former Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway mainline in Burlington, Iowa after abandonment by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it provides short freight hauling, switching operations, locomotive repair, and transloading services, the latter currently handling over 3,000 carloads a year. Typical commodity types transported include chemicals and fertilizer. The BJRY's primary interchange partner is the BNSF Railway.
The Northern Transcon, a route operated by the BNSF Railway, traverses the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route was originally part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway systems, merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad system in 1970.
The Manufacturers' Junction Railway is a shortline railroad in Cicero, Illinois. Originally a subsidiary of Western Electric used to switch their Hawthorne Works, after the plants were phased out it was sold to OmniTRAX, a company offering railroad management and other services.
The California Zephyr is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area, via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At 2,438 miles (3,924 km), it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall after the Texas Eagle's triweekly continuation from San Antonio to Los Angeles, with travel time between the termini taking approximately 511⁄2 hours. Amtrak claims the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada. The modern train is the second iteration of a train named California Zephyr; the original train was privately operated and ran on a different route through Nevada and California.
The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad LLC is an American Class III railroad operating in Mississippi, Kansas and Oklahoma. It uses the name and the most recent corporate identity of the first Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (1852–1980).
The Illinois Northern Railroad was an industrial switching railroad serving Chicago's southwest side. From their yard at 26th St. and Western Ave. the line went southwest to the Santa Fe Railway's Corwith Yard, connecting with most major area railroads and serving on-line customers on the way. They also leased and switched track east of their yard. Incorporated in 1901, it was merged into the Santa Fe Railway in 1975.
The Chicago and Illinois Western Railroad was an industrial switching railroad serving the west side of Chicago and southwest Cook County. From a connection with a now defunct north–south railroad line near 31st Blvd. and Western Ave. it went west along 33rd St. to Cicero. Just before Cicero Ave. it turned south and roughly paralleled Cicero Ave. to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. At the canal it turned west and paralleled the canal and then the Des Plaines River to Hodgkins. Incorporated in 1903, it was merged into the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in 1984. In 2020 a short segment is used by the Canadian National Railway and the Cicero Central Railroad.
