Railroads Today

MtCanan rail

Today American Railroading can be divided into a number of sections. There are today 31 Class 1 railroads such as the Santa Fe and the Norfolk and Southern each earning more then 92 million Dollars, In addition there are 31 Regional such as the Providence and Worcester each earn over 40 million or operate over 350 miles of track. In addition there are over 200 short line roads such as the Aberdeen and Rockfish in the US. The Class 1 railroads operate 81 percent of the total US mileage, employ 90 percent of the work force, and collect 91% of the revenues. Amtrak, the Government Corporation that provides passenger service, provides almost all passenger service. Amtrak has been remarkably successful, in both operating the North East Corridor profitably and attracting passengers on its long haul routes that are often booked months in advance. Unfortunately Amtrak still seems to require large government subsidies to operate. Finally one must take note of the large commuter railroads such as the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York, carry millions of commuters a year.

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