Class 2 “Regional” Railroads: Definition, List & Statistics
Last revised: August 9, 2026
By: Adam Burns
Between the six Class I freights and the hundreds of short lines sits a smaller but vital middle tier: the Class II regional railroad. Regionals are large enough to run multi-state or multi-hundred-mile line-haul service with modern motive power and welded-rail mains, yet small enough to stay close to industrial customers that Class I unit trains often bypass.
Ownership ranges from independents (such as Iowa Interstate and Reading & Northern) to holding-company properties (Watco’s Wisconsin & Southern, Genesee & Wyoming’s Buffalo & Pittsburgh and many others) and state-owned systems such as the Alaska Railroad. Roughly two dozen U.S. carriers typically sit in or near Class II status in any given year—the exact roster shifts with inflation thresholds, growth, and Class I acquisitions.
Iowa Interstate’s pair of Rock Island heritage units, ES44AC’s #513 and #516, lead eastbound freight CBBI through Silvis, Illinois on August 10, 2017. Doug Kroll photo.
Definition: STB Class II vs. AAR “Regional”
Two vocabularies often get mixed together. Keep them straight:
Surface Transportation Board (official revenue classes)
The STB classifies freights as Class I, II, or III by annual operating revenue, adjusted for inflation under 49 C.F.R. Part 1201. After the Board’s 2021 reset of the base year (from 1991 dollars to 2019 dollars), thresholds are higher than the old “$250 million / $20 million” ladder many printed sources still quote.
For 2025 (latest deflator factors published by the Board as of this revision):
- Class I: about $1.095 billion or more
- Class II: from about $49.1 million up to (but not including) the Class I floor
- Class III: below the Class II floor
Source: STB Economic Data — Revenue Deflators. Re-check EP 748 figures annually; they move with the railroad PPI deflator.
Older American-Rails and ASLRRA pages that still say Class II is “$39 million to $505 million (2016)” or similar are using a pre-reset scale. Treat 2025 STB numbers above as current for classification talk on this site.
Association of American Railroads / ASLRRA “regional” definition
Industry groups also use a practical size definition that does not always match pure STB revenue bands. ASLRRA summarizes a regional railroad as a line-haul carrier that is below the Class I revenue threshold and either:
- operates at least 350 route miles and earns at least about $20 million in revenue, or
- earns revenue between roughly $40 million and the Class I threshold regardless of mileage
That is why some well-known names are called “regionals” in trade talk even when a casual observer might call them large short lines—and why a few pure Class III switchers never get the regional label no matter how busy they are.
At a Glance
| Item | Detail (approximate; confirm sources) |
|---|---|
| STB Class II band (2025) | ~$49.1 million to ~$1.095 billion annual operating revenue |
| Typical U.S. Class II count | On the order of ~20 carriers (fluid) |
| Short line + regional combined (AAR/ASLRRA order of magnitude) | ~600+ freights; tens of thousands of route miles; first-/last-mile access for thousands of industries |
| Share of U.S. freight rail network | Class II + III often cited near 30% of mileage and ~10% of employees (AAR-style summaries) |
| Six Class I freights | BNSF, UP, CSX, NS, CN (U.S.), CPKC — see Class I overview |
The Federal Railroad Administration’s October 2014 capital-needs report (often still quoted for “21 regionals / 10,335 miles / $1.4 billion revenue”) is a useful historical snapshot, not a 2026 census. Prefer current AAR and ASLRRA fact sheets when you need a single public number.
An Appalachian & Ohio GP38-2 and its string of empty coal hoppers await a clear signal along the historic Baltimore & Ohio’s “West End” at Berryburg, West Virginia. Loyd Lowry photo.
How Today’s Regionals Were Born
Most of the modern regional map is a product of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. Deregulation made it far easier for Class Is to sell or spin off secondary mains and branches they no longer wanted to operate. Some sales were large enough to create Class II-scale systems from day one:
- Paducah & Louisville (1986) — former Illinois Central lines in western Kentucky
- Montana Rail Link (1987) — ex-Northern Pacific main across southern Montana (returned to BNSF operation January 1, 2024)
- Wheeling & Lake Erie (the modern W&LE) — rebuilt from former N&W / related properties in Ohio and Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin & Southern — revival of Milwaukee Road, Illinois Central, and C&NW branch country
- Reading & Northern — former PRR, Reading, LV, and CNJ secondary lines in eastern Pennsylvania
- Central Maine & Quebec (2014, from the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic / Bangor & Aroostook core) — sold to Canadian Pacific in 2020 and folded into the CP (now CPKC) system
Not every regional is a post-Staggers startup. Florida East Coast, New York, Susquehanna & Western, and (until its sale into CSX) historic New England systems under the Pan Am banner had roots stretching back a century or more.
Two Wheeling & Lake Erie GP35s, #2662 and #2679 sporting the red and orange livery, are busy at Rook Yard in Green Tree, Pennsylvania on April 9, 2005. Wade Massie photo.
Regional “Fallen Flags” and Class I Appetite
Successful regionals often become acquisition targets. Notable examples:
- Wisconsin Central (reborn 1987 on Milwaukee Road / Soo castoffs; later Green Bay & Western, Fox River Valley, Algoma Central) — purchased by Canadian National in 2001 after a decade of strong growth that flirted with Class I scale
- Gateway Western (ex-Chicago & Alton / CM&W territory) — later into Kansas City Southern
- Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern; Iowa, Chicago & Eastern — absorbed into Canadian systems (CN / CP) in the 2000s–2010s era of midwestern expansion
- Pan Am Railways — CSX completed acquisition June 1, 2022, expanding CSX deep into New England
- Montana Rail Link — BNSF resumed operation of the former MRL leased main January 1, 2024 (MRL as an independent operator ended)
The pattern is consistent: regionals prove a corridor, invest, and either remain independent niche champions or get reabsorbed when a Class I needs capacity, connectivity, or competitive position.
A pair of Florida East Coast ES44C4’s lead containers near St. Augustine, Florida on February 15, 2015. Warren Calloway photo.
What Regionals Look Like Today
Modern Class IIs often run new or nearly new six-axle road power, distributed power on heavy trains, and PTC where required—traits that make them easy to mistake for Class Is trackside. Holding companies such as Genesee & Wyoming and Watco have standardized paint schemes across many properties, while independents such as Iowa Interstate and Reading & Northern keep distinctive liveries and heritage programs that railfans still chase.
Traffic is a mix of local industrial switching and longer regional hauls: coal and coke where geology still supports it, aggregates, chemicals, paper and forest products, grain, automotive, and growing intermodal on corridors like FEC’s Florida main. Customer intimacy remains the regional advantage over pure Class I operating plans.
Wisconsin & Southern E9A #10-A leads a public excursion westbound near Woodman, Wisconsin on October 21, 2000. Doug Kroll photo.
Company Profiles on American-Rails.com
Featured Class II / large regional systems (status noted where recently changed):
- Buffalo & Pittsburgh (G&W)
- Central Oregon & Pacific
- Florida East Coast
- Indiana Rail Road
- Iowa Interstate
- Montana Rail Link (independent operations ended; BNSF MRL Subdivision from Jan. 1, 2024 — historical profile)
- New York, Susquehanna & Western
- Paducah & Louisville
- Pan Am Railways (into CSX June 1, 2022 — historical profile)
- Providence & Worcester (G&W)
- Reading & Northern
- Wheeling & Lake Erie
- Wisconsin & Southern
Canadian regional interest
Defunct / absorbed regionals (selected profiles)
Reading & Northern SD40-2 #3053 leads the “Jeddo Job” as it waits to be loaded with culm at Jeddo Highland Coal Company’s facility near Ebervale, Pennsylvania on December 22, 2010. Mike Thomas photo.
Why Regionals Still Matter
Post-1980 short line and regional success preserved thousands of miles that would otherwise have been abandoned. That has forced a reassessment of the 1970s–1980s cull of secondary mains: corridors that looked surplus under heavy regulation look strategic under modern intermodal and industrial-development economics. Gregory Schneider’s Rock Island Requiem and similar histories make the case that excessive regulation, not a lack of traffic potential, created much of the crisis that produced today’s regional map.
For railfans, regionals remain the middle ground between look-alike Class I unit trains and pure local switch jobs: distinctive paint (where it survives), manageable geography, and freights that still feel regional rather than continental.
Learn more from the trade association that represents this segment: American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).
Related Reading on American-Rails.com
- Class I Railroads: Revenue, Statistics & Overview
- Short Line Railroads (Class III)
- Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC)
- American Railroad History
- Fallen Flags
Revenue thresholds and ownership change. Confirm STB classification figures and carrier status on official sources before relying on any single year’s list. Information compiled August 9, 2026.
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