Rail freight operators

The larger of the two western US Class I railroads, moving the bulk of transpacific import containers inland from Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Network

~52,300 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Diesel

Corridors

2

Czech incumbent freight operator, central to the north-south flows between the German North Sea ports and the Danube basin.

Network

~9,400 km

Wagons

~22,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

Romanian incumbent freight operator serving the Constanța port corridor and the Danube industrial belt.

Network

—

Wagons

~22,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

The only North American railroad touching three coasts, running from Prince Rupert and Vancouver to Halifax and New Orleans.

Network

~32,800 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Diesel

Corridors

1

The first single-line railroad connecting Canada, the United States and Mexico, created by the 2023 CP–KCS merger.

Network

~32,000 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Diesel

Corridors

2

The China–Europe block-train brand running out of Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhengzhou — the busiest scheduled long-haul intermodal product in the world.

Network

~159,000 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric

Corridors

3

Eastern US Class I serving the Atlantic ports, the Appalachian coal fields and the Midwest industrial belt.

Network

~33,800 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Diesel

Corridors

1

Europe's largest rail freight operator and the backbone of German wagonload traffic, with subsidiaries across most EU member states.

Network

~33,400 km

Wagons

~80,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

6

Operates the Danish land bridge between the German network and Sweden across the Øresund and Fehmarn corridors.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

Mexico's largest railroad, carrying automotive and intermodal traffic between the Bajío manufacturing belt and the US border crossings.

Network

~10,500 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Diesel

Corridors

1

The UK's largest maritime intermodal operator, moving deep-sea containers inland from Felixstowe, Southampton and London Gateway.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

The French incumbent freight operator, restructured under Rail Logistics Europe, covering the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors.

Network

~27,000 km

Wagons

~20,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

2

UK open-access operator with a broad mix of intermodal, aggregates and infrastructure traffic.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

Swedish state-owned operator running an almost fully electrified network — among the lowest carbon intensities of any freight railway.

Network

~14,000 km

Wagons

~5,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

2

The dominant combined-transport network across the Alps, running trans-Alpine intermodal shuttles through the Gotthard and Lötschberg base tunnels.

Network

—

Wagons

~7,300

Traction

Electric

Corridors

1

Runs the world's largest broad-gauge freight operation, now anchored on the Western and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridors.

Network

~68,000 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric

Corridors

1

German combined-transport operator marketing a dense network of national and international intermodal trains to forwarders.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric

Corridors

0

The pivot of every China–Europe rail corridor: almost all New Silk Road traffic changes gauge at Dostyk or Altynkol on the Kazakh–Chinese border.

Network

~16,000 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

3

Europe's largest private rail freight operator, built around the Green Xpress network of scheduled wagonload and intermodal trains out of Antwerp.

Network

—

Wagons

~7,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

2

Baltic operator working both gauges, with Klaipėda port traffic and the standard-gauge Rail Baltica link toward Poland.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

MSC-owned Iberian operator connecting Sines, Lisbon and Leixões to the Spanish network.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

0

FS Italiane's freight division, dominant on the Italian peninsula and the Alpine crossings into Germany and Switzerland.

Network

~16,800 km

Wagons

~24,000

Traction

Electric

Corridors

2

HHLA's hinterland network, running high-frequency container shuttles from Hamburg and the Adriatic into Central and South-East Europe.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric

Corridors

4

Eastern US Class I with the Crescent and Heartland intermodal corridors linking the Gulf, the Southeast and Chicago.

Network

~31,000 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Diesel

Corridors

1

Poland's incumbent freight operator and the main gatekeeper of the standard-to-broad gauge change on the New Silk Road into Belarus.

Network

~19,000 km

Wagons

~60,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

4

ÖBB's freight arm and the strongest operator on the South-East European corridors, including the broad-gauge link into Ukraine.

Network

~9,700 km

Wagons

~22,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

4

The Hungarian arm of Rail Cargo Group, handling automotive and bulk traffic across the Carpathian basin.

Network

—

Wagons

~7,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

2

Spain's incumbent freight operator, working across both the Iberian 1668 mm network and the standard-gauge corridors to France.

Network

~12,000 km

Wagons

~9,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

2

One of the largest rail networks on earth and the operator of the Trans-Siberian land bridge. Note that sanctions materially constrain what may lawfully move over this network — verify compliance before booking.

Network

~85,500 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

0

Southern Africa's dominant operator on 1067 mm Cape gauge, built around the Sishen–Saldanha iron ore and Richards Bay coal export lines.

Network

~20,500 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

Mercitalia-owned open-access operator running scheduled intermodal trains on the Scandinavia–Germany–Italy axis.

Network

—

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric

Corridors

2

Ukrainian national operator. Wartime routing restrictions apply and capacity concentrates on the western border crossings — confirm feasibility directly before planning a movement.

Network

~19,800 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

0

Western US Class I with the densest network between the Pacific ports, the Gulf and the Chicago gateway.

Network

~51,800 km

Wagons

—

Traction

Diesel

Corridors

2

Finland's freight operator, running on 1520 mm broad gauge — the only EU network directly gauge-compatible with Russia and the CIS.

Network

~5,900 km

Wagons

~8,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1

Slovak incumbent operator running the broad-gauge spur to Košice — one of the few 1520 mm lines reaching into the EU.

Network

—

Wagons

~12,000

Traction

Electric & diesel

Corridors

1