WASHINGTON — Five of the seven Class I railroads operating in the U.S. were revenue adequate in 2021, the Surface Transportation Board said on Tuesday.
Being revenue adequate means a railroads achieved a rate of return equal to or greater than the board’s calculation of the average cost of capital to the freight rail industry. The average cost of capital was 10.37% last year, the STB concluded.
Last year BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and Soo Line — Canadian Pacific’s U.S. subsidiary — were all deemed revenue adequate.
That list left just Kansas City Southern, the smallest Class I, and Grand Trunk Western, CN’s U.S. subsidiary, short of the revenue adequacy mark.
