Railways in the

United States of America

Railways or Railroads?
Contrary to popular belief, not all rail businesses in the USA are referred to as Railroads. It is true that most of the major national carriers are so named, but there are many smaller concerns that use the name Railway; in the past, the proportion of these was even greater, perhaps as many as half the total number of companies. The term railway is generally used here for the sake of consistency.

Because of the size and complexity of the subject, the railways of the USA are dealt with in a series of separate pages, indexed below.

These pages cover railways in the mainland United States, that is, the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia:

• History
• Long Haul Freight Carriers
• Regional and Local Freight Carriers
• Long Distance Passenger Services
• Regional and Commuter Passenger Service
• High Speed Rail
• Tourist and Museum Railways
• Urban Rail Passenger Transport

Separate articles cover the other two states and various offshore islands:

• Alaska
• Hawaii
• Florida Keys
• Islands of Massachusetts

Overseas Territories

• American Samoa
• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Puerto Rico
• Virgin Islands

Special articles

• Transportation Technology Center
• The NASA Railroad
• Very Large Array
• Railways around Spruce WV