The following

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s operating in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Current railroads

Common freight carriers

* A&R Terminal Railroad (ART) * AgRail (AGRL) * Ag Valley Railroad (AVRR) *

Alton and Southern Railway The Alton and Southern Railway is a switching railroad in the Greater St. Louis area in Illinois. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad. Overview The Alton and Southern ''Railroad'' was formed in 1910, and in 1913 it ...

(ALS) *

Belt Railway of Chicago The Belt Railway Company of Chicago , headquartered in Bedford Park, IL, is the largest switching terminal railroad in the United States. It is co-owned by six Class I railroads — BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific R ...

(BRC) * Bloomer Line (BLOL) * BNSF Railway (BNSF) * Burlington Junction Railway (BJRY) also operates City of Rochelle Railroad (CIR) * Canadian National Railway (CN) through subsidiaries

Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad The Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad (Chicago Central & Pacific Railroad) is part of the Illinois Central Railroad (IC), which is owned by the Canadian National Railway (CN) through the Grand Trunk Corporation. Operationally, the Chicago Ce ...

(CC),

Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class I railroad, operating between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operated almost entirely wit ...

(EJE),

Grand Trunk Western Railroad The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company is an American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding ...

(GTW),

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

(IC), and

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Wisconsin Central Ltd. is a railroad subsidiary of Canadian National. At one time, its parent Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation owned or operated railroads in the United States, Canada (Algoma Central Railway), the United Kingdom (DB ...

(WC) * Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) through subsidiaries

Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Before its purchase, it was the largest Class II railroad in the United States, operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in ...

(DME) and Soo Line Railroad (SOO) * Chicago–Chemung Railroad (CCUO) * Chicago Port Railroad (CPC) *

Chicago Rail Link The Chicago Rail Link is a shortline switching railroad in Illinois. It owns and operates more than 72 miles of track on the South Side of Chicago. It is owned by OmniTRAX. History The Chicago Rail Link was essentially organized 29 August 1 ...

(CRL) *

Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad , also known as the South Shore Line, is a Class III freight railroad operating between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. The railroad serves as a link between Class I railroads and loc ...

(CSS) *

Chicago Terminal Railroad The Chicago Terminal Railroad was a switching and terminal railroad that operated over former Milwaukee Road/Canadian Pacific and Chicago and North Western/Union Pacific trackage in northern Illinois. The railroad began its operations on January ...

(CTM) *

Cicero Central Railroad Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

(CCER) *

Coffeen and Western Railroad Coffeen and Western Railroad is a subsidiary of Ameren for receiving coal at its power plant south of Coffeen, Illinois. It also owns hopper cars often hauled by Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Comp ...

(CAEG) *

Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad The Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railway (formerly American Rail Heritage, Ltd. d/b/a Crab Orchard, and Egyptian Railroad Company) is a Class III common carrier shortline railroad that operates in the cities of Marion and Herrin in the Southern I ...

(COER) * CSX Transportation (CSXT) including subsidiary

Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad is a terminal railroad in the Chicago area, formerly giving various other companies access to (Chicago's) Grand Central Station. It also served to connect those railroads for freight transfers, and ...

(BOCT) *

Decatur Central Railroad The Decatur Central Railroad (reporting mark DCC) is an American railroad that operates in central Illinois. It was founded in August 2016 as a joint venture between short-line railroad operator OmniTrax, which operates the railroad, and grain co ...

* Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (DREI) *

Decatur Junction Railway The Decatur Junction Railway is a Class III railroad which operates in the state of Illinois. It is one of several short-line railroads owned by Pioneer Railcorp. On September 23, 1993, the Decatur Junction Railway Co. (DT) signed a lease agreem ...

(DT) * Eastern Illinois Railroad (EIRC) * Effingham Railroad (EFRR) *

Evansville Western Railway The Evansville Western Railway is a Class III common carrier shortline railroad operating in the southern Illinois and Indiana region. It is one of three regional railroad subsidiaries owned and operated by P&L Transportation. Overview Foun ...

(EVWR) * FFG&C Railroad (FFGC) * Great Lakes Terminal Railway (GLTR) * Hussey Terminal Railroad (HTRC) (Out of Service) *

Illinois Railway The Illinois Railway , formerly Illinois Railnet, is a shortline railroad operating in Northern Illinois owned by OmniTRAX. It operates of former BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of ...

(IR) * Illinois and Midland Railroad (IMRR) * Illinois Western Railroad (ILW) *

Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad is a Class III railroadSurface Transportation BoardThe Belt Railway Company of Chicago -- Trackage Rights Exemption -- Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company January 9, 2002 in the United States. Ownership The IHB ...

(IHB) *

Indiana Rail Road The Indiana Rail Road is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of . This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road's Indi ...

(INRD) *

Iowa Interstate Railroad The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II regional railroad operating in the central United States. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History The railroad was formed on November 2, 1984, u ...

(IAIS) operates Lincoln and Southern Railroad * Joppa and Eastern Railroad (JE) * Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad (KBSR) *

Kansas City Southern Railway The Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operates in 10 midwestern and southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and ...

(KCS) including subsidiary Gateway Eastern Railway (GWWE) *

Keokuk Junction Railway The Keokuk Junction Railway Co. , is a Class III railroad in the U.S. states of Illinois and Iowa. It is a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp. History The present company was incorporated in 1980 as the Keokuk Northern Real Estate Co., formed in ...

(KJRY) * KM Railways (KMR) *

Manufacturers' Junction Railway The Manufacturers' Junction Railway is a shortline railroad in Cicero, Illinois. Originally a subsidiary of Western Electric used to switch their Hawthorne Works, after the plants were phased out it was sold to OmniTRAX, a company offering railro ...

(MJ) (Out of Service) * Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) * Peru Industrial Railroad (PIRR) *

Pioneer Industrial Railway Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

(PRY) * Port Harbor Railroad (PHRR) * Riverport Railroad (RVPR) * Shawnee Terminal Railway (STR) (Out of Service) *

South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway The South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway , owned by Mittal Steel Company (originally the International Steel Group), is the former Chicago Short Line Railway which operates of track between Chicago, Illinois and East Chicago, Indiana East C ...

(SCIH) * Tazewell and Peoria Railroad (TZPR) operates Peoria and Pekin Union Railway (PPU) * Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) *

Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway is a short line railroad that operates of track from Mapleton, Illinois, through Peoria across Illinois to Logansport, Indiana. TP&W has trackage rights between Galesburg, Illinois, and Peoria, between Lo ...

(TPW) *

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

(UP) including subsidiary Southern Illinois and Missouri Bridge Company * Vandalia Railroad (VRRC) * Vermilion Valley Railroad (VVRR) operates FNG Logistics Company (FNG) *

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) and Chicago ...

(WSOR)

Private freight carriers

ADM Milling The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is an American multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 plants and 4 ...

(ADMX) * Aux Sable Midstream * Bulkmatic Railroad *

Buzzi Unicem Buzzi Unicem S.p.A. is an Italian company, quoted on the Borsa Italiana, which produces cement, ready-mix concrete, and construction aggregates. Its headquarters are in the town of Casale Monferrato which was once known as the Italian ‘cement c ...

* Centerpoint Transportation, LLC **Operates the Joliet Terminal Railroad * Hoffman Transportation (HTCX) *

Ingredion Ingredion Incorporated is an American multinational ingredient provider based in Westchester, Illinois, producing mainly starches, non-GMO sweeteners, stevia, and pea protein. The company turns corn, tapioca, potatoes, plant-based stevia, grain ...

* Kaskaskia Regional Port District (KKRX) * Mars Candy * Material Sciences Corporation * Mokena Illinois Railroad * R Bult Rail Lines

Proposed railroads

* 505 Railroad * Beecher Industrial Railway * Crete Terminal Railroad * Eastern Joliet Railway * Great Lakes Basin Transportation

Passenger carriers

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

(AMTK) *

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...

* Fox River Trolley Museum ( Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric) *

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview Hist ...

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. ...

* MetroLink * Monticello Railway Museum * Silver Creek and Stephenson Railroad *

South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport ...

Defunct railroads

Electric railways and predecessors

* Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railroad *

Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company The Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric (AE&FRE), was an interurban railroad that operated freight and passenger service on its line paralleling the Fox River. It served the communities of Carpentersville, Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Char ...

* Alton, Jacksonville and Peoria Railway * Bloomington, Pontiac and Joliet Electric Railway * Cairo and St. Louis Railway * Calumet and South Chicago Railway * Central Illinois Public Service Company * Centralia and Central City Traction Company * Chicago, Aurora and DeKalb Railroad *

Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. ...

Chicago City Railway The Chicago City Railway Company (CCRy) was an urban transit company that operated horse, cable, and electric streetcars on Chicago's South Side between 1859 and 1914, when it became merged into and part of the Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) metr ...

* Chicago and Desplaines Valley Electric Railway * Chicago General Railway * Chicago, Harvard and Geneva Lake Railway (CH&G) *

Chicago and Joliet Electric Railway The Chicago and Joliet Electric Railway, or C&JE, was an electric interurban railway linking the cities of Chicago and Joliet, Illinois. It was the only interurban between those cities and provided a link between the streetcar network of Chicago ...

Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad , also known as the South Shore Line, is a Class III freight railroad operating between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. The railroad serves as a link between Class I railroads and loc ...

Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger train, passenger and freight train, freight service over an route between the Chicago C ...

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service over an route between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee, as w ...

* Chicago, Ottawa and Peoria Railway (CO&P) *

Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Par ...

* Chicago and Southern Traction Company *

Chicago Surface Lines The Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) was operator of the street railway system of Chicago, Illinois, from 1913 to 1947. The firm is a predecessor of today's publicly owned operator, the Chicago Transit Authority. History The first streetcars in Ch ...

Chicago Tunnel Company The Chicago Tunnel Company was the builder and operator of a narrow-gauge railway freight tunnel network under downtown Chicago, Illinois. This was regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission as an interurban even though it operated entire ...

* Chicago, Wheaton and Western Railway * Coal Belt Electric Railway * DeKalb – Sycamore and Interurban Traction Company * East St. Louis and Suburban Railway * Elgin, Aurora and Southern Traction Company * Elgin and Belvidere Electric Company * Fruit Growers Refrigerating and Power Company * Galesburg Railway and Light Company * Galesburg and Kewanee Electric Railway * Illinois Central Electric Railway * Illinois Traction, Inc. (ITS) * Illinois Valley Railway * Illinois Valley Traction Company * Joliet and Southern Traction Company * Kankakee and Western Electric Railway * Keokuk and Western Illinois Electric Company *

Lake Street Elevated Railroad The Lake Street Elevated Railroad was the second permanent elevated rapid transit line to be constructed in Chicago, Illinois. The first section of the line opened in November 1893. Its route is still used today as part of the Green Line route of ...

* Lee County Central Electric Railway * Macomb and Western Illinois Railway *

Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (known as the ''Met'' or ''Polly "L"'') was the third elevated rapid transit line to be built in Chicago, Illinois and was the first of Chicago’s elevated lines to be electrically powered. The lin ...

* Mississippi Valley Interurban Railway * Moline, East Moline and Watertown Railway * North Kankakee Electric Light and Railway Company * Northern Illinois Electric Railway *

Northwestern Elevated Railroad The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Raven ...

* Peoples Traction Company * Peoria Railway * Peoria and Pekin Terminal Railway * Peoria and Pekin Traction Company * Peoria Railway Terminal Company *

Rock Island Southern Railway The Rock Island Southern Railway, or RIS, was one of the most unusual interurban systems in the United States. It consisted of two distinct divisions, each with its own unique operating parameters. It provided passenger service to the western Ill ...

(RIS) * Rockford, Beloit and Janesville Railroad * Rockford and Belvidere Electric Railway * Rockford and Interurban Railway *

St. Louis and Belleville Electric Railway ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

South Side Elevated Railroad The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Pa ...

* Southern Traction Company of Illinois * Sterling, Dixon and Eastern Electric Railway * Suburban Railroad *

Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company The Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company, or THI&E, was the second largest interurban in the U.S. state of Indiana at the 1920s height of the "interurban era." This system included over of track, with lines radiating from Indi ...

* Tri-City Railway * Union Consolidated Elevated Railway * Woodstock and Sycamore Traction Company

Notes

References

External links

Chicago & Alton Railroad Miscellaneous
McLean County Museum of History {{US railroad lists

Railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...