of major United States railroads Amtrak BNSF Railway Canadian National Railway Canadian Pacific Railway CSX Transportation Kansas City Southern Railway Norfolk Southern Railway Union Pacific Railroad Rail links with adjacent countries Canada – yes – Same gauge (none via Alaska) Mexico – yes – Same gauge Regulation Federal regulation of railroads is mainly through the United States Department of Transportation, especially the Federal Railroad Administration which regulates safety, and the Surface Transportation Board which regulates rates, service, the construction, acquisition and abandonment of rail lines, carrier mergers and interchange of traffic among carriers. Railroads are also regulated by the individual states, for example through the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. See also Timeline of United States railway history Railroad electrification in the United States List of rail transit systems in the United States Oldest railroads in North America History of rail transport in the United States Transportation in the United States Federal Employers Liability Act (protects and compensates railroad employees) Nationalized Industries in the United States Railroad car – general overview of all car types in use Notes References Citations Sources U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (May 17, 2005), The World Fact Book: United States. Retrieved May 26, 2005. Further reading Fite, Gilbert C., and Jim E. Reese. An Economic History of the United States. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company (1959). Hubbard, Freeman H., Encyclopedia of North American railroading: 150 years of railroading in the United States and Canada. (1981) Gallamore, Robert E. and John R. Meyer. American Railroads: Decline and Renaissance in the Twentieth Century, (Harvard University Press, 2014). Harris, Seymour E. American Economic History. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc (1961). Hughes, Jonathan. American Economic History. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company (1983). Jenks, Leland H. "Railroads as an Economic Force in American Development," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 4, No. 1 (May 1944), 1–20. in JSTOR Kemmerer, Donald L., and C. Clyde Jones. American Economic History. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. (1969). Krooss, Herman E. American Economic Development. Edgewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc. (1955). Martin, Albro.Railroads Triumphant: The Growth, Rejection, and Rebirth of a Vital American Force (1992) Meyer, Balthasar H. History of Transportation in the United States before 1860 (1917) Nock, O.S., ed. Encyclopedia of Railways (London, 1977), worldwide coverage, heavily illustrated Porter, Glenn, ed. Encyclopedia of American Economic History. Vol. I. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons (1980). Riley, C. J.