The BNSF Railway Company (reporting mark BNSF) is one of the largest freight
railroad networks in North America, second to the Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
(its primary competitor for Western U.S. freight), and is one of seven
North American Class I railroads. It has 44,000 employees, 32,500 miles
of track in 28 states, and operates more than 8,000 locomotives.
It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between
the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles
in 2010, more than any other North American railroad. The BNSF and UP have a duopoly
on all transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western U.S. and share trackage rights
over thousands of miles of track.