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On Tuesday, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) issued a decision stating that no Class I was “revenue adequate” in 2009, meaning none of the large roads achieved a rate of return that year equal to or greater than the board’s calculation of the freight-rail industry’s average cost of capital.

The STB previously determined that the rail industry’s cost of capital in 2009 was 10.43 percent. The board compared that figure with 2009 return on investment (ROI) data obtained from railroads’ annual reports to calculate a revenue adequacy figure for each Class I.

Following are the STB’s 2009 tax-adjusted ROI figures for each large road:
• BNSF Railway Co., 8.67 percent;
• CSX Corp., 7.3 percent;
• Grand Trunk Corp. Consolidated (including all CN U.S. affiliates), 6.04 percent;
• Kansas City Southern Railway Co., 6.51 percent;
• Norfolk Southern Railway, 7.69 percent;
• Soo Line Railroad Co. (including all Canadian Pacific U.S. affiliates), 6.28 percent; and
• Union Pacific Railroad, 8.62 percent.