Railroad Radio Frequencies

The Dispatcher's Office

Railroad Radio Frequencies are an interest of mine. This list covers most of North America and includes Common Carrier, Short Line, Industrial, Transit and Tourist lines. I have compiled a large database of radio frequencies. The information has come from many sources, including personal monitoring, books and railroad timetables, other listeners and the internet. A railroad radio scanner can be an invaluable asset to monitor the day to day activities. The information that you obtain can be very useful when photographing, or even just for train watching. Communication between train crews and between crews and dispatchers, as well as messages from hot box and dragging equipment detectors can be monitored.

This list includes information from Fallen Flags as well as pre-merger listings for historical reference.

Just a word of non lawyer advice to all that may be interested. The use of radio scanners in a vehicle may sometimes be prohibited in certain areas. Though I have never encountered any problems, it is best to check as to what the local regulations might be. Also, there are generally no restrictions as to the monitoring of railroad communications, but you may be charged if you use the information for illegal purposes. We do not condone the illegal use of any information you obtain. You are free to download any information on this site for your own personal use. Every attempt has been made to ensure that the information presented here is correct. This site is not associated with any organization or railroad in any manner.

AAR Channel Listing: This chart lists the frequencies assigned by the American Association of Railroads. The frequencies are used in both Canada and United States.

Railroad Database: This is the listing for Class One, Shortline and Industrial railroads, Tourist Lines and Museums as well as Transit systems. The database is broken down alphabetically because of the size of some of the listings.

Amtrak: Here is a database of frequencies used by Amtrak at its different facilities. Amtrak generally uses the frequency of the host road when on their track.

Frequency Sort: This is a listing of all the frequencies and roads sorted numerically and alphabetically. Be advised that this is an extremely large database and could take some time to load at slower download speeds.

Last updated: Oct. 31, 2019