10 Best Railroad Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires

In this article, we look at the 10 Best Railroad Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires.

Railroads entered the second half of 2026 with a steadier volume backdrop than the sector had earlier in the cycle. According to the Association of American Railroads, June extended the improvement seen through much of the year, with weekly average intermodal volume reaching a new monthly record and average weekly carloads hitting their highest level since May 2021. AAR also said total carloads rose year over year for the sixth straight month, intermodal volume rose for the fifth straight month, and 14 of the 20 major carload categories posted gains.

The weekly data show the same pattern. For the week ending June 27, U.S. railroads handled 525,474 carloads and intermodal units, up 7.0% from the same week last year. Through the first 25 weeks of the year, combined U.S. rail traffic was up 3.3%, while North American rail volume was up 2.7%. The sector still faces the usual freight-cycle pressure from industrial demand, fuel costs, regulation, and shipper negotiations. Still, the recent traffic data suggest that railroads entered midyear with firmer volumes across both merchandise and intermodal categories, giving investors a clearer operating backdrop than the sector had during weaker freight periods.

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Methodology

For this article, we reviewed Insider Monkey’s database of billionaire holdings for Q1 2026 and picked railroad operators, rail equipment companies, and railcar leasing or manufacturing companies with the highest number of billionaire investors holding the stock. The stocks are ranked in ascending order based on billionaire-holder count.

10. FreightCar America Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL)

FreightCar America Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) is one of the Best Railroad Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires. As of Q1 2026, 10 billionaires held the stock. On July 6, the company announced a multi-year order for 1,900 railcars from a key customer, with deliveries scheduled through 2028. It also said second-quarter orders totaled about 3,000 railcars, valued at roughly $300 million, with demand across every core market segment.

For a railcar manufacturer, that is a cleaner signal than soft promotion because it points to backlog visibility, customer repeat activity, and a broader order base. The update also fits the railroad-stock theme through the equipment cycle: freight operators and shippers need available cars before traffic growth can turn into revenue. FreightCar is still a smaller, more cyclical name than the Class I railroads, but the July order update gives the story a concrete operating hook rather than a vague recovery narrative.

FreightCar America Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) designs, produces, and supplies railroad freight cars, railcar parts, and components, and also provides railcar repair, rebody, and conversion services.

9. GATX Corporation (NYSE:GATX)

GATX Corporation (NYSE:GATX) is one of the Best Railroad Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires. As of Q1 2026, 10 billionaires held the stock. On July 1, Fitch affirmed GATX’s ratings at BBB+/F2 with a Stable Outlook, keeping the focus on the company’s balance-sheet strength after a major expansion of its rail-leasing base.

The rating action followed a first quarter in which Rail North America fleet utilization remained high at 98.1%, while the company’s Lease Price Index was 22.3%. GATX also said the integration of the Wells Fargo rail operating lease portfolio was progressing, after the acquisition added scale to its long-lived railcar fleet. The angle here is less about headline rail traffic and more about asset utilization. Railcar leasing companies benefit when customers keep equipment working, lease renewals hold up, and secondary-market values remain firm. That makes GATX a steadier rail-adjacent name within the broader railroad group.

GATX Corporation (NYSE:GATX) leases transportation assets, including railcars, aircraft spare engines, and tank containers, through rail and related asset-leasing businesses.

8. Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE:TRN)

Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE:TRN) is one of the Best Railroad Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires. As of Q1 2026, 11 billionaires held the stock. On June 3, TrinityRail Global joined Touax Group and Texmaco Rail & Engineering in a railcar leasing joint venture in India called TTRL. The partnership brings together a North American railcar lessor and manufacturer, a European railcar lessor, and an Indian rail manufacturer in a single operating platform.

The development is relevant because Trinity’s rail exposure is not limited to selling new cars into a single domestic cycle. Leasing, maintenance, lifecycle services, and international freight equipment demand all feed into the same rail asset base. The India angle also gives the company a long-term freight-market extension without forcing the story into a pure Class I railroad frame. For a stock in this list, that matters because billionaire interest is attached to a rail-equipment platform rather than a traditional railroad operator.

Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE:TRN), through its TrinityRail platform, provides railcar leasing and management services, railcar manufacturing, maintenance and modification services, railcar logistics products, and railcar components.

7. Greenbrier Companies Inc. (NYSE:GBX)

Greenbrier Companies Inc. (NYSE:GBX) is one of the Best Railroad Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires. As of Q1 2026, 11 billionaires held the stock.

On July 1, Greenbrier reported third-quarter results that showed a mixed but useful picture for rail equipment. Aggregate gross margin improved 230 basis points sequentially to 14.1%, while the owned lease fleet grew 23% sequentially to 20,600 units. Lease fleet utilization remained strong at 99%, and the company received new railcar orders for 2,200 units valued at $340 million. Its backlog stood at 13,800 units with an estimated value of $2.0 billion as of May 31. That is the kind of update that works for a railroad-stock list because it links railcar manufacturing, leasing, and replacement demand within a single business. Greenbrier is not a Class I rail operator, but its order book and leasing utilization are closely tied to freight rail capital spending and shippers’ equipment needs.

Greenbrier Companies Inc. (NYSE:GBX) supplies equipment and services to global freight transportation markets, including railcar manufacturing, leasing, fleet management, maintenance, parts, and related railcar services.

6. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP) is one of the Best Railroad Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires. As of Q1 2026, 12 billionaires held the stock.

On July 7, CPKC said it set new June monthly grain records in both Canada and the United States. The company moved 2.8 million metric tonnes of Canadian grain and grain products in June, beating the previous June record from 2020, and said the second quarter also set records for Canadian grain tonnage and carloads. In the United States, CPKC moved 2.5 million metric tonnes of grain in June and 7.5 million metric tonnes in the second quarter, both records for those periods. This is a directly relevant rail operating story because grain is a core bulk commodity for the network. It also shows the value of CPKC’s cross-border rail footprint when agricultural volumes are strong, especially since the company’s system links Canada, the United States, and Mexico under a single operator.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP) operates a single-line transnational freight railway linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with access to major ports and key North American markets.

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