| Type | Public (NYSE: GWR) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Short line and regional railroad freight |
| Founder(s) | Edward Laton Fuller |
| Headquarters | Greenwich, Connecticut |
| Area served | United States, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, Australia, Netherlands |
| Key people | John C. Hellmann, President and CEO |
| Website | http://www.gwrr.com/ |
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (NYSE: GWR) is a short-line railroad holding company that owns or maintains interests in 63 railroads throughout six countries (the United States, Canada, Bolivia, Australia, Mexico, and Netherlands), and operates more than 7,400 miles (11,900 km) of owned and leased track, with more than 1,400 miles (2,300 km) under additional track-access arrangements.[1] The company had its roots in the Class III Genesee and Wyoming Railroad, which began in 1899.[2]
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Genesee and Wyoming Railroad, predecessor of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., was purchased out of bankruptcy in 1899 by Edward L. Fuller. At that time, the railroad was operating as a 14.5 miles (23.3 km) long single-track line serving a single customer, a salt mine owned by Fuller in Retsof, NY. It was still operating the same line for the salt mine when Mortimer B. Fuller III, great grandson of Edward L. Fuller, purchased the railroad in 1977. The holding company, Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Inc., was organized during the same year, and the railroad became its subsidiary.[2]
With deregulation of the rail industry by the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, railroads began disposing of unprofitable routes. Genesee & Wyoming acquired several of these short line railroads, scattered across the United States, from 1985 to 1996. Its acquisitions began including railroads in other countries in 1997.[2]
In July 2003, the Carolina Coastal Railway, operated by G&W subsidiary Rail Link, Inc., was sold to Main Line Rail Management, Inc.
On May 26, 2005, G&W announced that it has agreed to purchase the railroad operations of Rail Management Corporation (RMC). G&W paid $243 million in cash and assume $1.7 million in company debt to gain control of 14 short line railroads from RMC across the southeastern United States, as of June 1, 2005.[3][4]
As of the close of 2005, Genesee and Wyoming had 2,330 employees in North America. That year, Hurricane Stan wiped out several miles of Genesee & Wyoming track in Mexico. In 2006, the Mexican government agreed to pay 75 percent of the rebuilding costs, or $15 million, to reconstruct the track.
On February 13, 2006, G&W announced that it has sold its 50% share in operations (the other 50% was owned by Wesfarmers Ltd.) of the Australian Railroad Group (ARG) in Western Australia to Queensland Rail (QR) and Babcock and Brown (B&B). The deal, valued at $974 million (A$1.55 billion), splits the holdings between operations and infrastructure elements with QR purchasing the above-rail operations and B&B purchasing the below-rail infrastructure. In a concurrent deal, G&W purchased Wesfarmers' share of ARG in South Australia for $15 million (A$22 million), which was renamed Genesee and Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd and is operated as a subsidiary company of G&W.[5]
Also in 2006, Genesee & Wyoming elected to write off most of the value of its Bolivian operation, on fears that the Bolivian government would soon nationalize privately held railroads there.
In June 2010, Genesee & Wyoming Inc, through a subsidiary holding company, paid A$334 million to acquire the operational rights to and the leasehold of the Tarcoola to Darwin Railway from the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium, and the operational rolling stock of Freightlink. The railway operations are conducted by Genesee and Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd.[6][7] This 1,400 miles (2,300 km) rail line was the longest the company has leased.[2]
On 2 August 2011, Genesee & Wyoming announced that it planned to purchase the Arizona Eastern Railway from Iowa Pacific Holdings for US$90.1 million, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of the year.[8] The deal was closed on 1 September 2011.[9]
Rail Link, Inc. (reporting mark RLIX), a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., provides industrial switching and related customer logistics services. Rail Link, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, serves industrial customers at 30 locations in 11 states and operates 26 short line railroads (including the Commonwealth Railway, Louisiana and Delta Railroad, and Yorkrail). Rail Link railroads serve 10 major U.S. ports.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns controlling interests in the following railroads, either directly or through subsidiaries. These subsidiaries include Rail Link, Inc. (1996), Genesee & Wyoming Canada, Inc. (1997), Emons Railroad Group (2002), CAGY Industries (2008), and Summit View, Inc. (2008). In 2005 G&W acquired the properties formerly owned by the Rail Management Corporation.
The G&W also owns a minority share in Ferroviaria Oriental, a Bolivian railway.