Genesee & Wyoming Inc. subsidiaries lease two US short line railroads

Together with G&W’s Illinois & Midland Railroad, Inc. (IMRR) and Tazewell & Peoria Railroad, Inc. (TZPR), the new leases create a contiguous 400-mile, four-railroad footprint (CERA-TPW-TZPR-IMRR) spanning from Eastern Indiana to Western Illinois with connections to six class I railroads.

TPW and CERA obtained authority from the US Surface Transportation Board to lease and operate WSRY and KR effective as of 27 February 2019, and commenced operations under the new agreements today with five employees and two locomotives. TPW and CERA are expected to handle approximately 5000 carloads py over the new lines, consisting primarily of agricultural products, chemicals and plastics and metals, of which approximately 3000 carloads are currently interchanged with CERA.

WSRY and KR share common ownership with Kokomo Grain Co., which is a large customer of WSRY and the only customer of KR. “TPW and CERA have been operating WSRY and KR under a short-term agreement for the past three months and providing excellent rail service,” said Scot Ortman, president of Kokomo Grain. “Considering that prior to G&W’s ownership of CERA, Kokomo Grain evaluated building its own track to bypass CERA, the turnaround in our relationship is a testament to G&W’s customer focus and commitment to mutually beneficial partnerships.”

TPW and CERA are managed with G&W’s Midwest Region railroads under the leadership of senior vice-president Martin Pohlod. “Since acquiring CERA and TPW in 2012, we have worked hard to repair their relationship with Kokomo Grain, and these long-term leases of WSRY and KR are a direct result of those efforts,” said Pohlod. “We’re planning immediate upgrades to the WSRY and KR lines to support the business and further enhance our customers’ routing options, interchange locations and geographic reach through G&W’s footprint of contiguous railroads.”

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/rail-barge/25032019/genesee-wyoming-inc-subsidiaries-lease-two-us-short-line-railroads/