Rail World

Last updated
Rail World
Company type Private
Industry Rail transport
FoundedJuly 1999
Founder Edward Burkhardt
Headquarters
Rosemont, Illinois
,
United States
Area served
United States, Poland, Ukraine
Key people
 Edward Burkhardt (President & CEO)
Subsidiaries San Luis Central Railroad
Rail Polska
Rail World Locomotive Leasing
Rail World Ukraine
Baltic Rail OU

Rail World is a rail transport holding company. Its specialties include railway management, consulting, investment, privatizations, and restructurings. Its purpose is to promote rail industry privatization by bringing together government bodies wishing to sell their stakes with investment capital and management skills.

Contents

Overview

Rail World was incorporated in July 1999 by Edward Burkhardt, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer. [1] [2]

Rail World's assets consist of a controlling interest in San Luis Central Railroad in Colorado and a 100% ownership of Rail Polska (Poland) and Baltic Rail OU (Estonia).

Subsidiaries

Response to Lac-Mégantic derailment

After the derailment at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MM&A) freight train on July 6, 2013 which left 47 people dead or missing, president Edward Burkhardt visited Lac-Mégantic on July 10, 2013, and was heckled by residents who were critical of his company's response to the incident. After the accident the railway's safety record was called into question. Over the previous decade the firm recorded a higher accident rate than the rest of the US rail fleet, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. [3] In the previous year the railroad had 36.1 accidents per million miles travelled, in comparison to a national average of 14.6 accidents per million miles traveled. [4]

On August 7, 2013, the MM&A filed for bankruptcy protection in both the Quebec Superior Court in Montreal (under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act) [5] and the United States Bankruptcy Court in Bangor, Maine [6] (under Chapter 11). [7] [8] The company owes more than seven million dollars to the municipality of Lac-Mégantic in cleanup costs the town has already paid to MM&A contractors and owes severance pay to its laid-off workers; liabilities are expected to increase as lawsuits are filed on behalf of victims of the disaster and as the long process of environmental decontamination and local rebuilding continues. [9] The MM&A's certificate of fitness was revoked by the Canadian Transportation Agency on August 13, 2013, citing inadequate liability insurance; this effectively bans the MM&A from operating in Canada. [10] [11]

Former subsidiaries

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References

  1. ↑ For Ed Burkhardt, a new adventure Trains June 2000 pages 23/24
  2. ↑ Runaway Quebec Train's Owner Battled Safety Issues Wall Street Journal July 9, 2013
  3. ↑ Train company in Quebec derailment headed by Chicago rail veteran The Globe & Mail July 7, 2013
  4. ↑ Lac-Megantic disaster: Engineer blamed for Canada blast BBC News July 10. 2013
  5. ↑ "Lac Mégantic rail disaster company MM&A files for bankruptcy". CBC News. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  6. ↑ "Maine-based railway involved in Quebec crash that killed 47 files for bankruptcy". Bangor Daily News. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  7. ↑ Kim Mackrael (2013-08-07). "MM&A files for bankruptcy after Lac-Mégantic rail disaster". The Globe & Mail. Archived from the original on 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  8. ↑ "Montreal Gazette: "Montreal, Maine and Atlantic files for bankruptcy protection", August 7. 2013. In this report, however, the US bankruptcy case was filed in Chicago". Archived from the original on 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  9. ↑ "Le Syndicat des Métallos accuse la MMA de voler ses employés" (in French). Radio-Canada. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  10. ↑ "Railway in Quebec tragedy has its Canadian licence suspended - CityNews Toronto".
  11. ↑ "Lac-Mégantic rail disaster company can no longer operate in Canada". CBC Montréal. 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
  12. ↑ Baltic Rail Services Completes the Purchase of a Controlling Interest in Eesti Raudtee, Estonian State Railways Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine Railroad Development Corporation September 4, 2001
  13. ↑ EVR's private interlude is over Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International February 2007
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