Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Rail transport |
Founded | 1986 |
Fate | Acquired by Genesee & Wyoming in 2012 |
Successor | Genesee & Wyoming Inc. |
Headquarters | , |
Services | Short line and regional railroads |
Revenue | US$410.6 million (2009) [1] |
RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada.
In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol RRA. [2] It was relisted in October 2009 with the ticker symbol RA.
On June 30, 2010, the company announced that it had acquired Atlas Railroad Construction, a construction and maintenance company operating in the Northeast and Midwest United States, for US$24 million. [3]
In April 2011, RailAmerica made its first shortline purchase in over five years by initiating a deal with Gulf and Ohio Railways to acquire three Alabama shortlines for $12.7 million. [4]
On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion. [5] [6] Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012. [7] While awaiting the decision, Genesee & Wyoming put RailAmerica control in the hands of a trust. [8] They assumed control on December 28, 2012, [9] and the company was in the process of integration to G&W. [10] [11]
RailAmerica controlled the following railroads. It acquired some through purchase of other holding companies: RailLink Canada in July 1999, RailTex in February 2000, ParkSierra and StatesRail in January 2002, and the rail properties of Alcoa in September 2005.
In addition to those listed below, RailAmerica's prior owner, Fortress Investment Group, purchased the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) in September 2007 from Florida East Coast Industries. Although Fortress maintained a level of common control between the two railroads, FEC was never made a formal part of the RailAmerica family, and Fortress did not include FEC in the RailAmerica spinoff.
RailAmerica was founded by Gary O. Marino and John H. Marino in 1986.
The Bay Line Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates between Panama City, Florida, and Dothan, Alabama, including a branch from Grimes to Abbeville, Alabama, reached via trackage rights on CSX's Dothan Subdivision between Dothan and Grimes. The line interchanges with CSX at Cottondale, Florida and Dothan, Alabama, and with the Hilton & Albany Railroad at Hilton, Georgia.
Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) Watco is an American transportation and logistics company based in Pittsburg, Kansas. The company’s core services are freight transportation, material handling and storage, logistics, railcar repair and maintenance.
The Chattahoochee and Gulf Railroad was a short line railroad operating from 2003 to 2006 between Columbus, Georgia and Dothan, Alabama, on former Central of Georgia and Norfolk Southern tracks. Initially the railroad was a subsidiary of Gulf & Ohio Railways. In 2006, the railroad was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming and combined with the adjacent H and S Railroad out of Dothan to form the Chattahoochee Bay Railroad.
The Conecuh Valley Railway, L.L.C. connects with the CSX at Troy, Alabama, and travels 15.04 miles (24.20 km) to Goshen, Alabama. This short line railroad was created after 2001 from the former Southern Alabama Railroad and is currently owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming.
The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a Class III short line railroad company that operates over 234 miles (377 km) of track in southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama. Beginning in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad on a pair of former CSX Transportation lines, the railroad has since undergone a number of transformations through abandonments and acquisitions, before arriving at its current form. The railroad was formerly a RailAmerica property before going independent, and in 2008 it was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom; and formerly in Australia.
The Aliquippa and Ohio River Railroad is a six-mile short line railroad in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, United States, controlled by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. through its ownership of the Ohio Central Railroad System. It lies between CSX Transportation's ex-Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad line and the Ohio River, extending south from CSX's yard in northern Aliquippa to near the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge. Formerly known as the Aliquippa and Southern Railroad, its owner and primary customer was LTV Steel, which mostly closed its Aliquippa plant in 1985 and sold the line to the Ohio Central in 2002. The AOR now connects the Aliquippa Industrial Park, which occupies the LTV site, with CSX.
The Three Notch Railroad runs from a connection with CSX Transportation at Georgiana to Andalusia, Alabama, 36 miles (58 km). This short line railroad was created in 2001 and is currently a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming.
The Heart of Georgia Railroad is a shortline railroad created in 1999 to lease and operate 177 miles (285 km) of track owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation between Mahrt, Alabama and Vidalia, Georgia, in the United States. The railroad has since expanded to include more than 233 miles (375 km) of track, reaching as far as Midville, Georgia. Initially only the portion from Rochelle to Preston, Georgia was utilized, with the Preston-Mahrt and Rochelle-Vidalia lines out of service. The Heart of Georgia also hosts the SAM passenger excursion train and is owned by parent company Atlantic Western Transportation Company.
The Carolina Piedmont Railroad is a class III railroad and subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. operating in the Upstate region of South Carolina. From an interchange with CSX Transportation at Laurens the railroad runs 34 miles (55 km) to the northwest, terminating at East Greenville.
Gulf & Ohio Railways is a holding company for four different short-line railroads in the Southern United States, as well as a tourist-oriented passenger train, and locomotive leasing and repair service through Knoxville Locomotive Works. Gulf & Ohio maintains its corporate headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee.
R.J. Corman Railroad/Pennsylvania Lines is a railroad in the R.J. Corman Railroad Group, operating a number of lines in central Pennsylvania. It primarily carries coal between mines and Norfolk Southern Railway connections at Cresson and Keating. The trackage was acquired from Conrail in 1996, when the latter company sold its "Clearfield Cluster"; Norfolk Southern acquired nearby Conrail lines in 1999. This is the longest R.J. Corman owned line, at over 300 miles in length.
The Winamac Southern Railway is a short-line railroad in northern Indiana, United States, operated under lease by the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway. It owns two lines radiating from Logansport to Kokomo and Bringhurst, and formerly a third to Winamac, all former Pennsylvania Railroad lines acquired from Conrail in 1993. It hauls mainly outbound grain and inbound agricultural supplies, connecting with the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway at Logansport and with the Central Railroad of Indianapolis at Kokomo. Until 2009, the Central Railroad of Indianapolis operated the company as agent.
The Wilmington Terminal Railroad is a shortline railroad serving the Port of Wilmington. It began operations in 1986 over trackage owned by the North Carolina Ports Railway Commission, whose other lines were simultaneously leased to the Carolina Rail Services Company. The company is owned by Rail Link, Inc., a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., which acquired it from the Rail Management Corporation in 2005.
The Western Kentucky Railway was a shortline railroad in Kentucky, that connected coal mines with CSX Transportation at Providence. The lines were part of the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad until March 1982, when Costain Coal, Inc. bought the trackage and set up the Tradewater Railway to operate it. In January 1995, the Rail Management and Consulting Corporation acquired the property and transferred it to the new Western Kentucky Railway. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. acquired it from the Rail Management Corporation in 2005. In 2010, WKRL abandoned all of its remaining lines north of Providence, and the rails were removed shortly after. The only remaining tracks that were originally owned by WKRL are operated by Martin Marrieta Aggregates' Fredonia Valley Railroad from Princeton to Fredonia.
The West Texas & Lubbock Railway is a shortline railroad in Texas, owned by Watco. It connects the BNSF in Lubbock with agricultural and oil-producing areas to the west and southwest. The company operates 107 miles of two ex-Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway lines, extending to Whiteface and Seagraves parallel to State Highway 114 and U.S. Highway 62. The primary commodities hauled are fertilizer, construction aggregates, grain, cotton, chemicals, peanuts and plastics.
The Warren and Trumbull Railroad is a part of the Ohio Central Railroad System, which was bought by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 2008, operating three lines in and near Warren. It began operations in 1994 on a line formerly operated by CSX Transportation, and expanded in 1996 on two ex-Conrail lines.
The Southern Ontario Railway is a shortline railroad in the province of Ontario, owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operated 69 miles (111 km) of track from Brantford to Nanticoke, Ontario, from 1998 to 2018. The railroad began operations in 1998, and was acquired by RailAmerica two years later. It had interchanges with the Canadian National Railway at Hamilton via trackage rights, Brantford and Paris, and interchanges with the Canadian Pacific Railway at Hamilton.
The South Carolina Central Railroad is a class III railroad that operates 42 miles (68 km) of former CSX Transportation trackage in South Carolina. Originally a RailTex subsidiary upon its start in 1987, the railroad passed to RailAmerica following their acquisition of RailTex in 2000 and passed to the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad upon its acquisition of RailAmerica.
The Greenville and Northern Railroad was a shortline railroad formerly operating between Travelers Rest and Greenville, South Carolina, 11.3 miles (18.2 km). The railroad was part of the Pinsly Railroad Company after 1957 before being purchased by RailTex in 1997. Operations ended in February 1998 and the railroad was abandoned in 2005.