RailAmerica culls 20 management jobs as part of organization restructure

RailAmerica culls 20 management jobs as part of organization restructure    RailAmerica Inc., a holding company for 42 short-line and regional railroads in the United States and Canada, has cut 20 upper and middle management positions as part of a five-year strategic plan designed to save $10 million to $15 million in operating expense and capital savings each year.
   The Boca Raton-based company said about half the redundancy’s came from its corporate head office with the other half from field locations.
   RailAmerica is also restructuring its organization into three business units — RailAmerica Operations East, RailAmerica Operations Central, and RailAmerica Operations West — from its current five regions and two corridors.
   “RailAmerica has achieved its growth during the last 20 years by acquiring other railroads, each with its own processes, procedures, and structures,” said Charles Swinburn, RailAmerica’s chief executive officer. “This has resulted in redundancies and inefficiencies in our organization.”
   “In addition to making us a leaner company with fewer layers of management, this reorganization will give our managers in the field the resources and responsibility to make market- and customer-based business decisions without having to involve higher levels of management,” Swinburn said.