Genesee & Wyoming earnings flat, revenue up 8%

   Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) reported net income in the first quarter of 2012 of $22.2 million, compared with net income of $22.1 million in the first quarter of 2011.
   GWI owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads and provides railcar switching services in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium.
   The railroad company had revenue of $207.4 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to $191.9 million in the same 2011 period.
   “Our financial results for the first quarter of 2012 were consistent with our expectations,” said Jack Hellmann, president and chief executive officer. “While revenues increased 8 percent to $207 million, our net income was unchanged for three main reasons: the expiration of the U.S. short line tax credit; weak coal shipments in the United States; and a 60-day outage on a portion of our main line in Australia due to the washout of our Edith River Bridge. For our North American and European operations, despite a 20 percent drop in coal revenues, our first quarter revenues still increased 9 percent and our operating income increased 16 percent.”
   Meanwhile GWI said Monday its newly formed subsidiary, the Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad (CCR), has signed an agreement with Norfolk Southern to lease and operate a 26-mile segment of NS track that runs from Girard to Mahrt, Ala. CCR will interchange with NS in Columbus, Ga., where GWI’s Georgia Southwestern Railroad also has operations.
   CCR expects to start operations on the leased line in July with 17 employees and six locomotives. The short line expects to handle about 17,000 carloads per year, consisting primarily of coated paperboard-related traffic as well as other general merchandise shipments.