G&W: Customer Capex Boosting Carloads

Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. (G&W) customers invested $1.6 billion in industrial development along its 105 U.S. railroads in 2020.

The investment is spread across 45 new projects, which will generate more than 800 new jobs and nearly 47,000 new carloads annually, G&W reported. Of that traffic, 65% will come from the agricultural products, chemicals and plastics, lumber and forest products, and minerals and stone commodity groups.

The projects include an animal feed-processing facility in Fulton, Ark., as well as new facilities for shipping automobiles in Fort Wayne, Ind.; recycling zinc in Cass County, Ind.; processing ore in Miami, Ariz.; and mining pozzolan in Aguila, Ariz.

The investments are “testimony not only to the critical role of rail transportation in the supply chain, but also to the commitment and resiliency of our customers during the challenges of a global pandemic,” G&W Chief Commercial Officer Mike Peters said.

“Access to national and international markets is still the driving factor in attracting new rail-served projects,” G&W Vice President of Industrial Development Kevin Phillips said. “Our 2020 wins include projects in more than half of the 42 states served by our railroads.”

G&W reported that it maintains a database of more than 500 potential industrial development properties across its U.S. railroads.