Regional Rail Expands Into Canada

In addition to Great Sandhills Railway (pictured), Regional Rail has acquired from G3 Canada Limited interests in three other freight rail assets located in western Canada.

The 123-mile Great Sandhills Railway in southwestern Saskatchewan is now part of Regional Rail, a Kennett Square, Pa.-based short line holding company.

Regional Rail reported on Nov. 11 that in addition to Great Sandhills Railway, it has acquired from G3 Canada Limited interests in three other freight rail assets located in western Canada. The rail portfolio, it said, serves a diversified set of industrial customers across a range of agricultural and energy end-markets.

Regional Rail, which was formed in April 2007, also owns East Penn Railroad, operating 110 miles of track in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware; Middletown & New Jersey Railroad, operating 55 miles of track in southeastern New York state; Tyburn Railroad, operating a 14-acre rail-to-truck transload facility, a trucking company, and a terminal switching operation in Morrisville, Pa.; Florida Central Railroad, operating 68 miles of track serving the Orlando area; Florida Midland Railroad, operating 28 miles of track serving central Florida; Florida Northern Railroad, operating 104 miles of track on two branch lines covering the region north of Tampa; Port Manatee Railroad LLC, operating seven miles of track serving Port Manatee, Fla.; and Carolina Coastal Railway, operating 179 miles of track in eastern North Carolina, including service to the Port of Morehead City, N.C. The 3i-backed company also provides railroad crossing signal design, construction, inspection and maintenance services in 20 U.S. states via its Diamondback Signal subsidiary.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the employees of Great Sandhills Railway to our team and working together with our new partners to execute our top-line growth strategy,” Regional Rail President and CEO Al Sauer said.

“We appreciate the support G3 Canada has provided over the past several years and are excited to join the Regional Rail family of short line railroads,” said Perry Pellerin, CEO of Great Sandhills Railway. “The GSR shares Regional Rail’s focus on providing a high degree of customer service to our partners and we look forward to sharing best practices between our companies to help further grow our operations in Canada.”

“We are excited to expand into the Canadian market, where we see significant industrial growth opportunities across the railroads,” 3i Managing Partner and Head of North American Infrastructure Rob Collins said. “Since our initial investment in 2019, we have believed Regional Rail offers an attractive platform for consolidation and this acquisition further strengthens that conviction.”