BRATTLEBORO — Vermont's largest freight railroad has a new owner.
On Dec. 19, 2012, the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) approved the purchase of RailAmerica Inc., the company that owns the New England Central Railroad (NECR), by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc., another holding company of many short-line railroads across the country, for $1.37 billion.
The takeover of the St. Albans-based NECR, which operates 394 miles of track between the Canadian border just south of Montreal and New London, Conn., became effective Dec. 28.
It is the second rail line that Genesee & Wyoming has purchased that passes through Vermont. It already owns the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad, which passes through Island Pond and the Northeast Kingdom on the way between Montreal and Portland, Maine.
In the STB's approval of the NECR sale, the Vermont Agency of Transportation asked the board to impose conditions on Genesee & Wyoming (GWI) to continue working with the state to support high-speed and intercity passenger rail service. Amtrak's Vermonter travels on the NECR's rails between Palmer, Mass., and St. Albans.
The STB rejected that request, but stated in its decision that “GWI and NECR intend to continue collaboration with VTrans following the transaction, and have no intention of breaching any existing written agreements following the transaction.”
Christopher Parker, executive director of the Vermont Rail Action Network, said Genesee & Wyoming's purchase of the NECR “will be a positive, on balance.”
“G & W brings strengths in safety and marketing and customer service,” Parker said in a statement after the sale. “Their rate of injuries is one third of what RailAmerica's had been (which was not bad, just that G & W is better) and is better than all the other major railroads.” They have promised more localized decision making regarding rates and marketing which is an important move, he said.
Parker said most things about the railroad will stay the same with the new owner.
“According to statements the company made [Dec. 19] at Rail Council, customer service personnel are staying the same, at least initially,” he said. “I understand the new company plans to keep open the St. Albans dispatching center, at least for the time being, and will continue and may expand work at the St. Albans mechanical shop. A new general manager will be hired as the line is currently being run with an interim retired manager.”
Parker was also optimistic that GWI would continue to provide the same level of support for passenger rail service that NECR did.
“The Vermonter has been near or at the top of on-time performance for the Amtrak system, thanks to excellent dispatching by NECR,” he said. “NECR has cultivated an excellent relationship with the state and with local communities. Hopefully Genesee & Wyoming will continue this.”
Parker said that rail fans will notice a change in corporate colors “from blue and yellow, to orange with classy yellow and black trim. Locomotives will be painted over the next several years.”
The Genesee & Wyoming began its life in 1899 as a 14-mile railroad built to transport salt from a rock salt mine in Retsolf, N.Y. When U.S. railroads were deregulated in the 1980s, GWI began acquiring other short lines around the country.
According to the trade magazine Progressive Railroading, GWI's acquisition of RailAmerica's 45 regional and short lines that it owned in the United States and Canada boosts GWI's railroad holdings to 108 in North America and 111 worldwide. GWI is now the largest short-line railroad operator in the United States.
The New England Central is the successor to the Central Vermont Railway, which was sold by Canadian National Railways to RailTex Corp. in 1995, which in turn, was acquired by RailAmerica in 2000.