Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Reports Traffic for December 2009 and the Fourth Quarter of 2009

GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) (NYSE: GWR) today reported traffic volumes for December 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2009.

GWI's traffic in December 2009 was 61,917 carloads, a decrease of 7,674 carloads, or 11.0 percent, compared with December 2008. GWI's traffic in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 187,471 carloads, a decrease of 33,982 carloads, or 15.3 percent, compared with the fourth quarter of 2008.

The table below sets forth carloading information for December 2009 and December 2008:

Coal, coke & ores traffic decreased 3,255 carloads primarily due to lower shipments in GWI's Illinois and New York/Ohio/Pennsylvania Regions. Farm & food products traffic decreased 2,326 carloads primarily due to fewer grain shipments in GWI's Australia Region resulting from temporary shipment delays for the 2009-2010 South Australian grain harvest. All other traffic decreased by a net 2,093 carloads.

The table below sets forth carloading information for the fourth quarter of 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2008:

The traffic decrease in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 was principally due to declines of 11,598 carloads of coal, coke & ores traffic, where an expected maintenance outage at a power generation facility in Illinois reduced traffic volume in October 2009, 6,256 carloads of pulp & paper traffic, and 5,336 carloads of minerals & stone traffic. All other traffic decreased by a net 10,792 carloads.

On June 15, 2009 GWI announced its intent to discontinue operations of its Huron Central Railway (HCRY) in the fourth quarter of 2009. GWI now operates HCRY under a temporary service contract through August 14, 2010. Starting in August 2009 HCRY carloads are no longer included in this press release due to the structure of this temporary contract.  To facilitate comparison to the prior year, GWI has excluded 964 total HCRY carloads from December 2008 and 3,355 carloads from the fourth quarter of 2008 in this press release. However, carloads reported in GWI's Form 10-K will include HCRY traffic for all of 2008.  

Historically, GWI has found that carload information may be indicative of freight revenues on its railroads, but may not be indicative of total revenues, operating expenses, operating income or net income.

GWI owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads in the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. Operations currently include 62 railroads organized in nine regions, with more than 6,000 miles of owned and leased track and approximately 3,000 additional miles under track access arrangements. GWI provides rail service at 16 ports in North America and Europe and performs contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers.

SOURCE Genesee & Wyoming Inc.