Company Website: http://www.gwrr.com
GREENWICH, Conn. -- (Business Wire)

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) (NYSE: GWR) today reported traffic volumes for December 2011 and the fourth quarter of 2011.

GWI’s traffic in December 2011 was 82,009 carloads, an increase of 524 carloads, or 0.6 percent, compared with December 2010. GWI’s traffic in the fourth quarter of 2011 was 246,794 carloads, an increase of 18,077 carloads, or 7.9 percent, compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.

The table below sets forth consolidated carloading information for December 2011 and December 2010. Additional carload information for GWI’s North American and Australian operations is included as an exhibit to this press release.

Excluding 1,336 carloads from the Arizona Eastern Railway (AZER) acquisition, which closed September 1, 2011, same-railroad traffic in December 2011 decreased 812 carloads, or 1.0 percent, compared with December 2010. The decrease was principally due to a 1,421 carload decrease in GWI’s other commodity group traffic, primarily due to decreased overhead coal shipments in GWI’s Ohio Region, and a 1,028 carload decrease in coal & coke traffic, primarily in GWI’s Mountain West Region. These decreases were partially offset by a 1,342 carload increase in metals traffic due to steel and scrap shipments in GWI’s Southern Region. All remaining traffic increased by a net 295 carloads.

The table below sets forth consolidated carloading information for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the fourth quarter of 2010. Additional carload information for GWI’s North American and Australian operations is included as an exhibit to this press release.

Excluding October 2011 and November 2011 carloads totaling 15,174 from the FreightLink Acquisition(1), which closed December 1, 2010, and 3,856 carloads from AZER in the fourth quarter of 2011, same-railroad traffic in the fourth quarter of 2011 decreased 953 carloads, or 0.4 percent, compared with the fourth quarter of 2010. The traffic decrease was principally due to a decrease of 5,626 carloads of coal & coke traffic, partially offset by an increase of 4,352 carloads of metals traffic. All remaining traffic increased by a net 321 carloads.

Carload Reporting for Huron Central Railway

The carloads in this press release include traffic from the Huron Central Railway (HCRY) as follows: 1,334 carloads in December 2011, 1,037 carloads in December 2010, 4,088 carloads in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 3,747 carloads in the fourth quarter of 2010. On June 15, 2009, GWI announced its intent to discontinue operations of HCRY. After negotiations with certain customers and government entities, HCRY entered into an interim agreement to continue operations. Because of the nature of the temporary agreement, during this interim period, which lasted from August 15, 2009 through December 31, 2010, GWI did not include HCRY’s carloads in its monthly carloading press release. On January 1, 2011, HCRY started operating under a new agreement with certain customers and GWI resumed including HCRY traffic in its monthly carloading press release. To facilitate comparison to the prior year in this press release, GWI has included HCRY carloads from December 2010 and the fourth quarter of 2010 which were not previously included in the press release for the same period in 2010.

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. Car movements related to railcar switching, including activities at port terminals, are excluded from our carload information as the resulting revenues are classified as non-freight.

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. In addition, we operate the Tarcoola to Darwin rail line, which links the Port of Darwin with the Australian interstate rail network in South Australia. Operations currently include 65 railroads organized in 10 regions, with more than 7,600 miles of owned and leased track and approximately 1,400 additional miles under track access arrangements. We provide rail service at 17 ports in North America and Europe and perform contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers.

(1) On December 1, 2010 GWI purchased certain assets from FreightLink Pty Ltd (receivers and managers appointed) (FL), Asia Pacific Transport Pty Ltd (receivers and managers appointed) (APT) and the other APT joint venture sellers (together with FL and APT, “FreightLink Acquisition” or "FreightLink")

Exhibit

The table below sets forth North American carloading information for December 2011 and December 2010:

The table below sets forth North American carloading information for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the fourth quarter of 2010:

The table below sets forth Australian carloading information for December 2011 and December 2010:

The table below sets forth Australian carloading information for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the fourth quarter of 2010:

Contacts:

Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
Matthew O. Walsh, 1-203-629-3722
Senior Vice President – Corporate Development and Treasurer
Web Site: http://www.gwrr.com

Source: Genesee & Wyoming Inc.