TPW and CERA lease two short-line railroads in US

Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway (TPW) and Central Railroad Company of Indianapolis (CERA) have reached two agreements to lease and operate the Winamac Southern Railway (WSRY) and Kokomo Railroad (KR).

TPW and CERA are subsidiaries of American short-line railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming (G&W).

The two subsidiaries started operations for WSRY and KR on 22 March after securing permissions from the US Surface Transportation Board to lease and operate both short-line railroads effective from 27 February 2019.

Collectively, WSRY and KR own 57 miles of track in Indiana.

Along with G&W’s Illinois & Midland Railroad (IMRR) and Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (TZPR), the leases will create a contiguous 400-mile, four-railroad footprint (CERA-TPW-TZPR-IMRR), which will span from Eastern Indiana to Western Illinois with connections to six Class I railroads.

Both companies are likely to manage about 5,000 carloads annually over the new lines, which will include agricultural products, chemicals and plastics.

WSRY and KR share common ownership of Kokomo Grain Company, a major client of WSRY and the sole customer of KR.

Kokomo Grain Company president Scot Ortman said: “TPW and CERA have been operating WSRY and KR under a short-term agreement for the past three months and providing excellent rail service.”

G&W Midwest Region railroads senior vice-president Martin Pohlod said: “Since acquiring CERA and TPW in 2012, we have worked hard to repair their relationship with Kokomo Grain, and these long-term leases of WSRY and KR are a direct result of those efforts.

“We’re planning immediate upgrades to the WSRY and KR lines to support the business and further enhance our customers’ routing options, interchange locations and geographic reach through G&W’s footprint of contiguous railroads.”