WASHINGTON – Genesee & Wyoming aims to merge four of its Southeastern short lines into two railroads early next year.
The largest shortline holding company told regulators on Wednesday that in a pair of transactions it proposes to merge Chattahoochee Bay Railroad into The Bay Line Railroad, and the Fordyce and Princeton Railroad into the Arkansas Louisiana & Mississippi Railroad.
Operations, service, and employment levels on the railroads won’t change, G&W said, but the mergers will reduce overhead costs including duplication of accounting and information technology services. G&W anticipates the transactions will become effective on or around Feb. 1, 2023.
The Chattahoochee Bay, which runs between Dothan, Ala., and Hilton, Ga., operationally is part of the neighboring 172-mile Bay Line, which runs from Dothan to Panama City, Fla., as well as between Grimes and Abbeville, Ala.
The 57-mile Fordyce and Princeton operates in Arkansas, while Arkansas Louisiana & Mississippi operates 71 miles of trackage in Arkansas and Louisiana.
