(The following article by Beverly Miller was posted on the News-Leader website on April 14.)
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — CSX Transportation has leased its railroad track from Yulee to Fernandina Beach, including the lines that serve Rayonier and Smurfit-Stone mills and the Port of Fernandina.
Saturday was the first day of operation for First Coast Railroad at the Fernandina rail yard. First Coast is a subsidiary of Rail Link, Inc., a Jacksonville-based short-haul railroad line and a wholly owned subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming, Inc., a Connecticut-based holding company.
“The larger railroads have recognized that short-line railroads can handle the first and last mile a little better,” said Murray Cook Benz, vice president for sales and marketing for Rail Link. “What the big railroads do best is move freight across the country. It’s truly a partnership thing.”
Rail Link, Inc. operates 10 short-line railroads and does industrial switching for large corporations – “like Rayonier,” Benz said.
Rail Link’s subsidiary, First Coast Railroad, will operate out of Fernandina over two leased branch lines from CSX: one line runs from Yulee to Fernandina, and the other from Yulee to Seals, Ga., for a total of 32 miles of track.
CSX is the only company First Coast Railroad connects with, and CSX will still negotiate with customers and obtain business, Benz says.
“The new company will be providing rail service to Smurfit-Stone, Rayonier and Nassau Terminals in Fernandina,” she said. “The big railroads are handling record volume right now, and the long-haul business – like moving cars from Jacksonville to Atlanta – they will keep,” she said.
Genesee has subsidiaries and affiliates that own and operate 22 short line and regional freight railroads providing service in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bolivia and Australia. It operates an additional 3,000 miles under track-access arrangements.
It also serves the ports of Jacksonville and Savannah and Brunswick, Ga. “Fernandina is the missing link,” Benz said.
Rail Link was started in 1987 and has 30 people in the Jacksonville office, but officials in Fernandina do not yet know how many employees will be needed here.
“We believe in hiring from the local community, and we have already hired six and plan to hire more,” said Teddy Maybrier, operations manager.
All seven former CSX Fernandina employees have been told they can move to other positions within CSX.
Benz says both railroads – CSX and Rail Link, Inc., met with all customers in advance of the move, “and they understand,” she said. “For them it means more flexibility.”
The rail lines will handle approximately 15,000 carloads annually, including pulp and paper, chemicals and agricultural products. “This portion of our network consists mainly of paper products customers and is unique in that the majority of the traffic comes from three customers,” said Les Passa, CSX vice president for strategic planning, in a press release.