(The Associated Press circulated the following on October 13.)
GREENWICH, Conn. — Regional freight railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc. said Tuesday traffic fell 7.4 percent in October, as haulage traffic was stopped at a subsidiary.
The railroad hauled 67,616 carloads during the month, compared with 73,000 in October of last year.
Traffic in the “other” category, which includes the Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, slipped 71 percent to 1,642 carloads from 5,693 carloads in October 2006.
The Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, which had been under investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration because of a slew of derailments and accidents, had been handling haulage traffic in the Gulf Coast region since 2005. The company said last month haulage traffic there would be stopped indefinitely.
Farm and food product carloads fell 33 percent to 5,196, from 7,702 a year ago, as Australian drought hurt the country’s grain harvest.
The railroad said coal, coke and ore carloads grew 5 percent to 18,656, from 17,785 a year ago, due to increased shipments in its Illinois region.