(The Associated Press circulated the following on March 13.)
GREENWICH, Conn. — Genesee & Wyoming Inc. said Thursday traffic fell 6.2 percent in February, as the regional freight railroad continued to be hurt by the discontinuation of haulage traffic at a subsidiary.
Genesee & Wyoming said traffic from continuing operations fell to 61,440 carloads during the month from 65,504 in February 2007.
Excluding 892 carloads from the Maryland Midland Railway, which Genesee began operating on Jan. 1, traffic fell a more significant 7.6 percent.
Genesee & Wyoming said it was mostly hurt by losses in its “other” category, which included haulage traffic from the Meridian & Bigbee railroad. Haulage traffic was discontinued late last year. The line had been handling haulage traffic in the Gulf Coast region since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Traffic in the “other” category fell to 1,525 carloads from 4,849 in February 2007.
Excluding haulage traffic, Genesee & Wyoming’s traffic decreased by 2.1 percent, mostly due to lower coal shipments in the Rocky Mountain and Illinois regions.
So far in the first quarter, traffic has slipped 7.2 percent from the same period last year.