(OmniTRAX issued the following news release on October 26.)
DENVER — OmniTRAX, an affiliate of The Broe Companies, has announced that it has concluded a lease of CSXT’s Fulco Branch Line near Atlanta, Ga., effective at 12:01 a.m., Saturday, October 23, 2004. Fulton County Railway, LLC, a subsidiary of OmniTRAX began operations at that time. David Lutz serves as President of Fulton County Railway, and Larry Davis is Director of Marketing and Sales.
According to CSXT and OmniTRAX representatives this new lease agreement will help enhance service to the Fulton Industrial District and expand opportunities for economic growth and development in the area. The agreement will advance the concept of Fulton as an integrated logistics center. It is another positive step toward providing the Fulton Business District the type of service it requires to become one of the Southeast’s major transportation hubs.
OmniTRAX will immediately embark on numerous infrastructure improvements including rail replacement, installation of 2000 ties, installation of three new switches, and surfacing.
“OmniTRAX is excited about the potential we see at the Fulton Industrial Park,” comments Bob Parker, OmniTRAX’s Chief Operating Officer. “We expect to invest necessary resources to increase the level of service to the park, thereby enabling Fulton’s customers to confidently increase their levels of business and use of rail.”
OmniTRAX will utilize the resources of The Broe Companies, its affiliated real estate and investment company, to augment its transportation services with real estate and other industrial development activities. This will foster economic expansion and job creation within the Fulton Industrial Business District. This unique combination of transportation and real estate expertise creates a model that OmniTRAX has utilized successfully across its system and that it hopes will serve as a platform for an expanded relationship with CSXT.
Broe’s real estate affiliate is considering strategic investments in industrial real estate at the Fulton Industrial Park and believes there are significant opportunities, considering OmniTRAX’s operations in the park as well as the area’s outstanding transportation infrastructure. Broe and OmniTRAX plan to work aggressively and cooperatively with owners and the local brokerage community to attract and retain a significant number of users in the park, with a focus on rail users. Broe believes that Fulton Industrial Park can be a leader in the Atlanta area industrial market, catering to rail-centric businesses and other transportation based companies.
About Fulton Industrial Park: Fulton Industrial is home to more than 40 existing rail-centric warehouseman and light manufacturing companies that move everything from food products and metals to paper and packaging products from five regions of the country. Shippers from the West Coast, Pacific Northwest, Canada, Ohio Valley and Southeast move more than 8,000 cars, or the equivalent of 30,000 trucks, annually through warehouses and light manufacturing facilities to end users in Atlanta and the surrounding areas, as well as multiple points throughout the East.
About CSX Corporation: Based in Jacksonville, Fla., CSX Corporation’s subsidiary CSX Transportation, Inc. operates the largest rail network in the eastern United States. CSXT and its 34,000 employees provide rail transportation services over a 23,000 route-mile network in 23 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. CSX Corporation also provides intermodal and global container terminal operations through other subsidiaries.
About OmniTRAX: An affiliate of the Broe Companies (www.broe.com), OmniTRAX is the largest privately held rail services company in North America. With its headquarters in Denver, Colorado, OmniTRAX owns and operates eleven short-line railroads in six states and three Canadian Provinces. OmniTRAX also owns and operates the Port of Churchill, Manitoba. Additionally, OmniTRAX provides intermodal terminal services to Class I railways through its Quality Terminal Services subsidiary, provides customized private switching services for major industrial complexes through its OmniTRAX Switching Services subsidiary, and provides locomotive maintenance services to Class I railways through its OmniTRAX Locomotive Services subsidiary.