BOCA RATON, Fla. — RailAmerica, Inc., the world’s largest short line and regional railroad operator, today announced that total carloads (including intermodal units) for June 2002 increased 17.2% to 113,128, from 96,535 in 2001. Year- to-date through June 30, 2002, total carloads increased 16.8% to 715,566, from 612,439 in 2001. Total carloads for 2002 include the StatesRail and ParkSierra acquisitions.
On an “active railroad” basis, total June 2002 carloads of 113,070 were comparable to 2001 carloads of 113,545. Year-to-date through June 30, 2002, “active railroad” carloads increased 1,720 carloads, or 0.2%, to 711,167, from 709,447 in 2001. The “active railroad” carload comparison includes 2001 carload data for properties acquired by RailAmerica in 2002 and excludes carloads associated with railroads or portions of railroads sold during those periods. On a “same railroad” basis, June 2002 carloads were down 2,649 carloads, or 2.8%, to 91,852, from 94,501 in 2001. Year-to-date through June 30, 2002, “same railroad” carloads decreased 6,544 carloads, or 1.1%, to 594,083, from 600,627 in 2001.
North American Carloads
Total North America carloads for June 2002 were up 18,975 carloads, or 27.3%, to 88,436, versus 69,461 in 2001. Year-to-date through June 30, 2002, total North American carloads increased 102,651 carloads, or 23.0%, to 549,915 versus 447,264 in 2001.
On an “active railroad” basis, North America carloads for June 2002 were up 1,907 carloads, or 2.2%, to 88,378, versus 86,471 in 2001. Year-to-date through June 30, 2002, “active railroad” carloads increased 1,244 carloads, or 0.2%, to 545,516, from 544,272 in 2001. On a “same railroad” basis, June 2002 carloads of 67,160 were comparable to 2001 carloads of 67,427. Year-to-date through June 30, 2002, “same railroad” carloads decreased 7,020 carloads, or 1.6%, to 428,432, from 435,452 in 2001. For June 2002, “same railroad” metals, chemicals, non-metallic ores and bridge traffic saw strong increases, while auto, lumber and agricultural products carloads were down for the month.
International Carloads
For June 2002, international total and “same railroad” carloads were down 8.8% to 24,692 compared to 27,074 in 2001. Year-to-date through June 30, 2002, international total and “same railroad” carloads increased 0.3% to 165,651 compared to 165,175 in 2001. In Chile, June 2002 traffic was up double-digits due to increased shipments associated with its new copper ore contract, while grain traffic was down in Australia as compared with a record grain harvest last year.
Historically, the Company has found that carload information may be indicative of freight revenues on its railroads, but may not be indicative of total revenues, operating expenses, operating income or net income. Following is a comparison of consolidated carloads by commodity group for the month and year-to-date as of June 30, 2002 and 2001.
RailAmerica, Inc. (www.railamerica.com), the world’s largest short line and regional railroad operator, owns 49 railroads operating approximately 12,800 route miles in the United States, Canada, Australia and Chile. In North America, the Company’s railroads operate in 27 states and six Canadian provinces. Internationally, the Company operates an additional 4,300 route miles under track access arrangements in Australia and Argentina. In October 2001, RailAmerica was ranked 85th on Forbes magazine’s list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America; in July 2001, the Company was named to the Russell 2000® Index.