Watco subsidiary to purchase Birmingham Southern

Written by jrood

Birmingham Terminal Railway, a subsidiary of Watco Transportation Services, has reached a definitive agreement to purchase the assets of Birmingham Southern Railway. BHRR plans to file the appropriate paperwork with the Surface Transportation Board later this month and could begin operations as early as Feb. 1, 2012. "This is truly one of the great shortline railroads in America," said WTS Chief Executive Officer Rick Webb. "The opportunity to bring our Customer First! focus to Birmingham and work to create value for each of our new customers and for the community of Birmingham is very exciting for us." The BSRR serves Alabama's largest steel making and manufacturing region and provides rail service to Port Birmingham, a rail-to-barge and barge-to-rail transfer facility located on the Black Warrior River. The BSRR operates 75 miles of track and provides service to more than 20 Customers. The railroad interchanges with three Class 1 railroads; the CSXT, the Norfolk Southern and the BNSF. BHRR will immediately begin the hiring process to ensure uninterrupted service to the rail customers. The BHRR will be under the leadership of Rodney Gordon who currently serves as general manager of the Grand Elk Railroad in Kalamazoo, Mich. "We want to assemble the best team of people possible to serve our new customers," Gordon said. "We want men and women who will make sure our customers' transportation needs are met on a daily basis. We realize the number of customer jobs that depend on this railroad and we are committed to doing our best every day to make these customers more competitive in the global economy."

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