OmniTRAX completes purchase agreement for San Luis & Rio Grande

OmniTRAX purchases Colorado’s iconic San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad.

OmniTRAX

OmniTRAX's purchase of the San Luis & Rio Grande (SLRG), a former Iowa Pacific shortline, is essentially complete.

RT&S reported in September that OmniTRAX had signed a letter of intent to purchase the railroad. OmniTRAX provides supply chain, industrial development, and logistics solutions to its customers, and is an affiliate of The Broe Group. The addition of the San Luis & Rio Grande gives OmniTRAX its 26th railroad, and expands the company’s rail network to approximately 2,000 miles across North America. In addition, it now has two railroads in Colorado.

The San Luis & Rio Grande is 155 miles long and was constructed in 1870. The road provides service between the San Luis Valley and Colorado’s eastern plains. The addition of the SLRG to the OmniTRAX network offers expanded reach for the line’s active rail customers and provides new opportunities to grow the region’s economic base.

OmniTRAX CEO Dean Piacente said, “As a Colorado company, we know how important the SLRG has been to the San Luis Valley and Colorado’s economy. The Broe Group companies have grown with Colorado for 50 years and we are proud to help revitalize this railroad to bring more business and jobs to the region and our state.”

Piacente added that “The SLRG removes tens of thousands of trucks from Colorado’s highways and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range’s scenic La Veta pass. Rail continues to be the most eco-friendly freight solution over land and that’s especially important to such a vibrant part of our state.”

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