United Rail acquires U S Rail at $4.5M
Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
File photo
United Rail, Inc., a shortline railroad consolidator and owner of the X Train brand and brand licensor, has acquired U S Rail Holdings (USRH), a shortline railroad located in Toledo, Ohio.
USRH offers various value-added rail transportation services, including transloading, private industrial railcar switching, track maintenance services, railcar repair and railcar storage. The shortline also leases and operates about 72 miles of rail lines in the Kokomo, Ind. area.
“Our plan is to consolidate the smaller and sometimes overlooked shortlines and consolidate them under the United Rail Inc. banner,” said Michael Barron, CEO of United Rail, Inc. “We plan to aggressively grow our presence in other markets. With the inclusion of USRH under the United Rail Inc. umbrella, we now have a pathway to effectively reach those small railroad companies who wish to sell.”
U S Rail’s Toledo-based offices will now serve as the operations hub for the acquired companies into the United Rail network. United Rail said the company has developed a pipeline of prospective companies and it anticipates adding five such railroads under the United network by late 2018.
“We have been looking for some time to find a partner with the same vision as we have for the consolidation of these small short lines,” said Danielle M. Mitchell, CEO of USRH and the new executive vice president of business development for United Rail Inc. “Now with this deal, we will have a leg up on contacting and closing these rail properties and afford the sellers a path to liquidity. We are very pleased to be part of the exciting program United Rail Inc. has planned.”
