In 2011, Rail Link loaded more than 430 million tons of Powder River Basin coal into trains for railroad companies at more than a dozen mines in Wyoming and Montana. This represents approximately 90% of Powder River Basin coal production, and more than a third of all coal burned in North America. The company has 162 employees in the Powder River Basin.
At the mine sites, Rail Link employees receive empty coal trains from the railroad companies, operate them slowly through the mine’s loading stations where the cars are filled with coal and then hand the loaded, mile-long trains back to the railroad companies in a non-stop cycle of as many as 80 trains daily. Rail Link’s coal loading operations are part of GWI’s Mountain West Region, which also includes the Utah Railway and the Arizona Eastern Railway. The region’s employees are injury-free in 2012.
“We’re honored to receive our second consecutive Wyoming Governor’s Award,” said GWI Mountain West Region Senior Vice President Andrew T. Chunko. “Safety is the number-one priority for us and for our customers, and it’s wonderful to have the state of Wyoming recognize that commitment. We are now working hard to win the award three years in a row.”
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads and provides railcar switching services in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium.
