Short line set to begin operating CSX Florida Panhandle trackage NEWSWIRE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad will begin operating CSX Transportation’s 373-mile route across the Florida Panhandle on June 1.

The new short line, owned by RailUSA, will use 20 locomotives leased from Wells Fargo. Nineteen units have been delivered, although none has yet been painted into RailUSA’s red, white, and blue paint scheme.

Florida Gulf & Atlantic will focus on growing traffic from current customers as well as from transload operations, according to a RailUSA presentation.

Currently 10 customers — including shippers of agricultural, chemical, and construction-related commodities — generate nearly 90% of the line’s carloads.

The Florida Gulf & Atlantic is based in Tallahassee and is a wholly owned subsidiary of RailUSA, which is based in Boca Raton, Fla., and is headed by Gary Marino, who founded Patriot Rail and RailAmerica shortline holding companies.

The short line will operate CSX’s Tallahassee Subdivision between Baldwin and Chattahoochee, Fla., the P&A Subdivision between Chattahoochee and Pensacola, Fla., and portions of the Bainbridge Subdivision between Tallahassee and Attapulgus, Ga.

CSX will retain trackage rights on the line in the event of an emergency or natural disaster that would require rerouting of traffic, but the Class I railroad has no plans to regularly use the Florida Gulf & Atlantic as a through route.

The Florida Gulf & Atlantic is the largest line sale to date under CSX’s network rationalization program.

CSX has identified about 4,500 miles of routes as candidates for sale or lease, a figure that includes the 1,325 miles of lines that have already been put out to bid, sold, or are in the process of being sold.

CSX aims to sell or lease low-density routes to short line operators who can boost traffic on the lines, which will help feed the larger CSX network.