Rail World is a

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

. Its specialties include railway management, consulting, investment,

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

s, and

restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...

s. Its purpose is to promote rail industry privatization by bringing together government bodies wishing to sell their stakes with investment capital and management skills.

Overview

Rail World was incorporated in July 1999 by

Edward Burkhardt Edward Arnold Burkhardt is a railroad executive, the founder and current chairman of Rail World Inc. Career After gaining a B.S. with honors in Industrial Administration from Yale University and studying Rail Transportation at Yale's graduate sc ...

, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer. Rail World's assets consist of a controlling interest in

San Luis Central Railroad The San Luis Central Railroad is a railroad company based in the U.S. state of Colorado. It was founded in 1913 to haul sugar beets from grower to processor. The railroad was acquired in 1969 by the Pea Vine Corporation and today operates freig ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and a 100% ownership of Rail Polska (Poland) and Baltic Rail OU (Estonia).

Subsidiaries

*Baltic Rail OU (container train operator) *Rail Polska (freight railway operations) *Rail World Locomotive Leasing, (locomotive leasing) *Rail World

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, a

freight forwarding A freight forwarder, or forwarding agent, is a person or company who, for a fee organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a market, customer or final point of distribution.

service *

(railway freight operations)

Response to Lac-Mégantic derailment

After the derailment at Lac-Mégantic,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada of a

Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway was a Class II freight railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec between 2002 and 2014. It was headquartered in Hermon, Maine. Its Canadian subsi ...

(MM&A) freight train on July 6, 2013 which left 47 people dead or missing, president

visited Lac-Mégantic on July 10, 2013, and was heckled by residents who were critical of his company's response to the incident. After the accident the railway's safety record was called into question. Over the previous decade the firm recorded a higher accident rate than the rest of the US rail fleet, according to data from the

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...

. In the previous year the railroad had 36.1 accidents per million miles travelled, in comparison to a national average of 14.6 accidents per million miles traveled. On August 7, 2013, the MM&A filed for bankruptcy protection in both the Quebec Superior Court in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

(under the

Companies Creditors Arrangement Act The ''Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act'' (CCAA; french: Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies) is a statute of the Parliament of Canada that allows insolvent corporations owing their creditors in excess of $5 million to ...

) and the

United States Bankruptcy Court United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy c ...

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

(under

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

). The company owes more than seven million dollars to the municipality of Lac-Mégantic in cleanup costs the town has already paid to MM&A contractors and owes

severance pay Severance may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Severance'' (film), a 2006 British horror film * ''Severance'' (novel), a 2018 novel by Ling Ma *''Severance'', a 2006 short-story collection by Robert Olen Butler * ''Severance'' (TV series), a ...

to its laid-off workers; liabilities are expected to increase as lawsuits are filed on behalf of victims of the disaster and as the long process of environmental decontamination and local rebuilding continues. The MM&A's certificate of fitness was revoked by the

Canadian Transportation Agency The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA; french: Office des transports du Canada, OTC) is the independent, quasi-judicial tribunal of the Government of Canada that makes decisions relating to federally-regulated modes of transportation (air, rai ...

on August 13, 2013, citing inadequate

liability insurance Liability insurance (also called third-party insurance) is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser (the "insured") from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims and protects the i ...

; this effectively bans the MM&A from operating in Canada.

Former subsidiaries

Eesti Raudtee Eesti Raudtee or EVR is the national railway infrastructure company of Estonia. It owns a network of of broad gauge () railway throughout the country, including the used by the Elron commuter trains around Tallinn. Its sole shareholder is th ...

(25.5%) from August 2001 until January 2007EVR's private interlude is over
''

Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport p ...

'' February 2007

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.railworld-inc.com/ Companies based in Chicago Railway companies established in 1999 United States railroad holding companies 1999 establishments in Illinois