Rail World is a

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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

. Its specialties include railway management, consulting, investment,

privatization Privatization (rendered 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 w ...

s, and

restructuring Restructuring or Reframing 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. ...

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 s ...

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

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

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 is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, a

freight forwarding A freight forwarder or forwarding agent is a person or a company who co-ordinates and organizes the movement of shipments on behalf of a shipper (party that arranges an item for shipment) by liaising with carriers (party that transports goods) ...

service * San Luis Central Railroad (railway freight operations)

Response to Lac-Mégantic derailment

After the derailment at Lac-Mégantic,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (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 railroa ...

. 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 The Superior Court of Quebec () is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Quebec Court of Appeal. Jurisdictio ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(under the ''

Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act The ''Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act'' (CCAA; ) is a statute of the Parliament of Canada that allows insolvent corporations owing their creditors in excess of $5 million to restructure their businesses and financial affairs. The CCAA with ...

'') 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 ...

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

(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, w ...

). 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), ...

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; , OTC) is the independent, quasi-judicial tribunal of the Government of Canada that makes decisions relating to federally-regulated modes of transportation ( air, rail and marine). Its headquarters ar ...

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 in ...

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

Former subsidiaries

Eesti Raudtee AS Eesti Raudtee (') known as 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 Tallin ...

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

Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a British 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 tran ...

'' 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