BNSF launches new shortline program with G&W’s Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway as premiere partner

Date
Sept 6, 2024

FORT WORTH, Texas & JACKSONVILLE, Fla., – BNSF Railway, one of North America’s leading transportation companies, announced this week the launch of its new shortline program, Shortline Select. The Class I railroad is partnering with Genesee & Wyoming’s Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway (AGR) as the first shortline railroad to participate.

Shortline Select allows shortline railroads to share BNSF’s enduring commitment to growth and superior service by providing expanded opportunities for customers to reach an even broader consumer base. The program combines the benefit of shortline customized service with BNSF’s vast network reach, which spans 32,500 miles, 28 states and three Canadian provinces. 


“We’re excited to launch our new Shortline Select program with G&W’s Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway,” said BNSF Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Tom Williams. “This new program is demonstrative of BNSF’s ongoing commitment to expanding and improving to meet our customer’s growing needs. Through Shortline Select, we will collaborate closely with AGR to deliver a more streamlined supply chain with enhanced visibility on interchanges, while showcasing our shared commitment to delivering excellent service for our joint customers.”


“Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway provides important rail services to industries along the Gulf Coast and into Alabama and Mississippi,” said G&W’s Chief Customer Officer Mike Peters. “Our collaboration with BNSF will improve service and generate multimodal solutions for those industries and demonstrates that shortlines and Class I railroads alike are focused on growth for our customers and the communities we serve.” 


The goal of Shortline Select is to drive growth by improving service performance with participating shortlines through:

  • Enhanced communication
  • Seamless movement tracking
  • Data transparency
  • Faster equipment turns/Reduced dwell

As a participant in Shortline Select, AGR will collaborate with BNSF on the Class I railroad’s economic development and growth initiatives through: 

  • Premier Transloads – Transload providers on AGR may be included in BNSF’s Premier Transload Program, a network of more than 400 transloaders across the BNSF system.
  • Certified Sites – Select locations on AGR may be eligible for BNSF’s Certified Site designation, which is an inventory of available, rail-ready industrial sites that are pre-approved for development, increasing speed to market.

Shortline Select shortlines will partner with BNSF on a suite of operational process improvements and have pre-defined economic arrangements with BNSF that enable expedited responsiveness to customer rate requests. BNSF looks forward to welcoming additional shortlines to the program in the future.

Contact:
Kendall Kirkham Sloan
Director, External Communications
Media@BNSF.com