| RailAmerica Reports January 2002 Carloads; Total Carloads Up 17.9% to 121,266, Including Park Sierra & States Rail |
| BOCA RATON, Fla., Feb 15, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via
COMTEX/ -- RailAmerica, Inc. (NYSE: RRA), the world's largest short line
and regional railroad operator, today announced that total carloads
(including intermodal units) for January 2002 increased 17.9% to
121,266, from 102,864 in 2001. January 2002 carloads include the
StatesRail and ParkSierra acquisitions. For January 2002, "same
railroad" carloads decreased 2.3% to 99,705, from 102,092 in
January 2001.
North American Carloads Total North American carloads for January 2002 were up 22.1% to 95,344, versus 78,071 in January 2001. North American "same railroad" carloads for January 2002 decreased 4.5% to 73,783, from 77,299 in 2001. In North America, "same railroad" coal, paper and metals traffic saw double digit increases, while agricultural, intermodal and bridge traffic shipments were lower for the month. International Carloads For January 2002, international total and "same railroad" carloads increased 4.6% to 25,922, from 24,793 in January 2001. In Australia, traffic was up due to solid loadings related to the strong grain harvest in southeast Australia. In Chile, carloads were up modestly but were impacted by the loss of approximately 2,000 cars due to a two-week shut down at its largest customer's mine. This business falls under an annual take-or-pay contract and therefore is expected to be made up during the year. Historically, the Company has found that carload information may be indicative of freight revenues on its railroads, but may not be indicative of total revenues, operating expenses, operating income or net income. Attached is a comparison of consolidated carloads by commodity group for the month and year-to-date as of January 31, 2002 and 2001. |