Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Reports Traffic For August 2012

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) (NYSE: GWR) today reported traffic volumes for August 2012.

GWI’s traffic in August 2012 was 82,686 carloads, a decrease of 4,697 carloads, or 5.4 percent, compared with August 2011. GWI’s traffic in the third quarter of 2012 through August was 163,544 carloads, a decrease of 9,038 carloads, or 5.2 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2011 through August.

The table below sets forth consolidated carloading information for August 2012 and August 2011. Additional carload information for GWI’s North American and Australian operations is included as an exhibit to this press release.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
by Commodity Group					August					August
					2012					2011					% Change
Consolidated:
Coal & Coke					17,812					18,110					-1.6%
Minerals & Stone					11,141					13,070					-14.8%
Pulp & Paper					9,286					8,550					8.6%
Metals					8,175					7,891					3.6%
Farm & Food Products					7,620					10,860					-29.8%
Lumber & Forest Products					6,415					5,888					9.0%
Chemicals & Plastics					5,846					5,309					10.1%
Intermodal*					5,633					5,325					5.8%
Metallic Ores**					3,526					2,807					25.6%
Petroleum Products					2,670					2,566					4.1%
Autos & Auto Parts					1,025					945					8.5%
Other					3,537					6,062					-41.7%
Total carloads					82,686					87,383					-5.4%
* - Represents intermodal units
** - Includes carloads and intermodal units

Excluding 2,932 carloads from GWI railroads acquired within the last 12 months, same-railroad traffic in August 2012 decreased 7,629 carloads, or 8.7 percent, compared with August 2011.

Farm & food products traffic decreased 3,318 carloads primarily due to reduced shipments in GWI’s Australia and Illinois Regions. The shipment decline in the Australia Region was primarily due to an accelerated shipping schedule earlier in 2012, as well as a mechanical failure at an export grain terminal in Adelaide, South Australia. The repair schedule for the export grain terminal has not yet been finalized. As a result of reduced traffic through the Adelaide grain terminal, GWI currently expects its farm & food products traffic to be lower than its initial expectations by approximately 4,000 carloads in the third quarter of 2012, with any adverse impact on the fourth quarter of 2012 dependent on the duration of the terminal outage. Meanwhile, the farm & food products shipment decline in the Illinois Region was primarily due to elevated traffic in 2011 associated with carloads diverted around flooding in the Midwest.

GWI’s other commodity group traffic decreased 2,528 carloads in August 2012 primarily due to no overhead coal shipments in GWI’s Ohio Region. Minerals & stone traffic decreased 2,219 carloads primarily due to reduced rock salt shipments in GWI’s New York/Pennsylvania Region as a result of warm winter weather. All remaining traffic increased by a net 436 carloads. Please note that the Edith River Bridge in the Northern Territory of Australia was closed for one week in August 2012 for planned repairs, which reduced metallic ores shipments in the month. Service to Darwin resumed as scheduled following completion of the planned repairs.

The table below sets forth consolidated carloading information for the third quarter of 2012 through August and the third quarter of 2011 through August. Additional carload information for GWI’s North American and Australian operations is included as an exhibit to this press release.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
by Commodity Group					QTD Aug					QTD Aug
					2012					2011					% Change
Consolidated:
Coal & Coke					34,895					34,732					0.5%
Minerals & Stone					21,786					25,783					-15.5%
Pulp & Paper					18,719					16,869					11.0%
Farm & Food Products					16,447					21,743					-24.4%
Metals					14,477					15,028					-3.7%
Lumber & Forest Products					12,442					11,133					11.8%
Intermodal*					11,567					10,452					10.7%
Chemicals & Plastics					11,492					10,211					12.5%
Metallic Ores**					7,742					5,795					33.6%
Petroleum Products					5,285					5,082					4.0%
Autos & Auto Parts					1,670					1,690					-1.2%
Other					7,022					14,064					-50.1%
Total carloads					163,544					172,582					-5.2%
* - Represents intermodal units
** - Includes carloads and intermodal units

Excluding 5,825 carloads from GWI railroads acquired within the last 12 months, same-railroad traffic in the third quarter of 2012 through August decreased 14,863 carloads, or 8.6 percent, compared with the third quarter of 2011 through August. The traffic decrease was principally due to decreases of 7,096 carloads of other commodity group traffic (primarily overhead coal in GWI’s Ohio Region), 5,441 carloads of farm & food products traffic (primarily grain in GWI’s Australia Region), and 4,543 carloads of minerals & stone traffic (primarily salt in GWI’s New York/Pennsylvania Region). All remaining traffic increased by a net 2,217 carloads.

Carload Reporting for Metallic Ores Traffic

Effective January 1, 2012, a portion of GWI’s metallic ores commodity group includes intermodal containers as a result of a change in rail logistics and equipment for a customer in GWI’s Australia Region. The impact of this change increased traffic by 517 carloads in August 2012 and 1,056 carloads in the third quarter of 2012 through August.

Historically, GWI 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. Car movements related to railcar switching, including activities at port terminals, are excluded from our carload information as the resulting revenues are classified as non-freight.

GWI owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads and provides railcar switching services in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium. In addition, we operate the Tarcoola to Darwin rail line, which links the Port of Darwin to the Australian interstate rail network in South Australia. Operations currently include 66 railroads organized in 10 regions, with more than 7,600 miles of owned and leased track and approximately 1,400 additional miles under track access arrangements. We provide rail service at 17 ports in North America and Europe and perform contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers.

Exhibit

The table below sets forth North American carloading information for August 2012 and August 2011:

					August					August
					2012					2011					% Change
North America Operations:
Coal & Coke					17,812					18,110					-1.6%
Pulp & Paper					9,286					8,550					8.6%
Metals					8,175					7,891					3.6%
Lumber & Forest Products					6,415					5,888					9.0%
Minerals & Stone					6,302					7,802					-19.2%
Chemicals & Plastics					5,846					5,309					10.1%
Farm & Food Products					4,426					4,920					-10.0%
Petroleum Products					2,642					2,518					4.9%
Metallic Ores					1,109					804					37.9%
Autos & Auto Parts					1,025					945					8.5%
Intermodal*					307					171					79.5%
Other					3,537					6,062					-41.7%
Total carloads					66,882					68,970					-3.0%
* - Represents intermodal units

The table below sets forth North American carloading information for the third quarter of 2012 through August and the third quarter of 2011 through August:

					QTD Aug					QTD Aug
					2012					2011					% Change
North America Operations:
Coal & Coke					34,895					34,732					0.5%
Pulp & Paper					18,719					16,869					11.0%
Metals					14,477					15,028					-3.7%
Lumber & Forest Products					12,442					11,133					11.8%
Minerals & Stone					11,991					15,127					-20.7%
Chemicals & Plastics					11,492					10,211					12.5%
Farm & Food Products					8,529					9,666					-11.8%
Petroleum Products					5,217					4,984					4.7%
Metallic Ores					2,093					1,545					35.5%
Autos & Auto Parts					1,670					1,690					-1.2%
Intermodal*					735					312					135.6%
Other					7,022					14,064					-50.1%
Total carloads					129,282					135,361					-4.5%
* - Represents intermodal units

The table below sets forth Australian carloading information for August 2012 and August 2011:

					August					August
					2012					2011					% Change
Australian Operations:
Intermodal*					5,326					5,154					3.3%
Minerals & Stone					4,839					5,268					-8.1%
Farm & Food Products					3,194					5,940					-46.2%
Metallic Ores**					2,417					2,003					20.7%
Petroleum Products					28					48					-41.7%
Total carloads					15,804					18,413					-14.2%
* - Represents intermodal units
** - Includes carloads and intermodal units

The table below sets forth Australian carloading information for the third quarter of 2012 through August and the third quarter of 2011 through August:

					QTD Aug					QTD Aug
					2012					2011					% Change
Australian Operations:
Intermodal*					10,832					10,140					6.8%
Minerals & Stone					9,795					10,656					-8.1%
Farm & Food Products					7,918					12,077					-34.4%
Metallic Ores**					5,649					4,250					32.9%
Petroleum Products					68					98					-30.6%
Total carloads					34,262					37,221					-7.9%
* - Represents intermodal units
** - Includes carloads and intermodal units