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Yesterday, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) reported first-quarter net income of $22.1 million, up 38 percent, and diluted earnings per share of 39 cents, up 33 percent compared with first-quarter 2010 figures.

Operating revenue jumped 31.8 percent to $191.9 million, same railroad freight revenue climbed 16 percent to $103.9 million, traffic soared 20.6 percent to 244,556 units and income from operations ballooned 30.2 percent to $39.2 million.

“We successfully integrated the FreightLink acquisition in Australia and our same railroad traffic continued to improve, particularly in the month of March,” said GWI President and Chief Executive Officer Jack Hellmann in a prepared statement.

However, operating expenses rose 32 percent to $152.7 million and GWI’s operating ratio worsened slightly by 0.3 points to 79.6. In addition, operating income was lower than expected because Australian operations experienced track washouts in February that cancelled service for nearly 10 days; Canadian operations were adversely affected by severe winter weather and lower shipments of winter grain through a connecting Class I; and sharp increases in diesel prices weren’t fully mitigated by fuel surcharges due to an average four-month lag in surcharge programs, said Hellmann.

Meanwhile, RailAmerica Inc. reported revenue of $124.9 million, up 9 percent, and freight revenue of $97.6 million, up 3 percent year over year. In addition, the company reported income from continuing operations of $4.1 million vs. a loss from continuing operations of $2.5 million a year earlier, and an operating ratio of 80.6 vs. 83.3 in first-quarter 2010.

However, carloads dipped 1 percent to 209,042 units and total operating expenses climbed from $95.7 million a year earlier to $100.7 million.
 
“Our operations performed well in the quarter in the face of challenging weather and a sharp run-up in fuel prices,” said RailAmerica President and Chief Executive Officer John Giles in a prepared statement.  “[But] we remain encouraged as we look ahead. The outlook for traffic is favorable and we continue to make progress on our growth and productivity initiatives.”