Genesee & Wyoming Canada’s Alberta Heartland Railway (AHR) Enters into Agreements with Gasia Energy Corp., Enabling AHR to Develop a Third-Party, Multiservice Rail Terminal at Gasia’s Planned Energy Complex in Strathcona County

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc. (G&W Canada) today announced that its subsidiary, Alberta Heartland Railway Limited (AHR), has entered into various agreements with Gasia Energy Corp. (Gasia), including the long-term lease of more than 50 acres at Gasia’s planned energy complex in Strathcona County on which AHR intends to construct and operate a multiservice rail terminal to serve Gasia and other AHR customers.

Located east of the North Saskatchewan River on Highway 830 between Highway 15 and Township Road 560, the proposed terminal boasts proximity to several of the largest industrial facilities within the Alberta Industrial Heartland and is contiguous to Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Canadian National (CN) rail lines. Once fully built, the terminal will feature multiple loop tracks and provide customers with freight-rail transportation, as well as a suite of other services, including storage for up to 1,200 railcars and railcar-to-truck transloading.

“After launching Red Deer Railway, our first short line in western Canada, late last year and securing a rail switching contract at the Heartland Petrochemical Complex earlier this year, shippers in the Alberta Industrial Heartland are recognizing G&W Canada’s broad logistics expertise and our commitment to safe, reliable and efficient rail service,” says Michael Miller, CEO of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. “As the global energy market remains critical for economic growth, Gasia and other shippers can reach customers overseas and throughout Canada and the rest of North America with AHR’s connection to the full North American freight-rail network.”

“Gasia is pleased to be partnering with AHR and to be its anchor tenant for loading bitumen and other products from the Gasia Homestead Diluent Recovery Unit (DRU) Project,” says Samer Salameh, CEO of Gasia. “The Homestead DRU will allow Canadian producers to deliver heavy crude throughout North America safely and efficiently using rail, and the AHR loading facility will provide an exceptional opportunity to transload and transport undiluted bitumen (Neatbit™) with access to both CPKC and CN Class I rail systems.”

Construction of both AHR’s terminal and Gasia’s DRU is expected to be carried out in multiple phases, contingent upon the receipt of various approvals.

The proposed terminal and related freight operation would expand G&W Canada’s footprint to include 11 short line railroads spanning more than 1,000 miles across five provinces, independent railcar and locomotive repair operations, and a contract rail services business.

About G&W Canada

Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc. is a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W), which owns or leases more than 100 freight railroads with 4,000 employees serving 2,000 customers in North America over 13,000 track miles. G&W subsidiaries and joint ventures also provide rail service at more than 30 major ports, rail-ferry service between the U.S. Southeast and Mexico, transload services, and industrial railcar switching and repair. G&W is owned by Toronto-based Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, L.P., as well as GIC.

About Gasia

Gasia Energy Corp. owns 204 acres of land 2.5 kilometers west of Bruderheim, Alberta. Gasia received an Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) approval to build and operate a 62,000-barrel-per-day (bbl/day) diluent recovery unit (DRU). The DRU will receive dilbit from facilities located in the Alberta Industrial Heartland and will recover diluent for re-use. The neat bitumen will be loaded onto railcars and shipped to the U.S. Gulf Coast and to other markets in Canada and the U.S.