Track Leases/Agreements

An applicant may obtain a track lease through completion and submission of a Track Lease Application, accessible by the link below. The application requires payment of a non-refundable $1,000 application fee, which can be paid via check or money order made payable to GWI. Incomplete applications lacking railroad milepost and railroad subdivision information will be immediately rejected. In a situation where new track construction is involved, a supplemental non-refundable Engineering Review Fee will be required and assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Industrial Track Agreement
In all situations involving service to a shipper on a private track either on or off Railroad property, an Industrial Track Agreement (“ITA”) is required between the parties prior to service. The industrial track application (link below) requires payment of a non-refundable $1,000 (U.S.) application fee, a non-refundable $2,250 (U.S.) engineering review fee (for new track construction only), and a non-refundable $1,750 (U.S.) right of entry fee may apply for third party installation of new track. Please note: ALL new track to be constructed, as well as any additions to existing trackage, MUST be approved by the GWI Engineer prior to construction or request submittal for an ITA.

Additional fees include:

Required annual Switch Maintenance fee in the amount of $2,500.00 (subject to change without prior notice).

Upon receipt of the application and fees, the real estate team will process the request. Once approved, an appropriate Track Lease or ITA Agreement will be forwarded to the applicant for signature. The applicant must then return the executed document to the Real Estate Department with the first year rent, applicable security deposit, and required certificate of insurance. Upon receipt of the materials, the railroad will then execute the agreement.

Insurance Requirements-Track Lease & ITA
Current certificate of general liability insurance in the amounts of $2 million per occurrence and $6 million aggregate.

For hazardous materials the insurance requirements are determined by assessment.

It is common for the entire process of leasing track to take several weeks, advance notice and timely submission of a complete and detailed application and associated fees and materials are key in processing the lease request.

Please remember that you must have a right of entry permit and/or a fully executed agreement to enter or use railroad property. A separate application and payment of non-refundable $1,750 fee is required to obtain a right of entry permit. Contractor’s see Insurance Requirements prior to submitting a right of entry application.

For “standard processing”, the entire process takes between 6-8 weeks. “Expedited processing” will reduce the processing time to between 1-2 weeks and costs an additional $3,000. If the application and plans have to be returned to applicant for revisions to meet required specifications the expedited process could take longer than 2 weeks.

For questions regarding track leases, please contact the Real Estate Manager for the Railroad in question. This information can be found under each individual Railroad.

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