Changes in Operations	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Significant Changes in Operations [Abstract]
Changes in Operations	CHANGES IN OPERATIONS: United States RailAmerica, Inc.: On July 23, 2012, RailAmerica, Inc. (RailAmerica) and the Company jointly announced an agreement under which the Company would acquire RailAmerica for a cash purchase price of $27.50 per share. RailAmerica owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads in North America, operating a portfolio of 45 individual railroads with approximately 7,500 miles of track in 28 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. On October 1, 2012, the Company completed its previously announced acquisition of RailAmerica. Immediately following consummation of the acquisition, the Company transferred the stock of RailAmerica to a voting trustee to hold such shares of stock in an irrevocable independent voting trust while the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) considers the Company's pending application to control RailAmerica's railroads. As more fully described in Notes 3 and 14, the acquisition was financed through borrowings under a new five-year Senior Secured Syndicated Facility Agreement (the New Credit Agreement), public offerings of shares of the Company's Class A common stock and Tangible Equity Units (TEUs) and a private issuance of Series A-1 Preferred Stock to Carlyle Partners V, L.P. (together with its affiliates, Carlyle). During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, as discussed more fully under Contingent Forward Sale Contract in Note 5, the Company recorded a $50.1 million non-cash mark-to-market expense and corresponding liability related to an investment agreement governing the sale of $350.0 million of Series A-1 Preferred Stock issued to Carlyle in connection with the funding of the RailAmerica acquisition (the Investment Agreement). The expense is a result of the significant increase in GWI's share price between July 23, 2012 (the date the Company entered into the Investment Agreement) and the end of the third quarter. The Company also incurred $5.2 million and $6.0 million of acquisition costs related to this transaction during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively, which were recorded within other expenses. Commencing on October 1, 2012 and during the period RailAmerica is held in trust, the Company will account for its ownership of RailAmerica under the equity method of accounting. Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad, Inc.: In April 2012, the Company's newly formed subsidiary, the Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad, Inc. (CCH), signed an agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) to lease and operate a 26-mile segment of NS track that runs from Girard, Alabama to Mahrt, Alabama. Operations commenced on July 1, 2012. The CCH interchanges with NS in Columbus, Georgia where the Company's Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc. also has operations. The results from CCH’s operations have been included in the Company’s statement of operations effective July 1, 2012 and are included in the Company’s North American & European Operations segment. Hilton & Albany Railroad, Inc.: In November 2011, the Company's newly formed subsidiary, the Hilton & Albany Railroad, Inc. (HAL), signed an agreement with NS to lease and operate a 56-mile segment of NS track that runs from Hilton, Georgia to Albany, Georgia. Operations commenced on January 1, 2012. The HAL handles primarily overhead traffic between NS and the Company's following railroads: The Bay Line Railroad, L.L.C.; Chattahoochee Bay Railroad, Inc.; Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad; and Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc. In addition, the HAL serves several local agricultural and aggregate customers in southwest Georgia. The results from HAL’s operations have been included in the Company’s statement of operations since January 1, 2012 and are included in the Company’s North American & European Operations segment. Arizona Eastern Railway Company: On September 1, 2011, the Company acquired all of the capital stock of Arizona Eastern Railway Company (AZER). The Company paid the seller $89.5 million in cash at closing, which included a reduction to the purchase price of $0.6 million for the estimated working capital adjustment. Based on the final working capital adjustment, the Company recorded an additional $0.8 million of purchase price in December 2011, which was paid to the seller in January 2012. The Company incurred $0.6 million of acquisition costs related to this transaction through December 31, 2011, which were expensed as incurred. The results from AZER’s operations have been included in the Company’s statement of operations since September 1, 2011 and are included in the Company’s North American & European Operations segment. Headquartered near Miami, Arizona, with 43 employees and 10 locomotives, AZER owns and operates two rail lines totaling approximately 200 track miles in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico that are connected by 52 miles of trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad. The largest customer of AZER is Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (Freeport-McMoRan). AZER provides rail service to Freeport-McMoRan’s largest North American copper mine and its North American smelter, hauling copper concentrate, copper anode, copper rod and sulfuric acid. In conjunction with the transaction, AZER and Freeport-McMoRan entered into a long-term transportation agreement. Australia In May 2012, the Company's subsidiary, Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd (GWA), entered into an agreement with Asciano Services Pty Ltd (AIO), a subsidiary of Asciano Pty Ltd, whereby GWA agreed to purchase an intermodal and freight terminal in Alice Springs, Northern Territory from AIO and the Company agreed to sell AIO certain assets in the township of Cook, South Australia that included its third-party fuel-sales business. The Company completed the purchase of the Alice Springs intermodal and freight terminal in June 2012 for A$9.0 million (or $9.2 million at the exchange rate on June 30, 2012) plus A$0.5 million (or $0.6 million at the exchange rate on June 30, 2012) tax liability for stamp duty (an Australian asset transfer tax). Previously, GWA had leased the facility from AIO. The sale of the assets in Cook closed in the third quarter of 2012. The Company received A$4.0 million (or $4.1 million at the exchange rate on September 30, 2012) in pre-tax cash proceeds from the sale and recognized an after-tax book gain of A$1.3 million (or $1.3 million at the exchange rate on September 30, 2012), or approximately $0.03 per share. In July 2012, GWA announced that it had expanded two existing rail haulage contracts with Arrium Limited (formerly OneSteel) to transport an additional 2.7 million tons per year of export iron ore in South Australia. To support the increased shipments under the two contracts, GWA expects to invest A$60.0 million (or $62.3 million at the exchange rate on September 30, 2012) to purchase narrow gauge locomotives and wagons, as well as to construct a standard gauge rolling-stock maintenance facility. Canada On August 2, 2012, the Company announced that its newly formed subsidiary, KeRail Inc. (KeRail), entered into a long-term agreement with Tata Steel Minerals Canada Ltd. (TSMC), for KeRail to provide rail transportation services to the direct shipping iron ore mine TSMC is developing near Schefferville, Quebec in the Labrador Trough (the Mine). In addition, KeRail will construct an approximately 21-kilometer rail line (Rail Line) that will connect TSMC's mine to the Tshiuetin Rail Transportation (TSH) interchange point in Schefferville. Operated as part of the Company's Canada Region, KeRail will haul unit trains of iron ore from its rail connection with the Mine that will then travel over three privately owned railways (two of which are 100% owned directly or indirectly by the Company) to the Port of Sept-Îles for export primarily to Tata Steel's European operations. The agreement and construction are contingent on certain conditions being met, including the receipt of necessary governmental permits and approvals. Once the track construction has commenced, the Rail Line is expected to be completed three to six months thereafter. Results from Continuing Operations When comparing the Company’s results from continuing operations from one reporting period to another, it is important to consider that the Company has historically experienced fluctuations in revenues and expenses due to changing economic conditions, acquisitions, competitive forces, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, one-time freight moves, fuel price fluctuations, customer plant expansions and shut-downs, sales of property and equipment, derailments and weather-related conditions, such as hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, droughts, heavy snowfall, unseasonably warm or cool weather, freezing and flooding. In periods when these events occur, results of operations are not easily comparable from one period to another. Finally, certain of the Company’s railroads have commodity shipments that are sensitive to general economic conditions, such as steel products, paper products and lumber and forest products, as well as product specific economic conditions, such as the availability of lower priced alternative sources of power generation (coal). Other shipments are relatively less affected by economic conditions and are more closely affected by other factors, such as inventory levels maintained at customer plants (coal), winter weather (salt and coal) and seasonal rainfall (South Australian grain). As a result of these and other factors, the Company’s operating results in any reporting period may not be directly comparable to its operating results in other reporting periods.

CHANGES IN OPERATIONS:

United States

RailAmerica, Inc.: On July 23, 2012, RailAmerica, Inc. (RailAmerica) and the Company jointly announced an agreement under which the Company would acquire RailAmerica for a cash purchase price of $27.50 per share. RailAmerica owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads in North America, operating a portfolio of 45 individual railroads with approximately 7,500 miles of track in 28 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.

On October 1, 2012, the Company completed its previously announced acquisition of RailAmerica. Immediately following consummation of the acquisition, the Company transferred the stock of RailAmerica to a voting trustee to hold such shares of stock in an irrevocable independent voting trust while the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) considers the Company's pending application to control RailAmerica's railroads. As more fully described in Notes 3 and 14, the acquisition was financed through borrowings under a new five-year Senior Secured Syndicated Facility Agreement (the New Credit Agreement), public offerings of shares of the Company's Class A common stock and Tangible Equity Units (TEUs) and a private issuance of Series A-1 Preferred Stock to Carlyle Partners V, L.P. (together with its affiliates, Carlyle).

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, as discussed more fully under Contingent Forward Sale Contract in Note 5, the Company recorded a $50.1 million non-cash mark-to-market expense and corresponding liability related to an investment agreement governing the sale of $350.0 million of Series A-1 Preferred Stock issued to Carlyle in connection with the funding of the RailAmerica acquisition (the Investment Agreement). The expense is a result of the significant increase in GWI's share price between July 23, 2012 (the date the Company entered into the Investment Agreement) and the end of the third quarter. The Company also incurred $5.2 million and $6.0 million of acquisition costs related to this transaction during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively, which were recorded within other expenses.

Commencing on October 1, 2012 and during the period RailAmerica is held in trust, the Company will account for its ownership of RailAmerica under the equity method of accounting.

Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad, Inc.: In April 2012, the Company's newly formed subsidiary, the Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad, Inc. (CCH), signed an agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) to lease and operate a 26-mile segment of NS track that runs from Girard, Alabama to Mahrt, Alabama. Operations commenced on July 1, 2012. The CCH interchanges with NS in Columbus, Georgia where the Company's Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc. also has operations. The results from CCH’s operations have been included in the Company’s statement of operations effective July 1, 2012 and are included in the Company’s North American & European Operations segment.

Hilton & Albany Railroad, Inc.: In November 2011, the Company's newly formed subsidiary, the Hilton & Albany Railroad, Inc. (HAL), signed an agreement with NS to lease and operate a 56-mile segment of NS track that runs from Hilton, Georgia to Albany, Georgia. Operations commenced on January 1, 2012. The HAL handles primarily overhead traffic between NS and the Company's following railroads: The Bay Line Railroad, L.L.C.; Chattahoochee Bay Railroad, Inc.; Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad; and Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc. In addition, the HAL serves several local agricultural and aggregate customers in southwest Georgia. The results from HAL’s operations have been included in the Company’s statement of operations since January 1, 2012 and are included in the Company’s North American & European Operations segment.

Arizona Eastern Railway Company: On September 1, 2011, the Company acquired all of the capital stock of Arizona Eastern Railway Company (AZER). The Company paid the seller $89.5 million in cash at closing, which included a reduction to the purchase price of $0.6 million for the estimated working capital adjustment. Based on the final working capital adjustment, the Company recorded an additional $0.8 million of purchase price in December 2011, which was paid to the seller in January 2012. The Company incurred $0.6 million of acquisition costs related to this transaction through December 31, 2011, which were expensed as incurred. The results from AZER’s operations have been included in the Company’s statement of operations since September 1, 2011 and are included in the Company’s North American & European Operations segment.

Headquartered near Miami, Arizona, with 43 employees and 10 locomotives, AZER owns and operates two rail lines totaling approximately 200 track miles in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico that are connected by 52 miles of trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad. The largest customer of AZER is Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (Freeport-McMoRan). AZER provides rail service to Freeport-McMoRan’s largest North American copper mine and its North American smelter, hauling copper concentrate, copper anode, copper rod and sulfuric acid. In conjunction with the transaction, AZER and Freeport-McMoRan entered into a long-term transportation agreement.

Australia

In May 2012, the Company's subsidiary, Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd (GWA), entered into an agreement with Asciano Services Pty Ltd (AIO), a subsidiary of Asciano Pty Ltd, whereby GWA agreed to purchase an intermodal and freight terminal in Alice Springs, Northern Territory from AIO and the Company agreed to sell AIO certain assets in the township of Cook, South Australia that included its third-party fuel-sales business. The Company completed the purchase of the Alice Springs intermodal and freight terminal in June 2012 for A$9.0 million (or $9.2 million at the exchange rate on June 30, 2012) plus A$0.5 million (or $0.6 million at the exchange rate on June 30, 2012) tax liability for stamp duty (an Australian asset transfer tax). Previously, GWA had leased the facility from AIO. The sale of the assets in Cook closed in the third quarter of 2012. The Company received A$4.0 million (or $4.1 million at the exchange rate on September 30, 2012) in pre-tax cash proceeds from the sale and recognized an after-tax book gain of A$1.3 million (or $1.3 million at the exchange rate on September 30, 2012), or approximately $0.03 per share.

In July 2012, GWA announced that it had expanded two existing rail haulage contracts with Arrium Limited (formerly OneSteel) to transport an additional 2.7 million tons per year of export iron ore in South Australia. To support the increased shipments under the two contracts, GWA expects to invest A$60.0 million (or $62.3 million at the exchange rate on September 30, 2012) to purchase narrow gauge locomotives and wagons, as well as to construct a standard gauge rolling-stock maintenance facility.

Canada

On August 2, 2012, the Company announced that its newly formed subsidiary, KeRail Inc. (KeRail), entered into a long-term agreement with Tata Steel Minerals Canada Ltd. (TSMC), for KeRail to provide rail transportation services to the direct shipping iron ore mine TSMC is developing near Schefferville, Quebec in the Labrador Trough (the Mine). In addition, KeRail will construct an approximately 21-kilometer rail line (Rail Line) that will connect TSMC's mine to the Tshiuetin Rail Transportation (TSH) interchange point in Schefferville. Operated as part of the Company's Canada Region, KeRail will haul unit trains of iron ore from its rail connection with the Mine that will then travel over three privately owned railways (two of which are 100% owned directly or indirectly by the Company) to the Port of Sept-Îles for export primarily to Tata Steel's European operations. The agreement and construction are contingent on certain conditions being met, including the receipt of necessary governmental permits and approvals. Once the track construction has commenced, the Rail Line is expected to be completed three to six months thereafter.

Results from Continuing Operations

When comparing the Company’s results from continuing operations from one reporting period to another, it is important to consider that the Company has historically experienced fluctuations in revenues and expenses due to changing economic conditions, acquisitions, competitive forces, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, one-time freight moves, fuel price fluctuations, customer plant expansions and shut-downs, sales of property and equipment, derailments and weather-related conditions, such as hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, droughts, heavy snowfall, unseasonably warm or cool weather, freezing and flooding. In periods when these events occur, results of operations are not easily comparable from one period to another. Finally, certain of the Company’s railroads have commodity shipments that are sensitive to general economic conditions, such as steel products, paper products and lumber and forest products, as well as product specific economic conditions, such as the availability of lower priced alternative sources of power generation (coal). Other shipments are relatively less affected by economic conditions and are more closely affected by other factors, such as inventory levels maintained at customer plants (coal), winter weather (salt and coal) and seasonal rainfall (South Australian grain). As a result of these and other factors, the Company’s operating results in any reporting period may not be directly comparable to its operating results in other reporting periods.