Document and Entity Information Document (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Feb. 20, 2014 Class A common stock [Member]	Feb. 20, 2014 Class B common stock [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	GENESEE & WYOMING INC.
Entity Registrant Name	0001012620
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2013
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			51,985,422	1,608,989
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 4,272,642,511