Union Pacific acquires Railex assets

Union Pacific Railroad has acquired Railex LLC's refrigerated and cold-storage distribution assets in Delano, Calif.; Wallula, Wash.; and Rotterdam, N.Y.

The deal does not include Railex Wine Services LLC, according to a Union Pacific news release.

Railex, a Riverhead, N.Y.-based refrigerated rail service and third-party logistics provider, is involved with Union Pacific's food- and beverage-focused Food Network,

which carries fruits, vegetables and other temperature-sensitive cargo across the U.S.

"The Railex team developed a fantastic business changing how fresh food arrives on America's tables, offering food shippers fast, reliable door-to-door rail-based transportation solutions," Brad Thrasher, Union Pacific's vice president and general manager-agricultural products, said in a news release.

The integration of Railex's "highly efficient" cross dock facilities and logistics capabilities into Union Pacific's broader Food Network allows Union Pacific to offer its customers "increased access to a wider range of capacity and service solutions in a rail-centric cold chain," Thrasher said in the release.

Union Pacific Food Trains directly serve Railex's Delano and Wallula facilities, in the middle of major agricultural production regions.

Union Pacific said the Food Train network provides "a fast and reliable service from these growing regions to the Midwest consumer base" by way of Chicago and further into the heart of the Northeast region, via the CSX.

Railex will continue managing facilities during the transition and integration of its operations with Union Pacific.

More information about Union Pacific's Food Train network and services is available at

up.com/customers.