The Surface Transportation Board has granted Fortress Investment Group an exemption to assume control of The Wheeling Corporation and its rail subsidiaries, the Class II Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway and Class III Akron Barberton Cluster Railway.
The approval is subject to standard labor protective conditions, with the decision effective Dec. 26.
Fortress, a noncarrier, sought relief from the prior-approval requirements. The STB found that a detailed application review was unnecessary.
Under the structure outlined to the STB, FTAI Infrastructure, Percy Acquisition LLC, FIP RR Holding Company LLC, and FIP RR Holdings LLC — entities managed by a Fortress affiliate — will indirectly control W&LE and ABC through The Wheeling Corp.
On Aug. 25, FIP RR Holdings acquired 100% of The Wheeling Corporation’s equity. They immediately placed the shares into an independent voting trust pending STB action.
W&LE operates about 982 miles across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland, while ABC operates roughly 84 miles around Akron, Ohio. Fortress affiliates also manage Transtar, whose non-connecting short lines include Union Railroad. The Board concluded the deal poses no significant competitive harm: although W&LE and URR share a customer near Mifflin Junction, the record shows they do not compete for the same traffic and neither can handle the other’s local moves.
The shared customer, TMS International, supported the transaction, and no parties opposed.
Employee protections apply under federal law and the Wisconsin Central conditions. Petitions for stay are due Dec. 5; petitions to reopen by Dec. 16.
