Private company

Goderich–Exeter Railway

Logo: Gordon Leggett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Short line railway in Ontario, Canada

The Goderich–Exeter Railway (reporting mark GEXR) is a short line freight railway that operates 77 miles (124 km) of track in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Created in 1992, it was the third short line railway in Canada (after Central Western Railway in Alberta (1986) and Southern Rails Cooperative in Saskatchewan (1989)) to be purchased from a class I railway, in this case Canadian National Railway (CN). It took over operation of further CN trackage in 1998.2 It is part of Genesee & Wyoming.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

2018-07-14 061 Goderich and Exeter Railway EMD SD40-2 locomotive - 3393
Photo: Gordon Leggett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

The Goderich–Exeter Railway (reporting mark GEXR) is a short line freight railway that operates 77 miles (124 km) of track in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Created in 1992, it was the third short line railway in Canada (after Central Western Railway in Alberta (1986) and Southern Rails Cooperative in Saskatchewan (1989)) to be purchased from a class I railway, in this case Canadian National Railway (CN). It took over operation of further CN trackage in 1998. As of 2004, the railway had 44 employees. Its headquarters are in Stratford, Ontario, and owned by short-line railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming.2

Corporate structure

Goderich–Exeter Railway is part of a group headed by Genesee & Wyoming. 48 entities, 3 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

The Goderich–Exeter Railway was created in 1992 by its owner, RailTex (subsequently purchased by RailAmerica in 2000, and Genesee & Wyoming in late 2012), to operate over Canadian National Railway's Goderich Subdivision, 46 miles (74 km) of track between Stratford and Goderich, Ontario; and its Exeter Subdivision, 24 miles (39 km) of track between Centralia, Ontario and Clinton Jct. that was acquired from CN. The railway started operation on 3 April 1992. On 15 November 1998, the Goderich–Exeter Railway took over operation of CN's Guelph Subdivision, which runs over 89 miles (143 km) between Silver Junction (in Georgetown) and London, Ontario.

The railway had expressed an interest in acquiring the former CN branchline from Stratford to Owen Sound, but was unable to do so as a result of changes to Ontario labour law which made the acquisition uneconomic.

After a 21-year lease to GEXR, CN took over GEXR's yards and the Guelph Subdivision on 15 November 2018. Metrolinx assumed ownership and responsibility for the Guelph Sub from Georgetown to Kitchener. However, GEXR still runs on the Goderich and Exeter Sub.

On 1 February 2021, train 581 ran away down the hill in Goderich, Ontario. They hit a pickup truck, semi truck and a shed. Some cars and the locomotives derailed as a result.

From Wikipedia’s article on Goderich–Exeter Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

The railway handles around 25,000 carloads of freight annually, consisting mainly of automobile parts, salt and fertilizer, wheat, grains, soy meal and rice. From Stratford the line serves the east west corridor of Huron and Perth Counties serving Mitchell, Dublin, Seaforth, Clinton, and Goderich. There is also a spur line running south from Clinton, serving, Brucefield, Hensall, Exeter, and Centralia.

Traffic on the Goderich Subdivision mainly consists of agricultural products and salt from the Sifto Canada salt mines in Goderich, and construction equipment produced by a Volvo Motor Graders plant in Goderich (closed 2010). It also connects with the port facility at the Port of Goderich.

As of 29 August 2020, GEXR operates on the Guelph Junction Railway.

Interchanges

The Goderich–Exeter Railway interchanges with CN in Stratford yard.

From Wikipedia’s article on Goderich–Exeter Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 2012Acquired Acquired by Genesee & Wyoming1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5