Watco to acquire two Southwestern railroad lines

Watco Companies and its subsidiary Watco Transportation Services (WTS) acquired two railroads in Texas, the company announced on Monday.

The transaction only needs approval from the Surface Transportation Board in order to be finalized. Pending approval the railways that WTS will have ownership over are the Texas and N.M. Railway and the Lubbock and Western Railway. The former runs between Monahans, Texas — forming a connection to the Union Pacific — and Lovington, N.M. The Lubbock and Western Railway has two segments that run from Dimmit to Plainview, Texas and west from Lubbock to Whiteface, Texas and further southwest from Lubbock to Seagraves, Texas.

Both lines are an important commercial transport vehicle, TNMR transports a number of products including fertilizer, grain, cotton, plastics among other things. Lubbock transports oil related chemicals and minerals along with construction aggregates and scrap metal.

“We see this addition of the two Permian Basin lines as a tremendous growth opportunity for Watco,” said Stefan Loeb, executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “These two new railroads are a perfect addition to allow us to better serve our Texas Customers. We appreciate the hard work the Iowa Pacific team has done on growing the business on these two lines, and look forward to serving this key oil producing region of the United States. Our team looks forward to working with our energy industry customers to help bring additional value to the west Texas economy.”