Rail Freight Project Finance

1. Henry Posner III 1. Chairman of the Railroad Development Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since the early 1990s, privatization has swept the global railway market. The experience of Railroad Development Corporation, a U.S.-based railway investment and management company focused on developing countries, suggests that marketing has a greater impact than cost control on the success of a railway project. A case study on the restoration of an abandoned railroad in Guatemala illustrates how Railroad Development Corporation found local partners, identified freight customers, leased the right of way for non-railroad businesses, arranged financing, and reconstructed the railroad. Lessons learned on assessing the transportation market and valuing the business would be helpful for other emerging-market railroad projects.