Union Pacific announced this week it is acquiring Railex LLC's refrigerated and cold storage distribution assets in Delano, California; Wallula, Washington; and Rotterdam, New York. The acquisition does not include Railex Wine Services LLC.

Railex, a refrigerated rail service and third-party logistics leader, plays a key role in Union Pacific's Food Network, transporting 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," said Brad Thrasher, Union pacific vice president and general manager – Agricultural Products. "The integration of their highly efficient cross dock facilities and logistics capabilities into Union Pacific's broader Food Network allows us to offer our customers increased access to a wider range of capacity and service solutions in a rail-centric cold chain."

Union Pacific Food Trains directly serve Railex's Delano and Wallula facilities, located in the heart of major agricultural production regions. The Food Train network provides a fast and reliable service from these growing regions to the Midwest consumer base via 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.

Union Pacific connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2006-2015, Union Pacific invested approximately $33 billion in its network and operations to support America's transportation infrastructure. The railroad's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Coal, Industrial Products and Intermodal. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways.