Changes in Operations United States (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended							12 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jul. 02, 2012 CCH [Member] mile	Nov. 30, 2011 HAL [Member] mile	Mar. 31, 2013 Series A-1 Preferred Stock [Member] The Carlyle Group [Member]	Sep. 02, 2011 AZER [Member] employee mile trackage_rights_mile locomotive rail_line	Dec. 31, 2011 AZER [Member]	Oct. 02, 2012 RailAmerica [Member] province mile state railroad employee	Dec. 31, 2013 RailAmerica [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 RailAmerica [Member]	Sep. 19, 2012 RailAmerica [Member] Common stock and TEUs [Member]	Oct. 02, 2012 RailAmerica [Member] Series A-1 Preferred Stock [Member] The Carlyle Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Contingent forward sale contract [Member]	Dec. 28, 2012 RailAmerica [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 RailAmerica [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of RailAmerica's outstanding shares acquired																100.00%
Cash purchase price per share																$ 27.50
RailAmerica outstanding common stock as of October 1, 2012																49,934,000
Equity purchase price														$ 89,500,000		$ 1,373,184,000
Payment of RailAmerica's outstanding term loan and revolving credit facility																659,198,000
Cash consideration																2,032,382,000
Impact of pre-acquisition share-based awards																9,400,000
Total consideration																2,041,782,000
Acquisition refinancing of debt																1,200,000,000
Amount of debt used to fund transaction and financing costs																1,900,000,000
Proceeds from issuance of common stock								0	234,340,000	0									475,500,000
Proceeds from issuance of stock																				350,000,000
Contingent forward sale contract mark-to-market expense						50,100,000		0	50,106,000	0											50,100,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Conversion of Convertible Securities													5,984,232
Acquisition and integration related costs																	17,000,000	30,000,000
Income from equity investment in RailAmerica, net								0	15,557,000	0												15,600,000
After-tax impact of RailAmerica integration and acquisition-related costs	600,000	1,300,000	700,000	8,000,000	17,700,000	3,100,000	500,000																3,500,000
Number of employees acquired														43		2,000
Number of railroads																45
Track miles acquired														200		7,100
Number of states in which entity operates																28
Number of provinces in which entity operates																3
Track miles leased											26	56
Working capital adjustment														(600,000)	800,000
Acquisition related costs								$ 360,000	$ 18,592,000	$ 0					$ 600,000
Number of locomotives acquired														10
Number of rail lines acquired														2
Trackage rights miles acquired														52