Employee Benefit Programs Defined Contribution Plans (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 G&W 401k savings plan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 G&W 401k savings plan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 RailAmerica employees' 401(k) savings plan for railroad retirement employees [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 RailAmerica employees' 401(k) savings plan for FICA employees [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 G&W 401k savings plan and RailAmerica employees' 401(k) savings plan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Canadian retirement benefit plan 1 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Canadian retirement benefit plan 1 [Member] CAD	Dec. 31, 2014 Canadian retirement benefit plan 2 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2014 Canada [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Canada [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Canada [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Australian retirement benefit plan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Australian retirement benefit plan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Australian retirement benefit plan [Member] USD ($)
Defined Contribution Plan, Employer Matching Contribution, Percent of Employees' Gross Pay	4.00%					6.00%	6.00%	5.00%				9.50%	9.25%	9.00%
Defined Contribution Plan, Employer Matching Contribution, Percent of Employee's Contribution			50.00%
Defined Contribution Plan, Maximum Annual Contributions Per Employee, Amount			$ 2,500	$ 5,000		$ 3,017	3,500
Defined Contribution Plan, Employer Discretionary Contribution Amount	$ 4,400,000	$ 1,800,000			$ 3,800,000				$ 1,300,000	$ 1,300,000	$ 700,000	$ 4,700,000	$ 4,400,000	$ 4,100,000