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Fair Value of Financial Instruments Financial Instruments Carried at Historical Costs (Details) (USD $)
Mar. 31, 2015
Dec. 31, 2014
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]    
Carrying Value $ 2,358,722,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt $ 1,603,772,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
Fair Value 2,340,800,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue 1,599,910,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
United States term loan [Member]    
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]    
Carrying Value 1,782,000,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedStatesTermLoanMember		 1,407,000,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedStatesTermLoanMember
Fair Value 1,775,845,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedStatesTermLoanMember		 1,402,950,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedStatesTermLoanMember
Australian term loan [Member]    
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]    
Carrying Value 242,730,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_AustralianTermLoanMember		 133,857,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_AustralianTermLoanMember
Fair Value 232,102,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_AustralianTermLoanMember		 133,900,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_AustralianTermLoanMember
U.K. term loan [Member]    
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]    
Carrying Value 150,935,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedKingdomTermLoanMember		 0us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedKingdomTermLoanMember
Fair Value 150,021,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedKingdomTermLoanMember		 0us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_UnitedKingdomTermLoanMember
Revolving credit facility [Member]    
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]    
Carrying Value 171,158,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_RevolvingCreditFacilityMember		 43,187,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_RevolvingCreditFacilityMember
Fair Value 170,913,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_RevolvingCreditFacilityMember		 43,304,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_RevolvingCreditFacilityMember
Amortizing notes component of tangible equity units [Member]    
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]    
Carrying Value 8,434,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_TeusAmortizingNoteMember		 11,184,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_TeusAmortizingNoteMember
Fair Value 8,481,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_TeusAmortizingNoteMember		 11,233,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= gwr_TeusAmortizingNoteMember
Other debt [Member]    
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]    
Carrying Value 3,465,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_OtherDebtSecuritiesMember		 8,544,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_OtherDebtSecuritiesMember
Fair Value $ 3,438,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_OtherDebtSecuritiesMember		 $ 8,523,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtFairValue
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= us-gaap_OtherDebtSecuritiesMember