Its headquarters are in Stratford, Ontario, and owned by short-line railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming.

[2] The Goderich–Exeter Railway was created in 1992[1] by its owner, RailTex (subsequently purchased by RailAmerica in 2000, and Genesee & Wyoming in late 2012), to operate over Canadian National Railway's Goderich Subdivision, 46 miles (74 km) of track between Stratford and Goderich, Ontario; and its Exeter Subdivision, 24 miles (39 km) of track between Centralia, Ontario and Clinton Jct.

On November 15, 1998, the Goderich–Exeter Railway took over operation of CN's Guelph Subdivision, which runs over 89 miles (143 km) between Silver Junction (in Georgetown) and London, Ontario.

The railway had expressed an interest in acquiring the former CN branchline from Stratford to Owen Sound, but was unable to do so as a result of changes to Ontario labour law which made the acquisition uneconomic.

The railway handles around 25,000 carloads of freight annually, consisting mainly of automobile parts, salt and fertilizer, wheat, grains, soy meal and rice.

There is also a spur line running south from Clinton, serving, Brucefield, Hensall, Exeter, and Centralia.