Kansas City Southern Railway

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Kansas City Southern Railway

Reporting marks	KCS
Locale	Kansas City, MO to the Gulf of Mexico
Dates of operation	1887 – present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Kansas City, MO

The Kansas City Southern Railway (AAR reporting mark KCS) is a United States-based Class I railroad operating over 3,130 track miles in 10 central and southeastern states. Founded in 1887, the railroad provides the shortest route from Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico. Its CEO is Mike Haverty.

The Kansas City Southern is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and has approximately 430 locomotives, 15,000 freight cars and 2,700 employees. Annual revenues as of 2002 were US$559.6 million.

1 History
2 Subsidiary railroads
3 Company officers
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

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History

Arthur Stilwell completed the first line of the Kansas City Southern Railway in 1887, between Kansas City, Missouri, and Port Arthur, Texas. Another mainline between Dallas, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana, via Shreveport, Louisiana, was added through merger with the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway during the 1930s. From 1940 to 1969, Kansas City Southern operated the Southern Belle passenger train between Kansas City and New Orleans.

The core KCS system remained essentially the same until the 1990s, when the purchase of the MidSouth Rail Corporation extended KCS' reach eastward from Shreveport and into Mississippi and Alabama. This acquisition, combined with existing KCS routes, created a key east-west mainline marketed as the Meridian Speedway (named for the town of Meridian, Mississippi). An additional acquisition, the Gateway Western Railway, extended KCS' reach from Kansas City to St. Louis, Missouri and into Illinois.

The 1990s also saw KCS extend its reach into Mexico, with the acquisition of partial interests in the Texas Mexican Railway and Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana. In 2005, KCS was successful in acquiring a controlling interest in both roads.

A parent company of the Kansas City Southern Railway was organized in 1962 as Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc. In 2002 the name of the parent company was shortened to Kansas City Southern.

This Kansas City Southern train is headed south through Bunch, Oklahoma. Photo by Darrel Drumm.

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Subsidiary railroads

The Kansas City Southern owns a 50% stake in the Panama Canal Railway Company (PCRC). In April 2005, KCS completed its purchase of a controlling interest in the Mexican railroad Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) from Grupo TMM. Although KCS itself is planned to be a holding company for the Kansas City Southern Railway, TexMex and TFM, the whole four-railway system is marketed to shippers as the NAFTA Railway, emphasizing the KCS's abilities in cross-border transportation. However, the railroads are all operated as subsidiary companies.

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Company officers

Presidents of Kansas City Southern:

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External links

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References

American Business Journals, Inc. (October 6, 2004). Mexican agency OKs KCS purchase of railroad stake. The Business Journal
Heaster, Randolph (December 15, 2004). Kansas City Southern amends deal to acquire Mexican railroad. Kansas City Star.
Trainboard members (2004), KCS Purchase of TFM. Retrieved December 16, 2004.