Kansas City Southern Railway

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Kansas City Southern Railway
Logo
System map
Kansas City Southern system map
Reporting marks KCS
Locale Kansas City, Missouri
to the Gulf of Mexico
Dates of operation 1887–present
Track gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
(standard gauge)
Headquarters Kansas City, Missouri
Website http://www.kcsi.com/

Kansas City Southern (AAR reporting marks KCS) is a United States-based Class I railroad company founded in 1887 and currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states and much of northeastern and central Mexico.

Kansas City Southern is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Annual revenues as of 2007 were US$1.7 billion with 6,485 employees.[1] As of first quarter 2008, KCS's CEO is Mike Haverty.

Contents

[edit] Holdings

KCS is comprised of three primary railroads: The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR), Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) and Panama Canal Railway Company (PCRC).[2]

  • KCSR operates 3,226 track miles in a ten-state region of the United States.
  • KCSM, a rail system of 2,645 track miles, serves northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of Lázaro Cárdenas and Tampico, among others.
  • Panama Canal Railway Company is a fifty-percent-owned unconsolidated affiliate.

The KCS Mexican holdings provide the company with key routes for handling goods imported into North America. Among the Class I railroads, KCSR has the shortest route between Kansas City, the second largest rail hub in the country, and the Gulf of Mexico. It also has a Pacific coast route to the recently developed deepwater container port of Lázaro Cárdenas.[3]

[edit] History

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Arthur Edward Stilwell began construction on the first line of what would become the Kansas City Southern Railway in 1887, in suburban Kansas City, Missouri. Over the ensuing decade, the line grew through construction and acquisitions to become a through route between Kansas City and Port Arthur, Texas, with the final spike being driven north of Beaumont, Texas, on September 11, 1897. Another mainline between Dallas and New Orleans, 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. KCS was formally organized in 1962 as Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc.. In 2002, the company formally changed its name to Kansas City Southern.

The core KCS system remained essentially the same until the 1990s, when the purchase of the MidSouth Rail Corporation extended KCS's 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's reach from Kansas City to St. Louis, Missouri, and to Springfield, 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.

[edit] 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. That December, Kansas City Southern Industries renamed TFM as Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM).

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. KCS's long-term plans include support of the Kansas City SmartPort, in which customs officials from Mexico would inspect cargo at the railroad's loading facility at the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base and speed them across the border to Mexican ports for transport to Asia.

[edit] Awards and recognition

KCS has been the recipient of the E. H. Harriman Award for safety in Group B (line-haul railroads with between four and 15 million employee hours per year). KCS received the Silver award for 1999, the Gold award for 2000, and the silver award again for 2005.[4]

[edit] Company officers

The following is a list of the executives heading KCS since 1889.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Specific references:

  1. ^ KSU Stock Quote and Company Profile. CNN Money (2008).
  2. ^ Welcome to Kansas City Southern, from the company's website.
  3. ^ The China-Kansas Express, a June 2006 Forbes article
  4. ^ Association of American Railroads (reprinted by Norfolk Southern Railroad) (2006-05-16). Railroads Set Another Employee Safety Record in 2005. Retrieved on 2006-05-24.
  5. ^ KCS Presidents from the website of the Kansas City Southern Historical Society

General references:

[edit] External links

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Current (operating) Class I railroads of North America