Everything about Kansas City Southern Railroad totally explained
Kansas City Southern 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. As of first quarter 2008, KCS's CEO is
Mike Haverty.
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).
- 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.
History
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.
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.
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.
Company officers
The following is a list of the executives heading KCS since 1889.
Edward L. Martin (1889-1897)
Arthur Stilwell (1897-1900)
Samuel W. "Colonel" Fordyce (1900)
Stuart R. Knott (1900-1905)
Job A. Edson (1905-1918)
Leonor F. Loree (1918-1920)
Job A. Edson (1920-1927)
Charles E. Johnston (1928-1938)
Harvey C. Couch (1939)
C.P. "Pete" Couch (1939-1941)
William N. Deramus, Jr. (1941-1961)
William N. Deramus III (1961-1973)
Thomas S. Carter (1973-1986)
William N. Deramus IV (1986-1990)
Landon H. Rowland (1990-1991)
George W. Edwards (1991-1995)
Mike Haverty (1995-present)
Further Information
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