Kansas City Southern Railway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Kansas City Southern Railway , owned by Kansas City Southern Industries

Kansas City Southern Industries

Kansas City Southern Industries is the former diversified parent company of the Kansas City Southern Railway, a Class I railroad headquartered in the Quality Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, USA...

, is the smallest and second-oldest Class I railroad

Class I railroad

A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...

company still in operation. KCS was founded in 1887 and is currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states

Central United States

The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States and Western United States as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the Southern United States; the term is also sometimes used...

. KCS also owns and indirectly operates Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM) in the central and northeastern states of México

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and is the only Class I Railroad to own any track both inside and outside of Mexico's boundaries. Ferromex

Ferromex

Ferromex is a private rail consortium that operates the largest railroad in Mexico.-Description:...

is the only other Class I operating in Mexico, and including all trackage owned by wholly owned subsidiaries, KCS owns a total of approximately 6000 route miles of track.

Kansas City Southern is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

. Annual revenues as of 2007 were US$1.7 billion with 6,485 employees, and a market cap of roughly US$5 billion. As of first quarter 2008, KCS's CEO is Michael R. Haverty

Mike Haverty

Michael R. Haverty , aka Mike Haverty, is the seventeenth CEO of the Kansas City Southern Railway . Prior to working for KCS, he had been an executive for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...

Subsidiaries

KCSI owns four subsidiary railroads: the Kansas City Southern Railway, Kansas City Southern de México, the Texas Mexican Railway

Texas Mexican Railway

The Texas Mexican Railway is a class 1 railroad that operates as a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern Railway in Texas. It is often referred to as the Tex-Mex, or TexMex Railway....

, and the Panama Canal Railway.

Kansas City Southern Railway (KCSR) operates 3,226 track miles in a ten-state region of the United States, with major hubs including Kansas City, MO, Shreveport, LA, New Orleans, LA, and Dallas, TX. Among the Class I railroads, KCSR has the shortest route between Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, the second largest rail hub in the country, and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

.

Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), is the name of a company dedicated to freight
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...

transportation using rail
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

in the North Eastern part of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. KCSM is indirectly owned and operated by Kansas City Southern Industries via NAFTA Rail, S.A. de C.V. KCSM owns its own fleet and the rights to operate and maintain a rail system through a concession
Concession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...

from the Mexican government. KCSM's rail system consists of 2,645 track miles in a 17 state reigon (including the federal district
Federal district
Federal districts are a type of administrative division of a federation, under the direct control of a federal government. They exist in various countries and states all over the world.-United States:...

), which serves northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
Lázaro Cárdenas is a port city that with its surrounding municipality is located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was formerly known as Los Llanitos, but changed its name as a tribute to Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, a Michoacán-born politician who was president of Mexico from...

and Tampico, among others. KCSM provides KCS with key routes for handling goods imported into North America
North American SuperCorridor Coalition
150px|right|"NASCO project logo depicting the three associated countries' flag iconography as a singular element."The North America's Corridor Coalition is a non-profit organization that seeks to develop an international multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade...

. It also has a Pacific coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...

route to the recently developed deepwater container port of Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
Lázaro Cárdenas is a port city that with its surrounding municipality is located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was formerly known as Los Llanitos, but changed its name as a tribute to Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, a Michoacán-born politician who was president of Mexico from...

.

The Texas Mexican Railway Company (TexMex
Texas Mexican Railway
The Texas Mexican Railway is a class 1 railroad that operates as a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern Railway in Texas. It is often referred to as the Tex-Mex, or TexMex Railway....

) is wholly owned by KCS. TexMex consists of a 157 miles (252.7 km) railway that connects Corpus Christi, TX to Laredo, TX. TexMex also owns 400 miles (643.7 km) of Union Pacific trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....

that spans from Beaumont, TX to Robstown, TX. With its trackage rights and physical railway, the Texas Mexican Railway connects KCSM and KCSR at Laredo, TX and Beaumont, TX. TexMex also owns the extremely important Texas-Mexican Railway International Bridge
Texas-Mexican Railway International Bridge
The Texas Mexican Railway International Bridge is the only railway international bridge that crosses the U.S.-Mexico border between the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. It is owned and operated by Texas Mexican Railway and Kansas City Southern de México...

. It is the only rail bridge that connects the United States with Mexico through Laredo, and 40% of all rail traffic that travels to Mexico, crosses over this bridge. Without TexMex, it would be nearly impossible for KCSR and KCSM to act as a single company under Kansas City Southern.

The Panama Canal Railway Company (PCRC) is jointly owned by KCS and Panama Holdings, LLC of Hazel Crest, Illinois. PCRC provides ocean-to-ocean transshipment
Transshipment
Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....

service between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. The 47.6 miles (76.6 km) railroad serves as an efficient intermodal
Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...

line for world commerce and complements the existing transportation infrastructure provided by the Canal, the Colón Free Trade Zone
Colón Free Trade Zone
The Colón Free Trade Zone is a gigantic entity at the Atlantic gateway to the Panamá Canal, dedicated to re-export an enormous variety of merchandise to Latin America and the Caribbean. It is also the largest free zone in the Americas and second largest in the world.It started operations in 1948...

and the Pacific and Atlantic ports. PCRC's wholly owned subsidiary, Panarail Tourism, offers luxury passenger service for business commuters, tourists and private charters
Charters
Charters is a surname and may refer to :* Ann Charters , American professor of English* Charlie Charters , former English rugby union official and sports marketing executive* Frank Charters, , English cricketer...

.

NAFTA Rail, S.A. de C.V. is the holding company for KCSM because at the time KCS purchased KCSM, the Mexican government would not allow a foreign entity to directly own a Mexican railroad. KCS created this Mexican corporation as a holding company for KCS' ownership in KCSM. NAFTA Rail is wholly owned by Caymex Transportation, Inc., which is owned by KCS.

Gateway Eastern Railway Company (GWER
Gateway Eastern Railway
The Gateway Eastern Railway is a railroad subsidiary of the Kansas City Southern Railway , owning a main line between East Alton and East St. Louis, Illinois, United States. Originally created in 1994 as a subsidiary of the Gateway Western Railway, which acquired the East St...

) is a wholly owned subsidiary of KCS. GWER provides rail service over approximately 17 miles (27.4 km) of track in the East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis is a city located in St. Clair County, Illinois, USA, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 27,006, less than one-third of its peak of 82,366 in 1950...

area.

Meridian Speedway, LLC (MSLLC) is a majority owned, consolidated subsidiary that owns the former KCSR rail line between Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...

and Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, which is a portion of the KCSR rail route between Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

and Meridian and is known as the “Meridian Speedway.” Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS), through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Alabama Great Southern Railroad
Alabama Great Southern Railroad
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad is a railroad in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It is an operating subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation , running southwest from Chattanooga to New Orleans through Birmingham and Meridian...

, owns a minority interest
Minority interest
Minority interest in business is an accounting concept that refers to the portion of a subsidiary corporation's stock that is not owned by the parent corporation...

in MSLLC.

Southern Capital, Development, and Industrial Services Companies: The Southern Capital company consists of bulk storage facilities
Bulk material handling
Bulk material handling is an engineering field that is centered around the design of equipment used for the handling of dry materials such as ores, coal, cereals, wood chips, sand, gravel and stone in loose bulk form...

complete with ocean terminals
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

(Pabtex) along with a tie
Railroad tie
A railroad tie/railway tie , or railway sleeper is a rectangular item used to support the rails in railroad tracks...

and timber plant (Trans-Serve, Inc., also known as Superior Tie and Timber). The Southern Development Company is a holding company that owns various properties. The Southern Capital Corporation, LLC is a leasing company owned jointly by KCSR and GATX Capital Corporation of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, Southern Capital Corporation has the rail assets that once belonged to Carland and KCSR, as well as the loan portfolio once owned by Southern Leasing Corporation.

Other Minor Subsidiaries: KCS also owns a handful of non-core businesses. These minor subsidiaries, holding companies or minority investments (investments in which KCS has less than 50 percent ownership), have few employees and serve to support the rail operation. These include Canama Transportation, Caymex Transportation, Inc., Rosenberg Regional LLC, Joplin Union Depot, Kansas City Terminal Railway
Kansas City Terminal Railway
The Kansas City Terminal Railway is a Class III railroad terminal railroad that serves as a joint operation of the trunk railroads that serve the Kansas City metropolitan area, the country's second largest rail hub. It is presently operated by the Kaw River Railroad.The Railway was created after a...

, Port Arthur Bulk Marine Terminal Co. and Veals, Inc.

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

Kansas City, Missouri

. Together with Edward L. Martin

Edward L. Martin

Edward Livingston Martin was an American lawyer and politician from Seaford, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as U. S...

, Stilwell built the Kansas City Suburban Belt Railway, which was incorporated in 1887 and began operation in 1890, serving the Argentine District

Argentine, Kansas

Argentine is a community of Kansas City, Kansas, located in the southern part of Wyandotte County. It is bordered on the west by the Turner community, on the east by the Rosedale community, on the south by Johnson County, and on the north by Armourdale community and by the Kansas River. Argentine...

in Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...

; Independence, Missouri

Independence, Missouri

Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

; and the riverside commercial and industrial districts of Kansas City. While the Belt Railway was a success, Stilwell had a much bigger dream. Over the ensuing decade, the line grew through construction and acquisition of other roads, such as the Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway

Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway

The Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway was the Texas subsidiary of the Kansas City Southern Railway, operating railroad lines in the states of Arkansas and Texas, with headquarters at Texarkana, Texas....

, to become a through route between Kansas City and Port Arthur, Texas

Port Arthur, Texas

-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 57,755 people, 21,839 households, and 14,675 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.5 people per square mile . There were 24,713 housing units at an average density of 298.0 per square mile...

, with the final spike being driven north of Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...

, on September 11, 1897, the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad Company (KCP&G) was completed. In 1939, another mainline between Dallas and New Orleans, via Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, was added through the acquisition of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway

Louisiana and Arkansas Railway

The Louisiana and Arkansas Railway was a railroad that operated in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The railroad's main line extended 332 miles, from Hope, Arkansas to Shreveport and New Orleans...

(L&A). From 1940 to 1969, Kansas City Southern operated the Southern Belle

Southern Belle (KCS)

The Southern Belle was a named passenger train service offered by Kansas City Southern Railway from the 1940s through the 1960s, running between Kansas City, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana.The service was inaugurated on September 2, 1940...

passenger train between Kansas City and New Orleans, along with regular freight transportation. In 1962, under the name Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc. (KCSI), the company was formally organized as it began to diversify its interests into other industries under the CEO William Deramus III

William N. Deramus III

William Neal Deramus III was an American railroad executive; he led the Chicago Great Western Railway , the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, and the Kansas City Southern Railway through periods of great change in the railroad industry.Deramus graduated from the University of Michigan in 1936 and...

.

The new KCSI focused primarily on the financials industry, along with the rail industry. In 1969, KCSI started the two largest companies that came out of the diversification, DST Systems

DST Systems

DST Systems Inc. is a software development firm that specializes in information processing and management, with the goal of improving efficiency, productivity, and customer service...

and Janus Capital Group

Janus Capital Group

Janus Capital Group, Inc. is a publicly owned investment firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It provides growth and risk-managed investment strategies and manages equity, fixed income, money market, as well as balanced mutual funds....

which was known as Stilwell Financial at the time. DST Systems is a software development firm that specializes in information processing and management, with the goal of improving efficiency, productivity, and customer service. Janus Capital Group is a finance firm that provides growth and risk-managed investment strategies.

The core KCS rail system remained essentially the same until the 1990s, when the purchase of MidSouth Rail

MidSouth Rail

The MidSouth Rail Corporation is a former railroad line that is currently operated by Kansas City Southern Railway as a result of the January 1, 1994, acquisition; KCS began operating over MidSouth's line on January 11, 1994...

extended KCSI's reach eastward from Shreveport and into Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

and Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. This acquisition, combined with existing KCSI routes, created a key east-west mainline marketed as the Meridian Speedway

Meridian Speedway

The Meridian Speedway is span of railroad track between Meridian, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana. The Meridian Speedway is owned by the Meridian Speedway LLC...

. An additional acquisition, the Gateway Western Railway

Gateway Western Railway

The Gateway Western Railway was a Class II railroad that operated 408 miles of former Chicago and Alton Railroad track between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri...

, extended KCS's reach from Kansas City to St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, and to Springfield, Illinois

Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

.

The 1990s also saw KCSI extend its reach into Mexico

Mexico

, with the acquisition of partial interests in the Texas Mexican Railway

Texas Mexican Railway

The Texas Mexican Railway is a class 1 railroad that operates as a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern Railway in Texas. It is often referred to as the Tex-Mex, or TexMex Railway....

(TM) and Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana

Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana

Kansas City Southern de México , formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana , is the name of a company dedicated to freight transportation using rail in the North Eastern part of Mexico...

(TFM). TFM was created when Kansas City Southern Industries and Transportacion Maritima Mexicana (TMM) purchased a government concession

Concession (contract)

A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...

to operate on a rail system in Mexico. It was the most sought after portion of the Mexican railroad concessions, called the Northeast Railroad, that was purchased by KCSI and TMM. The concession was also bid on by many other major companies, including the United State's largest railroad company, Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

. KCSI and TMM bid on, and won, the concession for $1.4 Billion USD

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

, paying 49% and 51%, respectively. TMM already partially owned the Texas Mexican Railway through a previous concession from the Mexican government. TM was particularly important to KCSI because they held the link from KCSI tracks to TFM tracks via trackage rights

Trackage rights

Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....

over the Union Pacific line. Shortly after acquiring the Mexican government's concession, KCSI entered into another joint venture to purchase a government concession. On 19 June 1998 the government of Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

turned over control of the Panama Canal Railway to Kansas City Southern Railroad and the privately held Lanigan Holdings, LLC. This created the Panama Canal Railway Company (PCRC).

After these large capital

Financial capital

Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....

outputs, KCSI needed new capital to improve the Mexican and Panamanian concessions they had purchased, and to continue to make capital expenditures in the future. To build this needed capital

Capital (economics)

In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...

, KCSI spun off

Spin out

A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....

all assets that were not essential to the rail businesses. Doing this essentially paid off the purchase of their two existing concessions and freed up capital to improve them. The first major improvement that took place was in 2000 and 2001 when the PCRC upgraded the railway to handle large, intermodal shipping containers

Intermodal freight transport

Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...

, along with passenger transport.

In 2002, the Kansas City Southern Industries formally changed its name to Kansas City Southern (KCS) after it had successfully spun off many subsidiary businesses that were not directly related to the railroad business (the largest of which were Janus Capital Group

Janus Capital Group

and DST Systems

DST Systems

DST Systems Inc. is a software development firm that specializes in information processing and management, with the goal of improving efficiency, productivity, and customer service...

). In 2005, Kansas City Southern purchased TMM's share in TFM and TM, giving them full ownership of the companies. TFM was officially renamed Kansas City Southern de México, S.A. de C.V. The Texas Mexican Railway retained its original name and is a subsidiary

Subsidiary

A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...

of KCS.

In June 2009 the Kansas City Southern began operating on new trackage between Victoria

Victoria, Texas

Victoria is a city in and the seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,...

and Rosenburg

Rosenberg, Texas

Rosenberg is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Fort Bend County and is part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 31,676 at the 2010 census...

, Texas, known as the Macaroni Line
. The line was originally built in 1882 between Victoria and Rosenburg, and was called the Macaroni Line because the main source of food for the workers constructing the line was macaroni. However, it was acquired by Southern Pacific in 1885. Southern Pacific operated the line for a full century of regular service, then in 1985, the last regularly scheduled train ran over the 91 mile line. By the early 1990s, the tracks were mostly torn out. In 2006, the KCS announced that they would rebuild the Macaroni Line through subsidiary Tex Mex, in order to end the need for trackage rights on a circuitous Union Pacific route which took them way out of the way. Construction began on January 2009, and the line was opened for the first trains in over 20 years by June 2009, right on time. The line now operates daily trains and CTC

Centralized traffic control

Centralized traffic control is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America and centralizes train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher's office that...

signaling has been installed.

Awards and recognition

The E. H. Harriman Award is an award for rail safety. KCSR has been consistently recognized for its employee safety record (in group B: line-haul railroads with between four and 15 million employee hours per year) by the E.H. Harriman Memorial Awards Institute with a Gold Award in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008, Bronze Award in 2003 and 2004 and a Silver Award in 2005

Controversy

Kansas City Southern Railway is currently involved in a lawsuit regarding race-based employment discrimination in "violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1981". The plaintiff alleges he was refused reinstatement based on race and that other employees of similar responsibility and disciplinary history were granted reinstatement despite their record. The case has seen hearings before the Public Law Board, the Federal Railroad Administration, and federal courts. Though the case was initially ruled in favor of KCS by a district court the ruling has been overturned by the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Company officers

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

Edward L. Martin
Edward L. Martin
Edward Livingston Martin was an American lawyer and politician from Seaford, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as U. S...

(1889–1897)
Arthur Stilwell
Arthur Stilwell
Arthur Edward Stilwell was the founder of Kansas City Southern Railway. He served as the railroad's president from 1897 to 1900. He was also the founder of Port Arthur, Texas.-Early life:...

(1897–1900)
Samuel W. "Colonel" Fordyce
Samuel W. Fordyce
Samuel Wesley "Colonel" Fordyce was a prominent railroad executive of the American South. He served on several Boards of Directors and as President of a few railroads. Fordyce was also the receiver for several railroads when they declared bankruptcy.- References :* Fordyce, Jim , ...

(1900)
Stuart R. Knott
Stuart R. Knott
Stuart R. Knott was the fourth president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1900–1905)
Job A. Edson
Job A. Edson
Job A. Edson was twice the president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1905–1918)
Leonor F. Loree
Leonor F. Loree
Leonor Fresnel Loree was an executive of railroads in the United States.*Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: president 1901 - 1904*Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad president - 1904...

(1918–1920)
Job A. Edson
Job A. Edson
Job A. Edson was twice the president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1920–1927)
Charles E. Johnston
Charles E. Johnston
Charles E. Johnston was the eighth president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1928–1938)
Harvey C. Couch
Harvey C. Couch
Harvey Crowley Couch, was an Arkansas entrepreneur who rose from very modest beginnings to control a regional utility and railroad empire...

(1939)

C.P. "Pete" Couch
C. P. Couch
C. P. "Pete" Couch succeeded his brother Harvey C. Couch as president of Kansas City Southern Railway on August 11, 1939.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1939–1941)
William N. Deramus, Jr.
William N. Deramus, Jr.
William Neal Deramus, Jr. was an American railroad executive; He served as the longest running president of the Kansas City Southern Railway from 1941 to 1961. Deramus led the Kansas City Southern Railway through the depression by encouraging industry to locate on the Gulf Coast in Louisiana...

(1941–1961)
William N. Deramus III
William N. Deramus III
William Neal Deramus III was an American railroad executive; he led the Chicago Great Western Railway , the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, and the Kansas City Southern Railway through periods of great change in the railroad industry.Deramus graduated from the University of Michigan in 1936 and...

(1961–1973)
Thomas S. Carter
Thomas S. Carter
Thomas S. Carter was the thirteenth president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1973–1986)
William N. Deramus IV
William N. Deramus IV
William N. Deramus IV was the fourteenth president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1986–1990)
Landon H. Rowland
Landon H. Rowland
Landon H. Rowland was the fifteenth president of Kansas City Southern Railway. He is currently Director and Chairman Emeritus of Janus Capital Group. Rowland is also a Trustee of CED where he as given a CED 2011 Distinguished Performance Award. Mr...

(1990–1991)
George W. Edwards
George W. Edwards
George W. Edwards was the sixteenth president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....

(1991–1995)
Michael R. Haverty
Mike Haverty
Michael R. Haverty , aka Mike Haverty, is the seventeenth CEO of the Kansas City Southern Railway . Prior to working for KCS, he had been an executive for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...

(1995–present)

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