, founder of KCS
Origins (1887–1900) Arthur Stilwell began construction on the first line of what would eventually become the Kansas City Southern Railway in 1887, in suburban
Kansas City, Mo. Together with
Edward L. Martin, Stilwell built the
Kansas City Suburban Belt Railway, a 20-mile long railroad, which was incorporated in 1887 and began operation in 1890. In 1897, Stilwell completed the
Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad Company (KCP&G) with a route running north and south from Kansas City to
Shreveport, Louisiana, terminating at
Port Arthur, Texas. In order to comply with Louisiana laws Stilwell, William S. Taylor, E. L. Martin, and others, officers of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Trust Company of Kansas City, Missouri, as well as the KCP&G, incorporated the
Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway Company (KCS&G) on September 27, 1894, to build or acquire railroads in Louisiana. The Arkansas Construction Company completed a 41.10-mile line from Arkansas-Louisiana State line (northern terminus with the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railway Company) to Shreveport on April 15, 1896. The Kansas City Terminal Construction Company completed a 76.40-mile Shreveport to Many line on October 26, 1896, an 85.80-mile Many to De Quincy line on June 30, 1897, and the 19.16-mile De Quincy to the Louisiana-Texas state line on September 11, 1897, where the southern terminus was with the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railway Company. A 26.60-mile narrow gauge branch line was acquired from the Calcasieu, Vernon & Shreveport Railway Company (CV&S), through the Arkansas Construction Company, that ran from De Quincy, West Lake, Lake Charles, and Lockport, and the construction company widened the tracks to standard gauge. In 1895, the KCP&G entered into a contract with the KCS&G to operate and maintain its property. In 1900, KCP&G was taken over by the Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCS). By 1914, the KCS owned the separate entities of the Arkansas Western Railway Company, Fort Smith & Van Buren Railway Company, Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway Company, the Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Terminal Company, the Maywood & Sugar Creek Railway Company, the Port Arthur Canal & Dock Company, the Poteau Valley Railroad Company, the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railway Company, the Arkansas Western Railway Company, the Glenn Pool Tank Line Company, the Joplin Union Depot Company, the Kansas City Terminal Railway Company, and the K. C. S. Elevator Company.
20th century (1900–2000) In 1962, Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc. (KCSI) was established when the company began to diversify its interests into other industries. At that time, KCS became a subsidiary of KCSI. In 2002, KCSI formally changed its name to Kansas City Southern (KCS), with KCS remaining a subsidiary. From 1940 to 1969, the Kansas City Southern operated two primary passenger trains, the
Flying Crow (Trains #15 & 16) between Kansas City and Port Arthur (discontinued on May 11, 1968) and the
Southern Belle (Trains #1 & 2) between Kansas City and New Orleans (discontinued on November 2, 1969). In 1995, a new
Southern Belle was created as an executive train to entertain shippers and guests. It also pulls the
Holiday Express train in December, making the rounds to several KCS cities and stations.
Access to Mexico In
1995, led by the vision of CEO
Michael Haverty to connect the Chicago coridoor directly to Mexico, and for the regional KCS to become a large international railroad, the company acquired a 49% stake in the
Texas Mexican Railway directly from the Mexican Government. In 1996, Kansas City Southern Industries won a Mexican government concession to operate the "Northeast Railroad," a potentially profitable 5,335-kilometer rail system connecting key cities and ports. This line, which carried a significant portion of Mexico's rail traffic and freight from the United States, was highly sought after due to its strategic location, including proximity to numerous auto assembly plants. The concession was operated by a new company known as
Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), which was a joint venture of KCSI with
Transportación Maritima Mexicana (TMM). In 2005, TMM sold its share of TFM to KCSI, prompting a rename to
Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM). Responding to increased
international trade between the US and Mexico, the railroad built a large
railroad yard and
intermodal freight transport facility at Laredo in
1998. They also won
Regional Railroad of the Year that same year. In
August 2004, KCS again purchased a controlling interest in Tex-Mex. The Macaroni line laid dormant and unused for 11 years until 2006, when KCS/TM announced that they would rebuild the line to Class 1 standards, to avoid continued running on a circuitous UP monopolised route which required running through 120 miles of the
Glidden Subdivision from Houston to
Flatonia, along with an additional 88 miles through Cuero Sub from Flatonia to
Placedo and
Bloomington, where they KCS trains enter UP Angleton/Brownsville Subdivisions, heading to
Robstown, Texas. Construction began in January 2009 and the line opened for the first trains for over 20 years, by June 2009. The line now operates daily trains, has
CTC signaling, and an
intermodal facility at
Kendleton, Texas.
21st century (2000–2023) On March 21, 2021, the
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) announced that it was purchasing KCS for US$29 billion. Prior, a competing cash and stock offer was made by
Canadian National Railway (CN) on April 20, 2021 at $33.7 billion. On May 13, 2021, KCS announced in a statement that they planned to accept the higher offer from CN, but would give CP until May 21 to come up with a higher bid, which was not made. However, CN's merger attempt would be blocked by a STB ruling in August 2021 that the company could not use a voting trust to assume control of KCS, due to concerns about potentially reduced competition in the railroad industry. On September 12, 2021, KCS accepted a new $31 billion offer from CP. Though CP's offer was lower than the offer made by CN, the STB permitted CP to use a voting trust to take control of KCS. That approval came on March 15, 2023, which permitted the railroads to merge as soon as April 14, 2023. ==Operations==