Kansas City Southern Railway Co., a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern, is investing $24.6 million this year on construction and improvement projects in this region.
The work is expected to kick off later this month and continue through August. KCSR will be working in Texarkana and Bloomburg, Texas; Sulphur Springs, Decatur, De Queen and Ashdown, Ark.; as well as other cities in those states; and towns in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
C. Doniele Carlson, KCS corporate communications and community affairs, describes the work as routine.
"KCS does this sort of work all year long," she said. "This is a capital investment project to expand the network's capacity to handle increasing rail traffic, keep maintenance to a regular and healthy cycle and enhance the safety of the system."
In total, the project will see the replacement of approximately just under eight miles of track and roughly 90,000 cross ties as well as improvements to more than 130 rail road crossings. Contrary to perception, rail transportation still plays a prominent role in moving cargo across the United States. The economy is expanding and because of that, more trains are running more routes on the country's railways. Kansas City Southern anticipates this increased traffic and is making their plans in accordance.
"This work creates capacity for growing traffic volume," Carlson said. "The U.S. government and other sources project that rail traffic volumes will continue to grow throughout the U.S. rail system in the years ahead."
KCS is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. Described as a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the United States, Mexico and Panama, its primary U.S. holding is KCSR, serving the central and south central United States. Its rail lines go to cities in all those countries and also supply ocean-to-ocean freight and passenger service along the Panama Canal.
KCS was founded in 1887 and today, all total, including its wholly owned subsidiaries, owns a total of 6,000 miles of track.