Kansas City Southern (company)
Kansas City Southern (KCS) was a transportation holding company with railroad investments in the United States, Mexico, and Panama that existed from 1887 to 2023. The KCS rail network included about 7,299 miles (11,747 km) of track in the U.S. and Mexico.
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
Traded as | NYSE: KSU |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Defunct | April 14, 2023 |
| Fate | Acquired by Canadian Pacific Railway, merged into Canadian Pacific Kansas City |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Patrick J. Ottensmeyer (CEO & President) |
| Revenue | US$3.37 billion (2022) |
| US$1.23 billion (2022) | |
Net income | US$0.98 billion (2022) |
| Total assets | US$10.68 billion (2022) |
| Total equity | US$4.80 billion (2022) |
Number of employees | 7,190 (2022) |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | kcsouthern |
| Footnotes / references Financials as of December 31, 2022. References: | |
Its primary U.S. holding was the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS), a Class I railroad that operated about 3,984 route miles (6,412 km) in 10 states in the midwestern and southeastern United States. KCS's hubs include Kansas City, Missouri; Shreveport, Louisiana; New Orleans; Dallas; and Houston. Among Class I railroads, KCS had the shortest route between Kansas City, the second-largest rail hub in the country, and the Gulf of Mexico. Its primary international holding was Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), which operated about 3,315 route miles (5,335 km) in 15 states in northeastern, central, southeast-central and southwest-central Mexico. KCSM reached the Gulf of Mexico ports of Tampico, Altamira, and Veracruz, and the Pacific Ocean deepwater container port of Lázaro Cárdenas. KCS obtained 100% of ownership of KCSM in 2005, making KCS the only U.S. Class I Railroad to own track in Mexico.
The company also owned half of Panama Canal Railway Company (PCRC), which operates the Panama Canal Railway, providing ocean-to-ocean transshipment service between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The 47.6-mile (76.6 km) railroad served as an intermodal line for world commerce and complements the Canal, the Colón Free Trade Zone, and the Pacific and Atlantic ports. As of 2009, PCRC's wholly owned subsidiary, Panarail Tourism, offered passenger service for business commuters, tourists, and private charters.
Beginning in 2021, KCS became the subject of a bidding war between Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway. Canadian Pacific (CP) emerged as the winner. CP then sought a merger, which was approved by the US Surface Transportation Board on March 15, 2023, and the combined "Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited" was created on April 14, 2023. The combined company forms the only railroad serving all of the countries in the North American trade zone (Canada, Mexico, and the United States).