Kansas City Southern Railway

Kansas City Southern Railway

KCS system map (trackage rights in purple), including KCSM.
KCS 3999, an EMD SD70ACe
Overview
Parent company	Kansas City Southern Canadian Pacific Kansas City
Headquarters	Kansas City, Missouri
Reporting mark	KCS
Locale	Midwestern and Southeastern United States
Founder	Arthur Stillwell
Dates of operation	1887–2023
Predecessor	Kansas City Suburban Belt Railroad Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad
Successor	CPKC
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	3,984 miles (6,412 km)
Other
Website	kcsouthern.com

The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (reporting mark KCS) is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operates in 10 Midwestern and Southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. KCS owns the shortest north-south rail route between Kansas City, Missouri, and several key ports along the Gulf of Mexico.

The focus of the routes was the fastest way to connect Kansas City to seaports, since it was only 800 miles from Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico compared to 1,400 miles between Kansas City and the Atlantic Ocean ports.^[1]

KCS operates over a railroad system consisting of 3,984 route miles (6,412 km) that extend south to the Mexico–United States border at which point another KCS-operated railroad, Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), hauls freight into northeastern and central Mexico and to several Gulf of Mexico ports and the Pacific Port of Lázaro Cárdenas.

Canadian Pacific Railway purchased KCS in December 2021 for US$31 billion. On April 14, 2023, KCS became a wholly owned subsidiary of CPR, and both companies began conducting business under the name of their parent company, Canadian Pacific Kansas City.^[2]