(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on June 9, 2009.)
In summer, Kansas City Southern plans to open a rehabilitated, cross-border Victoria-to-Rosenberg, Texas, line and a 100-acre intermodal terminal in Rosenberg. The Class I then will begin offering a new premium intermodal service between Houston and various Mexican destinations, including Monterrey, San Luis Potosi, Mexico City and Lazaro Cardenas.
In the meantime, KCS is seeking ideas from stakeholders — such as employees, customers and investors — to name the new service. KCS executives will select a winning name and announce it at an opening ceremony to be held sometime in summer.
“The branding of the new Houston-to-Mexico train service can be an important signal to our customers, employees and shareholders that we are serious about changing our philosophy toward becoming a first-class intermodal transportation provider,” said KCS President and Chief Operating Officer David Starling in an item posted on the “KCS News” Web site.
The rehabilitated line will shorten KCS’ cross-border route by about 70 miles and eliminate the need to operate over 160 miles of Union Pacific Railroad-owned track.
“This is an attractive corridor currently dominated by truckload carriers where no single-line, truck-competitive intermodal service exists today,” KCS officials said. “This project is key to the development of [our] International Intermodal Corridor and the railroad’s intermodal strategy.”