JOdom wrote:
Thanks for the update. Hope someone can provide updates periodically. I have a soft spot for KCS, since it goes places in Arkansas and Oklahoma (Mena, Rich Mountain, and Heavener, respectively) where I used to go frequently.
To note also, on this: from TRAINS Newswire of 6June,2007:
"KCS applies for $100 million RRIF loan for Texas line
June 6, 2007 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Southern announced yesterday that it has applied for an approximate $100 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan from the Federal Railroad Administration to finance the rehabilitation of its line between Victoria and Rosenberg, Texas.
Rehabilitation of the 90-mile line will shorten KCS' route to Mexico by approximately 70 miles. It will also eliminate the need for KCS to operate over nearly 160 miles of Union Pacific-controlled track between Rosenberg and Victoria via Flatonia, Texas. This would allow a mileage reduction in KCS' use of trackage rights over Union Pacific between Beaumont and Robstown, Texas by over 40 percent.
"This project is one of the most strategically important actions our company could undertake right now," Michael R. Haverty, KCS chairman and chief executive officer said in a statement. "Upon completion, it will immediately reduce our operating costs to the point that the project will pay for itself. It will facilitate the development of a superior service route for intermodal shippers to and from Mexico, add badly needed rail capacity to south Texas and return vital rail service to communities along the line."
Rehabilitation of the former Southern Pacific route will allow KCS to re-establish service along the line, which has been out of service but never officially abandoned. KCS will work with the Texas Department of Transportation and local communities along the line as the project progresses. Some track salvage and preliminary grading has already been done along the northern end of the line. KCS intends to begin other work on the project immediately. Separate from the RRIF application, KCS will pursue a by-pass around Victoria.
Review of the KCS RRIF loan application will take place initially at the FRA, which is familiar with the project and was briefed on it previously by KCS and Texas Department of Transportation officials. The Texas Mexican Railway, a KCS subsidiary, received approval for a RRIF loan for main line rail rehabilitation in south Texas in 2004. The Victoria to Rosenberg rehabilitation project is an extension of the work funded by the earlier Tex-Mex RRIF loan. KCS is hoping for a quick review by the FRA and other federal officials."
Maybe they will have better luck with their load than the DM&E had (or is having) with their loan.
