Meridian Speedway

The Meridian Speedway is a 320-mile (510 km) span of railroad track between Meridian, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana. An important rail link between the Southeast and Southwest United States, it is operated as a joint venture of Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), which owns 70% of the partnership;[1] and Alabama Great Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Railway (NS).[2]

For the racetrack, see Meridian Speedway (Idaho).

History

The Speedway was originally two railroads: the Alabama and Vicksburg Railway built the section from Meridian to Vicksburg, while the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway built the section from Vicksburg to Shreveport. Together they were known as the "Vicksburg Route."[3]

These railroads, as well as others forming a line from New Orleans, Louisiana, through Meridian to Cincinnati, Ohio, were joined in 1881 to form the Queen and Crescent Route.[4]

In 1926, the Vicksburg Route was leased by the Illinois Central Railroad.[3] In 1986, Illinois Central divested itself of the line which was purchased by the MidSouth Rail Corporation. In 1993, KCS acquired the line as part of its purchase of MidSouth.

On December 2, 2005, KCS and NS announced their agreement to form a joint venture to operate the line. KCS contributed the rail line, while NS provided $300 million in cash, almost all of which was slated for capital improvements to increase capacity and improve transit times.[5] The Surface Transportation Board (STB) completed its regulatory review on April 10, 2006 and cleared KCS and NS to close the deal on May 1.

By September 2007, about $135 million had been spent on the improvements. Several new and longer passing sidings were installed along with a new CTC signaling system. The mainline was effectively rebuilt from the ground up with new ballast, crossties and heavier welded rail. The improvements enable up to 45 trains per day to traverse the line.[5]

In 2022, a proposal was made for passenger service on this line from Dallas to Meridian.[6]

References
  1. "Form 10-K" (PDF). Kansas City Southern Railway. February 3, 2023. p. 26.
  2. "Kansas City Southern and Norfolk Southern Close on Meridian Speedway Joint Venture". Business Wire. 2006. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  3. Murray, Tom (2006). Illinois Central Railroad. Voyageur Press. pp. 63, 73. ISBN 1-61060-007-X. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  4. Moody, John (1909). Moody's Analyses of Railroad Investments. New York: Analyses Publishing Company. p. 213.
  5. Kansas City Southern (2008). "Meridian Speedway". Archived from the original on 2008-01-26. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  6. "Amtrak backs CP-KCS merger after reaching deal for service expansions". Trains. Retrieved 2022-01-08.


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