friscobob
January 15th, 2003, 08:27 AM
From the Trains News Wire:
KCS has tools for improvement in 2003, Haverty says
With its computer system implementation problems behind it, Kansas City Southern in 2003 will focus on using the system’s freight scheduling capabilities to provide more dependable service, boss Michael R. Haverty wrote in an update to employees this week before Christmas. Havery is president, chairman, and CEO of the 3200-mile system, the seventh-largest freight railroad in the U.S., stretching from Kansas City and St. Louis to Laredo, Texas, on the Mexico border, and from New Orleans and Meridian, in eastern Mississippi, to Dallas-Fort Worth. KCS also has a large stake in Mexican railroad TFM.
The Management Control System will allow KCS to provide more reliable service while decreasing its operating costs.
“With a comprehensive understanding of our customers' needs, we must utilize the more accurate and timely information provided by MCS to plan and then execute with discipline, in order to meet our customers' requirements,” Haverty wrote. “More timely and reliable service gives us the ability to simultaneously grow our revenue and reduce our costs.”
The MCS system will be added to KCS’s Texas-Mexican (“Tex-Mex”) in the spring, and to TFM in the fall, enabling traffic to move seamlessly among the KCS “NAFTA Railway” system component lines. Its cross-border traffic continues to grow at a 15% annual clip.
“MCS offers the greatest benefits to the most service sensitive traffic,” Haverty wrote. “The largest growth potential for this type of traffic is over the Meridian-to-Dallas and Meridian/Jackson-to-Laredo corridors.”
Improvements to the east-west, single-track “Meridian Speedway,” such as added capacity and better passing sidings, will allow KCS to slash transit times for existing traffic and attract new business, Haverty said. The line links Norfolk Southern at Meridian with Burlington Northern Santa Fe in the Fort Worth area.
The line will get a dozen power-assisted track switches in the non-signaled territory on the Vicksburg and Meridian Subdivisions in Mississippi, allowing train crews to control siding switches from the locomotive, rather than having to dismount to the ground to do it. In addition, new tracks will be added through and to the west end of High Oak Yard in Jackson, Miss., to facilitate flow between the yard and the transload facility, which will also be expanded.
KCS also expects to complete the introduction of locomotive remote control next year. Beltpack operations will be in place on 57 jobs in 21 yards. “KCS must fully utilize Beltpack to remain competitive,” Haverty wrote.
[ 15. January 2003, 02:40: Message edited by: friscobob ]
KCS has tools for improvement in 2003, Haverty says
With its computer system implementation problems behind it, Kansas City Southern in 2003 will focus on using the system’s freight scheduling capabilities to provide more dependable service, boss Michael R. Haverty wrote in an update to employees this week before Christmas. Havery is president, chairman, and CEO of the 3200-mile system, the seventh-largest freight railroad in the U.S., stretching from Kansas City and St. Louis to Laredo, Texas, on the Mexico border, and from New Orleans and Meridian, in eastern Mississippi, to Dallas-Fort Worth. KCS also has a large stake in Mexican railroad TFM.
The Management Control System will allow KCS to provide more reliable service while decreasing its operating costs.
“With a comprehensive understanding of our customers' needs, we must utilize the more accurate and timely information provided by MCS to plan and then execute with discipline, in order to meet our customers' requirements,” Haverty wrote. “More timely and reliable service gives us the ability to simultaneously grow our revenue and reduce our costs.”
The MCS system will be added to KCS’s Texas-Mexican (“Tex-Mex”) in the spring, and to TFM in the fall, enabling traffic to move seamlessly among the KCS “NAFTA Railway” system component lines. Its cross-border traffic continues to grow at a 15% annual clip.
“MCS offers the greatest benefits to the most service sensitive traffic,” Haverty wrote. “The largest growth potential for this type of traffic is over the Meridian-to-Dallas and Meridian/Jackson-to-Laredo corridors.”
Improvements to the east-west, single-track “Meridian Speedway,” such as added capacity and better passing sidings, will allow KCS to slash transit times for existing traffic and attract new business, Haverty said. The line links Norfolk Southern at Meridian with Burlington Northern Santa Fe in the Fort Worth area.
The line will get a dozen power-assisted track switches in the non-signaled territory on the Vicksburg and Meridian Subdivisions in Mississippi, allowing train crews to control siding switches from the locomotive, rather than having to dismount to the ground to do it. In addition, new tracks will be added through and to the west end of High Oak Yard in Jackson, Miss., to facilitate flow between the yard and the transload facility, which will also be expanded.
KCS also expects to complete the introduction of locomotive remote control next year. Beltpack operations will be in place on 57 jobs in 21 yards. “KCS must fully utilize Beltpack to remain competitive,” Haverty wrote.
[ 15. January 2003, 02:40: Message edited by: friscobob ]