The following was posted on today's (5-1-07) Trains.com Newswire...... UP and NS to offer fast service between Southern California and Southeast Print | Email | Contact Us May 1, 2007 OMAHA, Neb. and NORFOLK, Va., - Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern will improve eastbound domestic transcontinental service from Los Angeles to the Southeast on May 21 when they shift traffic from Memphis to the new Shreveport, La., gateway. Between Shreveport and Meridian, Miss., traffic will move via Kansas City Southern's "Meridian Speedway." NS and KCS last year reached an agreement where NS agreed to invest $300 million during the next four years to help expand the Speedway's capacity - such as by installing signal systems, extending sidings and building portions of double track - in return for a 30 percent interest in the line. This new route, combining Union Pacific's Sunset Route between Los Angeles and Texas with the NS/KCS line, is nearly 150 miles shorter than the current route, making it the shortest intermodal route between Los Angeles and the Southeast. This change will result in the following improvements: * Standard service to Atlanta will improve by one day. * BlueStreak premium service to Atlanta now will be available providing truck-competitive speeds of 600 miles per day. There also will be improvements to other Southeast destinations. Since expanding service and capacity in this lane in February, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern BlueStreak has been running 100 percent on time. Westbound domestic service is expected to be shifted to the Shreveport gateway during the third quarter of 2007. International shipments will remain routed via the Memphis gateway for now.
