Existing Infrastructure \ transportation

 

Railroads

Canadian National (CN) maintains two main lines running north to Memphis, Tennessee. The lines converge in Jackson, where the railroad has a major terminal switching yard and office/shop facilities. The lines again diverge from Jackson to run south to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and southeast to Mobile, Alabama, via Hattiesburg, Mississippi. CN also operates an automotive facility in Jackson that serves the four-state area of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Jackson is the headquarters for CN's United States central sub-region.

 

Kansas City Southern (KCS) (NYSE: KSU) is a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the United States, Mexico, and Panama. Its primary holdings include the Kanasas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR), founded in 1887, and the Texas Mexican Railway Company, founded in 1885. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, KCS serves customers in the central and south central regions of the United States. KCS' rail holdings and investments, including TFM, S.A. de C.V., are primary components of a NAFTA Railway system that links the commercial and industrial centers of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

 

Greater Jackson is located at the center of the KCSR's strategic Meridian Speedway line from Meridian, Mississippi to Shreveport, Louisiana. The Meridian Speedway is one of the fastest growing rail corridors in the United States; and, in recent years, KCSR has invested more capital in its infrastructure in Mississippi than any other state on its system. In 2005, KSCR plans to invest $3.5 million to upgrade its track just east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, to the Mississippi River, a distance of approximately 11 miles. An additional $2 million will be invested in Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) in the 17 miles between Bovay, Louisiana, and Smiths, Mississippi, through Vicksburg. This major rehabilitation and upgrade program began the first week of 2005 and is expected to be completed in the second quarter.

 

One of KSCR's primary rail yards, High Oak Yard, is located in Greater Jackson, as well as an 85-acre intermodal ramp with capacity for 300 cars and a 55-acre TransLoad Center (TLC) for handling bulk plastics, food products, clay, forest products, and steel. Over the next two years KCSR will make the following improvements to its infrastructure in Greater Jackson: the addition of two new departure and receiving tracks at High Oak Yard; grading for two new main tracks west of High Oak Yard; and a new overpass just east of High Oak Yard. These projects follow the construction of a new double-track mainline in West Jackson.