KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Canadian Pacific Kansas City will honor former Kansas City Southern CEO Michael Haverty by naming a new subdivision after the influential railroad executive.
Assuming the deal gains the necessary regulatory approval, CPKC will name its portion of the Meridian & Bigbee short line the Haverty Subdivision.
CPKC and CSX plan to link their networks by acquiring and operating portions of the MNBR, which runs between the former KCS at Meridian, Miss., and CSX’s hub of Montgomery, Ala. CPKC’s portion – between Meridian and the CSX interchange at Myrtlewood, Ala. – will be designated the Haverty Sub. It was Haverty who initially proposed the idea of using MNBR to connect KCS and CSX some 25 years ago, but CSX was not interested at the time.
“Following dinner, much to my surprise, Keith got up and gave a talk that included many accolades about my career in the railroad industry, particularly my time at KCS. He also announced that the Meridian & Bigbee line between Meridian, MS and Myrtlewood, AL, would be named the Haverty Subdivision,” Haverty says. “He gave me a framed copy of the proposed timetable insertion to be added to the existing timetable, plus a replica of the Subdivision sign to be displayed on the Subdivision.”
He adds: “I was not only surprised by this announcement by Keith Creel, but also very moved and honored.”
Haverty, who led KCS from 1995 to 2008 and then served as chairman until 2013, created the cross-border KCS.
In 1995, KCS acquired the Tex-Mex short line, which gave it a route between Robstown, Texas, and the Laredo, Texas, gateway. In 1996 KCS and partner Grupo TMM outbid Union Pacific for the concession to operate Mexico’s Northeast railroad under the Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana banner. The same year KCS was awarded trackage rights over Union Pacific between Robstown and the KCS main at Beaumont, Texas, as part of the UP-Southern Pacific merger.
Combined, these three moves created the NAFTA Railway that aimed to take advantage of free trade in North America and ultimately became the catalyst for its acquisition by Canadian Pacific.
Haverty also expanded the KCS in 1996 with the acquisition of the Gateway Western, a regional with lines radiating from Kansas City to St. Louis and Springfield, Ill.
In 2006, Haverty signed a deal with Norfolk Southern that created the 320-mile Meridian Speedway joint venture, which connects Meridian with Shreveport, La., and serves as a shortcut linking the Southeast with Texas, Mexico, and the Southwest.
The glacier slowness of the transfer of M&B to CPKC seems completely inappropriate.