Kansas City Terminal Railway

Kansas City Terminal Railway
Overview
HeadquartersKansas City, Missouri
Reporting markKCT
LocaleKansas, Missouri
Dates of operation1906–present
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Other
Websitekctrailway.com

The Kansas City Terminal Railway (reporting mark KCT) is a Class III terminal railroad that serves as a joint operation of the trunk railroads that serve the Kansas City metropolitan area, the United States' second largest rail hub after Chicago.[1] It is operated by the Kaw River Railroad.[2][3]

The railway owns and dispatches 95 miles of track in Kansas and Missouri.[4] It no longer owns Kansas City Union Station. It leases six locomotives and no freight cars. Maintenance operations are subcontracted to BNSF Railway.

KCT now serves the Class I railroads BNSF, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific.[4] It also serves Amtrak, as well as the Class II railroad Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad and the class III railroad Kaw River Railroad (a WATCO subsidiary).

History

The railway was created after a series of floods—including a large one in 1903—inundated the West Bottoms each time and temporarily closed the Union Depot there.[4] The 12 original trunk railways of the city at the time joined to build the new Union Station and to coordinate the bridges and switches that serve the city.[4]

The original trunk railroads that were owners of the Kansas City Terminal were:[4]

Under an Interstate Commerce Commission order, the railway operated and then oversaw the liquidation of the Rock Island Line from 1979 to 1980.

See also

References

  1. ^ Bryan, Joseph; Weisbrod, Glen Elliot; Martland, Carl Douglas (2007). NCHRP Report 586: Rail Freight Solutions to Roadway Congestion: Final Report and Guidebook (Report). Transportation Research Board. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-309-09893-9. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
  2. ^ "Kaw River Railroad (KAW)". WatcoCompanies.com. Watco. 2015. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015.
  3. ^ "STB Finance Docket No. 34830". STB.DOT.gov. United States Department of Transportation. March 22, 2006. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e "About Us". KCTRailway.com. Kansas City Terminal Railway. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
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