Officials of the new Missouri Central
Railroad (a General Railway Corporation subsidiary) are in the last stages in the
purchase of 245 miles
of the 297-mile former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
line between
Kansas City and St. Louis. The line, which
for the most part has been closed since 1984,
was slated for scrapping by
the State of Missouri for conversion into
a trans-state recreational trail. Sixty miles on
the east end between St. Louis and Owensville had remained
in operation by the Cotton Belt (SSW) to serve customers
in the St. Louis metro area, including the
bustling suburban communities of Maryland Heights, Union,
and Owensville. The new
carrier bought the property from Union Pacific Railroad,
which acquired the line as part of its absorption of
Southern Pacific-Cotton Belt. The Union Pacific
operates it's own
high-density mainline from St. Louis to Kansas City,
20 miles to the north of the Rock route
(via Sedalia and Jefferson City).
SSW (Cotton Belt) removed all traffic from the
ex-Rock Island route
in 1984 in favor of a trackage rights agreement on UP's
parallel River and Sedalia Subdivisions, to the north.
General Rwy. Corp. approached UP about the line at the begining of 1997, and indicated that their studies found that they could "make a go" of the project. Union Pacific signed a term agreement with MCRR on February 5, and received 90 days to secure financing. An extension of this deadline to the first of June allowed General Railway to come up with proper financing for the purchase. Plans are to commence operations by the first of June. The line was expected to be fully operational to Eldon by the end of 1997, however many obstacles have pushed the date further ahead.
Overcoming the Fight In The Suburbs
Part of the proposal called for Union Pacific to grant
Missouri Central a
trackage rights agreement which would have allowed MCRR to operate
over UP mainlines from
the Kansas City suburb of Pleasant Hill into
Kansas City itself, and from Vigus
into St. Louis on the eastern end. However, UP has called off plans on the KC end, due to the intense congestion of it's mainlines into the KC railraod gateway. (see below) Therefore, MCRR must reactivate the entire line into K.C.
During a failed
attempt in the 1980's by UP to reopen the defunct railroad as an
alternative to it's crowded Independence Hill mainline segment (where
three mainines (UP's Sedalia and River Subdivisions to St. Louis, plus MNA's ex-UP mainline south) funnel
into one track at Pleasant Hill to enter KC), city officials
and trackside homeowners in the
residential suburbs of Lee's Summit and Raytown complained
and arose in protest.
In addition to the legal battles, UP was not, at the time, in a financial position to
acquire the ex-RI line segment into KC from the SSW. (see article- "STB DENIES CITIES REQUEST; FAVORS MCRRR") When MCRR reactivates the line, UP may
eventually use the reactivated route into KC to ease congestion on Independence Hill.