On March 13, the Kansas City Southern Railroad signal department placed Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) in service on the main line from Bovay, Louisiana to Smiths, Mississippi.

This cutover, combined with a CTC cutover from Smiths to Monument, Miss. earlier this year, completes an approximate 50-mile stretch of CTC that is improving safety and velocity on the Meridian Speedway. The signal department worked through the weekend to ensure that the cutover would not affect the more time-sensitive trains that move over the Meridian Speedway during the week.

Additional CTC projects planned for KCSR in 2006 include the extension of CTC from east Bossier City through Shreveport to Foster, La., which is slated for completion in second quarter, and from Texas Avenue to the south end of Deramus Yard in Shreveport, which is slated for completion in third quarter.