Effective April 1, Kansas City Southern Railroad and Tex Mex customers will have single line routing all the way to the U.S.-Mexican border, as "TM" routing ceases to exist and is replaced with "KCS".

This means that any traffic moving over the line from Beaumont to Laredo, TX (including over UP and HBT trackage) will be in a KCSR account. The new single line routing will streamline the waybill and bill of lading process to the benefit of the railroad and its customers.

Earlier this month, KCS notified customers of the change, explaining that while there is no change to existing rates or rate quotes, new routing has been published replacing TM with KCS authority. For service performed prior to April 1, 2006, customers will receive an invoice from Tex Mex. On and after April 1, 2006, invoices will come from KCSR. In both cases, payment should be remitted to the address on the invoice.

The process to ensure a smooth transition began in January 2006 with significant effort from the sales and marketing, revenue and car accounting, information technology, legal and transportation departments. These efforts included but were not limited to adopting Tex Mex stations, converting the routing, republishing tariffs, drafting legal agreements, coordinating with industry organizations like the Association of American Railroads and Railinc, communicating the effort to the industry and customers, and managing the entire process. This transaction is part of KCS' commitment to provide customers and shareholders with additional operating efficiencies and opportunities for long term growth.