Kansas City Southern revises measures of operational performance

Credit: KCS

Kansas City Southern (KCS) (NYSE:KSU) has revised the definitions of two key service metrics that it uses to measure operating performance. These revised metrics will provide a more complete view of customer service and operational performance on the KCS network.

KCS will focus on operational cars online, which highlights the number of cars on the KCS network that are not at a customer’s location, while also measuring the gross velocity, which measures average velocity and includes all time spent at intermediate locations between a train origin and destination (including all crew changes, terminal dwell, delays, and incidents). Gross velocity is determined as the sum of the miles travelled divided by the sum of total transit hours. Transit hours are measured by calculating the difference between a train’s origin departure and destination arrival date and times broken down by segment across the train route. 

Both of these factors have the ability to impact passenger satisfaction, but also highlight manageable ways in which to negate the passenger need to complain. This is hoped to improve overall passenger satisfaction as it is easier to monitor how the customer experience can be made better. 

Kansas City Southern’s Executive, Vice President Precision Scheduled Railroading, Sameh Fahmy, stated: “As part of its transition to a precision-scheduled network, KCS is pleased to provide a more complete view of its operational performance to its customers and stakeholders. These revised metrics will give stakeholders a more accurate understanding of KCS’ operational performance as we strive to improve customer service.”