Rio Grande Wants to Buy Rail Line in Chicago

Rio Grande Industries confirmed Friday that it is trying to buy 500 miles of railroad between Kansas City and Chicago from Soo Line Corp of Minneapolis.

The track would give Rio Grande, parent of the Southern Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande Western railroads, its first direct link to Chicago from the West Coast.

Currently, the railroad must hand off goods to other lines, including Soo, in Kansas City.

Rio Grande said it is optimistic it will be able to reach an agreement with Soo for the Kansas City-Chicago line, which passes through Missouri, Iowa and northern Illinois.

“No final agreement has been reached,” the railroad said in a statement, “but negotiations are progressing and a number of significant issues have been resolved in principle.”

The railroad’s actions indicate that Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz intends to act quickly to bolster his privately held rail operation. In October, his Rio Grande Industries bought the Southern Pacific from Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corp. for $1 billion.