KCS Holiday Express is Back on Track and Headed to Texarkana

All Aboard! Get ready the KCS Kansas City Southern Holiday Express train is headed to Texarkana this year in December.

It's been a couple of years since the KCS Holiday Express made a stop in Texarkana. The 2020 pandemic pretty much derailed the popular train but the six-car lighted holiday train with festive displays is back up and running across parts of the country and arrives in Texarkana on Monday, December 5 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Tiger Stadium at Grim Park, 1601-1699 West 12th St. Shuttle service provided from the stadium to train.

If you miss the train in Texarkana you can see it again in Ashdown, Arkansas at 4 pm on December 6, on Hwy 71 North.

The KCS Holiday Express features a fully decorated lighted train with holiday-themed rail cars pulled by the smiling engine Rudy. Santa and his elves are on board and visit with the kids at each stop they make on their magical journey between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Over the last two years due to the pandemic visitors were not allowed on board the train for a tour of three of the rail cars but that returns this year.

See the complete schedule here. The KCS Holiday Express is free to the general public.

“KCS is thrilled that we can once again run the Holiday Express train and stop in communities along our rail network,” said president and CEO Patrick J. Ottensmeyer.

The KCS Holiday Express is made possible through donors who continue to support this holiday tradition that's been around for 22 years and counting. The Holiday Express's main mission is to support fundraising efforts for the Salvation Army so they can help people in our community who are in need during the busy holiday season. Since the program started 21 years ago, more than $2.6 million dollars has been raised. Make a donation here.

KCS Holiday Express Story

Built on the tradition of the Santa Train, which ran on a segment of the network bought by KCS in 1997. In 2000, employees noticed that the train was the only Christmas that some kids had most did not have coats, hats, gloves, or essential items so the crew made a decision to transform a retired freight train into the KCS Holiday Express. The name was eventually changed to the KCS Holiday Express and the rest is history, as they say. The Holiday Express is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.