Norfolk Southern lines from Georgia to West Virginia still out of service after Hurricane Heline

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern crews are out across the network tending to widespread damages caused by Hurricane Helene on Friday. Rail service is still suspended across many lines from Georgia to West Virginia. Railroad crews are spending today (Monday, Sept. 30) clearing trees across a 70-mile section of its Brunswick District between Macon, Ga., and […]

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Thinking about Appalachia’s railroaders: Commentary

CSX train passing through small town

ERWIN, Tenn. — Railroaders take pride in the work they do. They provide for their families. They play an irreplaceable role in the movement of goods in the U.S. economy and they re-invest their hard-earned wages into the communities they live and work — building homes, shopping local, and supporting small communities where railroads have […]

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New feed mill opens on Pennsylvania’s North Shore Railroad

Short train passes in front of silos at new feed mill

NEW COLUMBIA, Pa. — A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Sept. 27, marked the completion of a new feed mill to be served by the North Shore Railroad’s Union County Industrial Railroad. The $47 million mill for Country View Family Farms, a division of Clemens Food Group LLC, was completed following two years of construction. The […]

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Once-in-a-generation floods hit North Carolina mountain railroads (additional update)

Flood waters and debris at railroad bridge

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Communities along the former Southern Railway and Clinchfield Railroad in western North Carolina have seen record-setting rainfalls in the days prior to Hurricane Helene. Now, tropical weather is pouring additional rainfall into the area, creating what local meteorologists are calling a once-in-a-generation storm. Places along NS’ former Southern S-Line on the French […]

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Brian Barr named chief mechanical officer at Norfolk Southern

ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern yesterday named Brian Barr as its chief mechanical officer. Barr joins Norfolk Southern from Union Pacific, where he held the positions of general manager Great Lakes Services and senior vice president transportation. Barr started his career as a craft dispatcher in 1998 working at Conrail and, later, CSX. During his 26-year […]

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CSX to detour traffic over Norfolk Southern during Howard Street Tunnel project in Baltimore (updated)

CSX logo

WASHINGTON – CSX has reached a trackage rights agreement with Norfolk Southern that will allow its trains to detour over NS while the Howard Street Tunnel clearance project is under way in Baltimore. CSX had previously planned on operating through the 1.7-mile tunnel during short work windows, a complex process that would have required construction […]

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Norfolk Southern offers alternative origins for West Coast intermodal ahead of coastal port strike

Intermodal train on bridge

ATLANTA — With longshoremen and port operators still unable to come to terms for a new labor agreement at East Coast ports, Norfolk Southern is recommending alternative origins for West Coast-destined international intermodal that normally flows into the eastern seaboard. NS outlined its recommended service Thursday, making use of its inland intermodal terminals to originate […]

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NTSB: Improper train build and outdated locomotive couplers likely caused NS derailment in Alabama

WASHINGTON – A combination of excessive in-train forces and the pairing of dead-in-tow locomotives that lacked alignment control couplers was the probable cause of a 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment in Alabama, the National Transportation Safety Board said today. Two locomotives and 37 cars derailed in the March 9 wreck on the Alabama East End District […]

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Railroads prepare for tropical storm threat in Southeast (updated)

Satellite image of hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico

TAMPA, Fla. — After an unusual lull in hurricane activity in August and September, railroads are monitoring a new tropical disturbance that will make landfall around Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday, Sept. 26, likely as a Category 2 or 3 hurricane. “CSX is closely monitoring Tropical Storm Helene, which is projected to intensify to hurricane strength […]

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Norfolk Southern names new chief financial officer, chief legal officer

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has named Jason A. Zampi as chief financial officer and treasurer and Jason M. Morris as chief legal officer and corporate secretary, the company announced Tuesday. Zampi, who also becomes an executive vice president, has been at Norfolk Southern for 13 years in roles in forecasting, budgeting, and corporate accounting. Previously, […]

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UP explains absence from early contract agreements with organized labor

Two crew members stand next to their train as another train passes

DALLAS – As BNSF Railway, CSX, and Norfolk Southern continue to sign tentative contract agreements with their labor unions well in advance of the start of national negotiations, one U.S. Class I railroad has been conspicuously absent: Union Pacific. UP executives explained today that – unlike the other railroads – they’re seeking to modernize work […]

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Analysis: What a work stoppage at East, Gulf coast ports means for CSX, NS

Yellow-and-blue diesel locomotive with containers on curve

  Class I railroads’ intermodal volumes have been strong this year, but the growing threat of an East Coast ports work stoppage risks upending supply chains just as the freight industry was normalizing.   East Coast Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern are keeping an eye on the potential for a widespread strike at […]

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