Railroad News

The announcement was expected for months, but yesterday Norfolk Southern Corp. made it official: The Class I will move its corporate headquarters from Norfolk, Virginia, to Atlanta.

NS is in advanced discussions to purchase a site from Cousins Properties at 650 W. Peachtree St. NW in Midtown Atlanta, where the railroad plans to build its new headquarters. Progress on the move has begun and will span the next several years as the facility is built, NS officials said in a press release.

Norfolk Southern Corp. yesterday released its latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report, which includes such details as the Class I's record locomotive fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.

NS improved locomotive fuel efficiency by 5 percent in 2017 over 2016, conserved 23 million gallons of diesel and avoided more than 233,750 metric tons of GHG emissions, according to the report.

Norfolk Southern Railway will provide service to a new inland port to be developed near Gainesville, Georgia, state and Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) officials announced yesterday.

Set to open in 2021, the Northeast Georgia Inland Port will be situated in the manufacturing and logistics corridor along Interstate 85 and operated by the GPA.

Norfolk Southern Corp. announced yesterday that Marque Ledoux will become vice president of government affairs on Jan. 1, 2019. He will succeed Bruno Maestri, who is retiring from the Class I.

Ledoux joined NS in 2003 as assistant VP of government affairs. Prior to joining the company, he worked for FedEx for 16 years in public relations and government relations positions. In his new role, he will continue to be based in Washington, D.C., and report to John Sheib, executive VP of law and administration.

Details of Norfolk Southern Corp.'s potential relocation of its headquarters from Norfolk, Virginia, to Atlanta emerged in documents released yesterday by Invest Atlanta, the city's economic development agency.

NS is proposing construction of a new headquarters in Midtown Atlanta that would feature 750,000 square feet of office space and a daycare center for employees' children, according to the documents.

Norfolk Southern Corp. has tapped Michael Farrell to serve as senior vice president of transportation.

Based in Atlanta, Farrell will report to Michael Wheeler, executive VP and chief operating officer. Farrell's duties will include all transportation operations, division mechanical and rail terminal management functions, NS officials said in a press release.

Norfolk Southern Corp. second-quarter 2017 net income rose 23 percent to $497 million, or $1.71 per diluted share, compared with the same quarter a year ago, the Class I reported this morning.

The profit growth was driven by a 15 percent increase in railway operations income, and an all-time record operating ratio of 66.3 percent, according to an NS press release.

10/3/2016    

Rail News: Norfolk Southern Railway

Norfolk Southern Railway rolled out new low-emission locomotives, reduced unnecessary locomotive idling and set a five-year goal to improve fuel efficiency as part of its sustainability program in 2015, the Class I announced today.

In its new online sustainability report, "What Efficiency Looks Like," NS details its efforts to achieve a "healthy balance between its business imperatives as a publicly traded company and its environmental and social commitments," NS officials said in a press release.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

The Crescent. The Heartland. The MidAmerica. The Patriot. Norfolk Southern Corp. has developed a number of corridors over the past few decades, either on its own or with other railroads. But the aptly named and recently introduced Premier Corridor might be its pre-eminent one.

Watco Transloading LLC has obtained a definitive licensed agreement with Norfolk Southern Corp. to operate a new NS Thoroughbred Bulk Terminal (TBT) in Sandusky, Ohio.

NS is leveraging existing infrastructure of the former Triple Crown Services facility to enable Watco and NS to drive new incremental transload business, Watco officials said in a press release issued yesterday.

Norfolk Southern Corp.'s second-quarter 2016 net income declined to $405 million, or $1.36 diluted earnings per share, from $433 million, or $1.41 earnings per share, a year ago, the Class I announced this morning.

Railway operating revenue fell 10 percent to $2.5 billion compared with Q2 2015's revenue as a result of reduced volumes and lower fuel surcharge revenue. Overall, volume dropped 7 percent to 1.8 million units for the quarter, NS officials said in a press release.

Norfolk Southern Corp. will pay nearly $500,000 to 2,086 African-Americans as part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve allegations of race-based hiring discrimination, federal officials announced yesterday.

The case involves an NS business unit in its engineering department, Maintenance of Way No. 34, which entered into the agreement with the department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). NS is a federal contractor that has had more than $10 million contracts with the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. Department of Air Force and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services.

Robert Martinez, Norfolk Southern Corp's. vice president of business development and real estate, will be in China this week to meet with business leaders who are considering locating their manufacturing plants in the United States, NS announced yesterday.

Martinez plans to meet with a range of Chinese companies, including manufacturers of automobiles, tires, chemicals, tissue and metals.

Norfolk Southern Corp. subsidiary Thoroughbred Direct Intermodal Services Inc. and transportation management software provider MercuryGate International Inc. have formed an integration partnership that will allow clients to gain access to the Modal-X web-based portal, MercuryGate announced Monday.

Modal-X provides instantaneous door-to-door intermodal rates for transactional freight opportunities.

Norfolk Southern Corp. wouldn't work with the Great Lakes Basin Transportation Inc.'s (GLBT) proposed freight-rail line that would bypass the congested Chicago area, according to a letter the Class I filed last month with the Surface Transportation Board (STB).

The STB has been accepting comments and holding hearings about the GLBT's proposal to construct a 278-mile freight-rail route around the Chicago area, which the company has stated would help to speed up freight transportation and provide additional capacity for growing rail traffic.

Norfolk Southern Railway late last week unveiled its new Safety Train and website to help educate first responders across its network on potential rail-related incidents, the Class I announced late last week.

The train and website are part of NS' Operation Awareness and Response (OAR) program, which was launched last year to improve relationships with first responders by providing classroom, web-based and field training on hazardous materials transportation.

Norfolk Southern Corp. posted strong first-quarter 2016 results yesterday, with profit soaring 25 percent to $387 million and diluted earnings per share up 29 percent to $1.29 year-over-year.

The results demonstrate "significant progress" in the company's five-year strategic plan, said NS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer James Squires.

Norfolk Southern Corp. will trim 135 positions and reduce operations at its rail yard in Knoxville, Tenn., effective May 1, the Class I announced yesterday.

The action is in response to lower traffic volumes and is part of NS' ongoing five-year strategic plan to improve efficiency, lower costs and support long-term growth, according to an NS press release.

Norfolk Southern Railway has presented 60 customers with its Chemical Safety Award for safely transporting hazardous products on its rail lines in 2015, the Class I announced earlier this week.

Last year, the award-winning companies delivered 224,660 carloads of chemical products that the federal government regulates as hazardous, NS officials said in a press release.