Delivering a safer and more resilient railroad

Norfolk Southern releases 2025 safety accomplishments

Safety is a core value and the foundation of everything we do at Norfolk Southern. We released our 2025 Report on Safety Accomplishments and Ongoing Initiatives today, detailing the actions, investments and results helping deliver a safer, more resilient railroad across our 22-state network. This work delivered meaningful year-over-year progress, including a 31% reduction in FRA reportable train accident rate – our best in over a decade – a 15% reduction in FRA reportable injury rate and 1 million man-hours injury free, powered by our 20,000 railroaders working together.

How we drove safer operations in 2025

• Our Speak Up culture: Driven by a shared commitment to the core value of safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.
  • Every employee is empowered with Stop Work Authority from day one on the job.
  • 100% of operations leaders completed safety leadership training.
  • System-wide Safety Walkabouts and labor partnerships expanded to strengthen engagement and enhance the skills and capabilities of our professional railroaders.

• Technology at scale: We leveraged advanced technology to identify issues earlier and make our operations safer.
  • Three additional digital train inspection portals went live, bringing the total to 10 on our system.
  • Five additional automated track geometry locomotives were deployed, expanding the fleet to 25 monitoring track conditions in real time.
  • 265 hot bearing detectors have been installed over the past three years, bringing the total to 1,184 across our network and reducing average spacing to just over 11 miles on core routes.

• Prepared communities: We take pride in being a part of the communities we serve, and we continue to support first responder organizations across our network, helping to keep our communities safe.
  • 5,800+ first responders received training through NS’ Operation Awareness & Response program in 2025.
  • We awarded $1.6M in grants to first responder organizations through our Safety First grants to strengthen emergency response capabilities across our network.

What we’re saying

“Safety is a core value and the foundation of everything we do at Norfolk Southern. It’s the lens through which every decision is made. From the boardroom to the front line, the Thoroughbred team focuses on providing safe and reliable service to our customers, our communities and our employees. This report is a comprehensive accounting of the steps we’re taking and the progress we’ve made — in the crew room, on the ballast line and in our communities. We’re continuously raising our standards for excellence, guided by our commitment to safety.” – Mark George, President & CEO

“Norfolk Southern continues to strengthen a culture where every voice matters. Every employee is empowered to speak up about issues and share ideas. Together, we’re enhancing an environment grounded in our core value of safety — one that supports open dialogue, collaborative problem solving, and continuous improvement across all levels of the organization, from craft employees to senior leadership.” — John Orr, EVP & COO

“At Norfolk Southern, safety is more than the absence of incidents; it’s a core value that creates a culture of accountability driven by the grit and dedication of our professional railroaders. Safety is a daily grind of continuous improvement, pairing strategic initiatives with sweat equity to shape behaviors, refine processes, and enhance procedures that build a safer, more productive, and more reliable network.” — John Fleps, VP & Chief Safety Officer

The bottom line: Progress comes from action and accountability. We will continue investing in our people, strengthening our partnerships and deploying innovative technology to keep raising the bar on rail safety.

Read the full 2025 Report on Safety Accomplishments and Ongoing Initiatives to see how these efforts are taking shape across the network.