How Norfolk Southern Powered Progress in 2025

This year, we made meaningful investments across our network to improve our railroad, our industry, and the communities we serve. Here are some of the ways we did it:

Safety 

• Kept safety at the core: We are pushing convention and continuing to improve the safety and resilience of our railroad in every facility and in every community where we operate.

• Invested in our people, building the skills and capabilities of generational railroaders. In 2025, we delivered the lowest injury and accident rates in more than a decade. 

• Trained 5,800 first responders through our Operation Awareness and Response (OAR) program, including many who attended one of the 16 stops our Safety Train made around our network in 2025.

• Railroaders across the company, including senior leaders and frontline employees, joined forces to raise awareness, protect communities, and help save lives during Operation Lifesaver’s See Tracks? Think Train!® Week.

• Installed three new Digital Train Inspection (DTI) portals, bringing the total number of portals in operation around our network to 10.

• Deployed our first-ever Wheel Integrity System (WIS) that uses AI and ultra‑high‑resolution imaging to spot cracked wheels at track speed, preventing potential derailments before they happen. 

Operations

• Restored vital service around Asheville, NC: Last spring, we resumed customer freight rail service along our AS Line, which connects Eastern Tennessee to Western North Carolina. Restoring rail service to businesses in the Asheville area was the result of six months of work spent repairing and restoring critical track infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Helene.

• Leveraged cross departmental expertise: We established specialized cross-functional War Rooms focused on critical areas such as wayside operations, locomotive reliability, and car maintenance. They monitor real-time performance, reduce delays, and engineer long-term solutions.

• Focused on safety and service: We raised the bar for safety and service across our network, driving operational efficiency and reliability.

Infrastructure

• Strengthened network resilience and capacity: We committed over $1B in infrastructure upgrades across our 22-state network to enhance safety, productivity, and fluidity. Key achievements included replacing more than 480 track miles of rail, installing 1.9 million new crossties, adding 375 grade crossing protection systems, and delivering 84 bridge replacement and rehabilitation projects, along with seven major intermodal and automotive initiatives.

• Advanced intermodal growth: In partnership with the Georgia Ports Authority, we completed key phases of the Blue Ridge Connector inland port, opening next year in Gainesville, Ga. We led track construction, signal installation, and provided design expertise for this transformative project. Designed for significant capacity and economic growth and expected to cut carbon emissions by up to 90%, this collaborative investment positions NS and customers for speed, efficiency, and sustainability across the region.

• Powering strategic routes: We modernized and expanded Alabama’s 3B Corridor — which connects markets in northern and central Alabama to the Port of Mobile — by boosting efficiency, reliability, and freight capacity along this key route. With upgrades including new sidings and yard expansions, this investment supports critical industries like automotive, agriculture, and manufacturing for long-term growth and enhanced service.

Community Impact

• Invested in our communities: We distributed $18.3 million across our network and into communities where our railroaders call home. The investments included Safety First and Thriving Communities grants, as well as a range of purposeful sponsorships and memberships.

Sustainability  

• Launched industry first sustainability solutions: We introduced RailGreen, a first-of-its-kind solution enabling customers to reduce emissions from their freight rail shipments via verified certificates for supply chain emissions reduction.

• Led the way in corporate environmentalism: Norfolk Southern received numerous accolades for our sustainability programs and leaders, including:

• Josh Raglin, NS Chief Sustainability Officer, was named Sustainable Business Leader of the Year by Environmental Finance.

• Our living shoreline in Lamberts Point, Va., won Best Sustainability Program from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Citizens Awards.

• Built a cleaner, more reliable fleet: Our Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, Pa., completed our 1,000th DC-to-AC locomotive conversion. Each conversion extends a locomotive's life by at least 20 years and leads to lower costs and reduced emissions and greater reliability.

Enterprise

• Pursued best in class customer service: In 2025, we achieved a world-class response rate of 42% to our customer survey. The results show that we made meaningful investments in our customer relationships, service reliability, and proactive communication to boost customer value.

• Focused on labor relations: This year we built upon our strong relationships with labor partners to listen, learn, and find more ways to improve together.

• Cultivated a culture of safety: We accelerated our culture transformation anchored in the core value of safety, bringing together railroaders across crafts, roles, and responsibilities.

Customer Successes 

• Partnering for future growth: From the AI economy to renewable energy, NS is helping customers build critical power infrastructure, such as transformers, generators and wind farm components. By leveraging our rail network for efficient, reliable transport, NS ensures customers can scale quickly and sustainably for tomorrow’s needs.

• Supported Customer Goals: When SA Recycling sought to increase their daily carloads from 14 to 25 and eliminate mainline switching conflicts, we worked with them on a solution, ultimately connecting our Doraville Yard directly to their facility. The result is a smoother service and improved operational efficiency. 

• Expanded short line collaboration to improve network performance: We expanded our Short Line Performance Project from an initial pilot to all 260-plus short line connections across the Norfolk Southern network. The program improves interchange performance through shared data, daily visibility, and stronger two-way communication with short line partners.

• Leverage transloading service into increased volume: Our Great Lakes Reload facility in Chicago supports transloading operations that have driven a 62% increase in volume since we acquired the site in 2024. Located in a major logistics hub, the facility serves industries like steel, cement, lumber, and other bulk commodities. The operation includes a 386,000-square-foot climate-controlled warehouse, 13 overhead cranes, and 18 indoor rail spots to support efficient freight transfer and storage.

Innovation

• Turned trains into smart inspections: We’re using advanced sensors and lasers mounted underneath locomotives to measure critical aspects of track geometry in real-time. The Automated Track Geometry Measurement System (ATGMS) captures changes that could indicate potential defects without disrupting operations. By continuously collecting data, ATGMS helps our craft colleagues enhance safety and performance throughout the network.

• Became the first railroad to win a Fast Company Design Award: In being recognized by Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation by Design Awards, our DTI portals continue to show the impact on safety and sustainability. The portals spotlight how NS is applying AI and human expertise to make inspections smarter and operations safer.