Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern traces its history to 1827, when its earliest predecessor, the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, was chartered. On Christmas Day 1830 that company ran the country’s first regularly scheduled passenger train, and within three years its line had become the longest railway in the world.⁠[1][2]

The Norfolk and Western began in 1838 as an eight-mile single-track line between Petersburg and City Point (now Hopewell), VirginiaVirginiaVirginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state whose capital is Richmond. It entered the Union on June 25, 1788, as the 10th state, and had a population of 8,631,393 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry. In 1870 the City Point Rail Road and other lines were consolidated as the Atlantic, MississippiMississippiMississippi is a state of the United States on the Gulf of Mexico; Jackson is both its capital and its largest city. It was admitted to the Union on December 10, 1817, as the 20th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 2,961,279.Open the full entry and Ohio Railroad, which was reorganized in 1881 as the Norfolk and Western Railroad and incorporated in 1896 as the Norfolk and Western Railway Company. Its main traffic was the output of the West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a U.S. state formed from the western counties of Virginia during the Civil War; its capital and largest city is Charleston. It became the 35th state on June 20, 1863. Its population was 1,793,716 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry coalfields, along with grain, chemicals, and automobiles and automotive parts.⁠[3]

In 1894 the financier J. P. MorganJ. P. MorganJ. P. Morgan (John Pierpont Morgan, 1837–1913) was an American financier and art collector who headed the banking house J.P. Morgan & Co., organized the reorganization of major railroads and large industrial consolidations, and played a role in American fiscal and financial crises.Open the full entry organized the Southern Railway Company to take over several railroads, including the Richmond and Danville (formed in 1847) and the East TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state in the southeast-central United States, with its capital at Nashville. It was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796, as the 16th state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 6,910,840 residents.Open the full entry, Virginia, and Georgia (formed in 1887). Many of its predecessor lines had played a strategic role in the Civil War, several were destroyed by Northern troops, and its system grew out of the postwar reorganization.⁠[1]

The Norfolk and Western absorbed the Virginian Railroad in 1959 and converted from steam to diesel power in 1960, about a decade after other railroads; in 1964 it acquired three more lines, including the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company (the Nickel Plate).⁠[3]

In 1982 the Norfolk and Western Railway merged with the Southern Railway Company, and both became subsidiaries of the newly created holding company Norfolk Southern Corporation.⁠[3][1]

On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, OhioOhioOhio is a state in the Midwestern United States; its capital is Columbus. It joined the Union in 1803 as the 17th state, the first carved from the Northwest Territory, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 11,799,448.Open the full entry; 38 cars left the track, including 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials. Three DOT-111 tank cars were breached, releasing flammable and combustible liquids that ignited, and three days after the derailment the incident commander decided to vent and burn five tank cars carrying vinyl chloride. The National Transportation Safety Board states that there were no fatalities or injuries.⁠[4]

On June 25, 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board announced its findings: the derailment occurred when a bearing on a hopper car failed and overheated. The board found the vent and burn unnecessary, as it was not needed to prevent a tank car failure, and found that the decision had been based on “incomplete and misleading information” from Norfolk Southern officials and contractors. It issued recommendations to 13 recipients, including the Secretary of Transportation, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the state of Ohio and Norfolk Southern Railway, addressing five topics including wayside detector failures and the continued use of DOT-111 tank cars in hazardous materials service.⁠[4]

On September 11, 2024, the Norfolk Southern board, by unanimous vote of its independent directors, appointed Mark R. George, executive vice president and chief financial officer since 2019, as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately, and he joined the board. The board terminated Alan H. Shaw for cause the same day for violating company policies, stating that his departure was unrelated to the company’s performance, financial reporting or results of operations. Claude Mongeau was chairman of the board.⁠[2]

On July 29, 2025, Union PacificUnion PacificUnion Pacific Corporation is an Omaha-based U.S. railroad holding company whose Union Pacific Railroad runs freight trains in 23 western states. In 2025 it agreed to merge with Norfolk Southern.Open the full entry and Norfolk Southern announced that they would combine, describing the result as America’s first transcontinental railroad; the transaction was approved unanimously by both boards. The combined network would connect more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states and about 100 ports. The deal requires review and approval by the Surface Transportation Board, shareholder approval and customary closing conditions, and the two companies remain separate until it closes. BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopedia first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768; the name also refers to its publisher, Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (which presents itself as The Britannica Group). The print edition ended in 2012, and the company’s main businesses since then have been the online encyclopedia Britannica.com, digital education products for schools and libraries, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries.Open the full entry records that Union Pacific agreed to acquire Norfolk Southern for $85 billion, pending regulatory approval.⁠[5][3]

As of November 2026, Norfolk Southern’s website lists Mark R. George as President and CEO, Jason Zampi as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Brian Barr as Chief Operating Officer and Claude E. Elkins as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. The company is headquartered at 650 W. Peachtree Street NW in Atlanta; its website says it connects with more than 54 inland, lake, river and sea ports, delivers more than 7 million carloads a year and operates the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern United States.⁠[6]

Norfolk Southern: Official website: https://www.norfolksouthern.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

Union Pacific: Official website: https://www.up.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

X: Public account: https://x.com/nscorp (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/norfolk-southern (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/norfolksoutherncorp (opens in a new window).⁠[6]