Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) is a leading transportation provider in the United States, operating one of the nation’s premier freight rail networks. The company’s core business centers on the rail shipment of raw materials, intermediate products and finished goods, with a network that spans approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 eastern states and the District of Columbia. Serving key industrial and agricultural regions, Norfolk Southern connects customers to major ports on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, facilitating domestic and international trade through intermodal terminals and cross‐border rail corridors into Canada.
The company’s service offerings include merchandise and intermodal transportation, as well as coal haulage for power producers and steel manufacturers. Merchandise traffic encompasses automotive parts and finished vehicles, chemicals, metals, forest products and agricultural goods, while intermodal operations integrate rail, truck and ocean shipping to optimize supply‐chain efficiency. Norfolk Southern also provides specialized logistics solutions, including unit train service, transloading facilities and time-definite offerings designed to meet the precise scheduling needs of customers across diverse industries.
Tracing its heritage to the 19th-century railroads of the Norfolk & Western and the Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Corporation was formed in 1982 through the merger of those two lines. Over the decades, the company has invested in infrastructure enhancements, advanced signaling and digital railcar tracking to improve safety, reliability and operational performance. Strategic capital projects include terminal expansions, intermodal facility upgrades and bridge renewals, all aimed at supporting growing freight volumes and evolving customer requirements.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Norfolk Southern is led by CEO Alan H. Shaw, who assumed the role in mid-2021 after serving as chief financial officer. The company’s leadership team and board of directors emphasize safety, environmental stewardship and community engagement, guided by a corporate responsibility framework that addresses sustainability, workforce development and stakeholder collaboration. With a workforce of more than 20,000 employees, Norfolk Southern continues to focus on innovation, network fluidity and customer service excellence in North America’s freight rail sector.
