NS customers invested $3.1B along rail network in '23

Norfolk Southern Corp. partnered with 62 customers to complete strategic industrial development projects in 2023, the Class I announced today.

The projects expanded operations or created new facilities along NS’s rail network. Collectively, the projects represent $3.1 billion in investments and the creation of more than 4,150 new jobs, company officials said in a press release.

NS worked both with customers and economic development partners to facilitate broad-based industrial development projects this year, said Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins.

"Our 2023 project list, and 2024 pipeline, reflect our ability to serve a diverse customer portfolio with our expanding supply chain offerings," Elkins said. "We're making further productivity enhancements — demonstrating to our existing and prospective customers that Norfolk Southern is a safe, reliable and efficient railroad, and a partner for growth."

Among the projects pursued or announced last year was one with Scout Motors, which tapped NS’s industrial development and automotive logistics expertise in 2023, as the company announced it would invest $2 billion in Richland County, South Carolina, for a new electric vehicle automotive manufacturing facility.

Other electric vehicle activity located along NS lines, or with a short-line partner, in 2023 included:
• General Motors and Samsung SDI, as the companies invest more than $3 billion in New Carlisle, Indiana, to build an EV battery-cell plant;
• Albemarle, as it invests $1.3 billion in Chester County, South Carolina, for a lithium hydroxide Mega-Flex facility; and
• Ford, as the company makes a significant investment in Marshall, Michigan, using knowledge and services from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), to build lithium iron-phosphate batteries.

NS is experiencing growth in several markets, including metals and construction, and agriculture. For example, Anchor Ingredients announced the company would invest $40 million in Richmond, Indiana, for a new pet-food ingredient facility in 2023.

Also last year, NS provided industrial development support to the following companies that began or increased their rail service in 2023: Purse Cycle in Lawrence County, Ohio; Idaho Forest Group LLC, in Lamar County, Mississippi; International Paper in Chester County, Pennsylvania; Church & Dwight in Seneca County, Ohio; Jasper Forest Products in Walker County, Alabama; Hollingshead Cement in Delaware County, Indiana; and Home Depot in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

In addition, NS furthered other strategic real estate investments and public-private partnerships in 202. in June 2023, the company sold 16.7 acres to Colonial Terminals for the development of breakbulk infrastructure along the Savannah River in Georgia; and added 41 new rail-served industrial development sites that are now featured on its customizable search database, NSites.

For more specifics about NS's development-related activities with customers last year, click here.