NS rescinds notice on PIH service cancellation

Norfolk Southern Corp. formally notified its customers late last week that it has revoked its decision to stop accepting poisonous-inhalation-hazard (PIH) commodities for transportation as of Dec. 1.

NS cancelled its decision now that Congress has extended the deadline for railroads to implement positive train control (PTC) technology to Dec. 31, 2018. The previous deadline was set for Dec. 31 of this year.

NS, like most major railroads, had indicated that despite best efforts, the earlier deadline was impossible to meet. If Congress hadn't changed the law, freight and passenger railroads said they would have needed to cease service on wide swaths of their networks to avoid federal fines.

In its letter, NS thanked its customers for weighing in with Congress in support of the extension.

"Norfolk Southern remains committed to installing a fully functional and interoperable PTC system on our rail network as quickly as reasonably and safely possible, and in compliance with the law," stated the letter, dated Oct. 30.