Norfolk Southern continues service restoration efforts in flooded areas

Norfolk Southern Railway is making progress in restoring normal service across the Heartland Corridor after service outages occurred following severe flooding in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia and eastern Ohio, the Class I announced yesterday.

Train service between Portsmouth, Ohio, and Bluefield, West Virginia, has been restored. The route previously returned to service on Feb. 18, but was later closed due to residual washouts near Williamson, West Virginia. Both mainlines were operational as of yesterday, NS officials said in an update to customers.

NS said the impact on customers in recent days has entailed the following:

• An embargo was issued Feb. 16 on new shipments and remains in effect. The embargo does not impact shipments moving in intermodal, coal/coke, or automotive service;

• Customers should expect residual transit delays over the next 72 to 96 hours due to the volume of backlogged traffic awaiting movement; and

• NS will work with impacted customers to manage contractual obligations regarding shipments on a case-by-case basis.