Norfolk Southern issues ESG report, welcomes Piedmont service expansion

Norfolk Southern Railway yesterday released "Forging a Better Tomorrow," the Class I’s annual progress report on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

Spanning 2022 and early 2023, the report highlights the company’s long-term strategy to balance service, productivity and growth — and includes initiatives to enhance safety and ongoing efforts to help East Palestine, Ohio, recover from the Feb. 3 NS train derailment.

"We will continue to fulfill our promises to East Palestine and the surrounding areas," said President and CEO Alan Shaw in a press release. "We believe in doing what's right by our people, our customers and the communities we serve, which is why we will always strive to enhance our safety culture, invest in our people and build upon our long-standing sustainability initiatives."

For the period, NS reports:

• a 6% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions intensity, advancing the goal of a 42% reduction by 2034;
• an agreement with union leaders to pay sick-leave benefits to the craft workforce; and
• $3.7 billion in intermodal shipments; $2.5 billion in agriculture, forest and consumer products; and $1.7 billion in metals and construction merchandise.

Meanwhile, NS, Amtrak, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Railroad Co. this week “welcomed” the start of a fourth daily frequency of the Amtrak Piedmont service, according to a press release issued by NS.

Coupled with existing Carolinian service, the expanded Piedmont now offers riders five daily round trips between Charlotte and Raleigh, with intermediate stops serving seven cities in between. The launch marks the second such expansion of passenger service in the state in the past five years, railroad and state officials said.

The expansion results in 10 daily options for intercity travel across North Carolina and beyond via connections to other Amtrak services, they said.

Plans for the service expansion date to 2012, when the railroads and public partners reached agreement on the Piedmont Improvement Program (PIP), a nearly $500 million public-private partnership aimed at eliminating chokepoints, increasing speeds and improving other infrastructure that supports more efficient and coordinated operations across the state.

"The PIP exemplifies what can be achieved when communities, passenger-rail agencies and freight railroads come together to strategically expand service and improve operations — a model that has been duplicated in other states more recently across the NS system," the press release states.