Comprehensive investments in our infrastructure ensure a safe, reliable, and resilient railroad

^{The Norfolk Southern Engineering Department strategically replaced 475 panel turnouts in 2022 across our network. Pictured above is replacement work in Bethlehem, PA.}

Norfolk Southern’s Engineering team’s mission is to provide a safe, fast, and reliable infrastructure network at the lowest possible cost. Last year, Engineering completed a wide range of improvement projects that will help us to lead in service reliability, productivity, and volume growth while connecting our customers to the U.S. and global economy.

“Investing in our infrastructure ensures that we have a consistent and reliable service that our customers can count on,” said Ed Boyle, Vice President Engineering. “Over the past year, our teams in Maintenance of Way & Structures, Program Maintenance, Design and Construction, and Bridges and Structures have completed an aggressive schedule of projects that will strengthen our foundation and drive our success well into the future.”

Record infrastructure improvements in 2022

The Maintenance of Way & Structures (MW&S) and Program Maintenance Teams are unified and focused on the inspection, maintenance, and replacement of the infrastructure our trains operate on, including rail, ties, ballast, turnouts, and diamonds. These teams maintain and replace Norfolk Southern’s track infrastructure by laying rail, installing ties, surfacing track, and welding rails. This work extends the life of this critical infrastructure and enables a high velocity network to keep our trains moving.

2022 was a historic year for the team. They laid 520.8 miles of program rail, the highest amount replaced at Norfolk Southern since 1992. In addition, the team installed 2.16 million crossties, surfaced 1,560 miles of track, made 33,976 welds, installed 518 total turnouts, and 20 at-grade crossing diamonds.

“We leverage technology to determine our top needs and ensure that we install the right assets, in the right place, at the right time,” said Dwayne Gibson, AVP Maintenance of Way & Structures. “The magnitude of this team effort is a true Operations feat that’s designed to provide a safe infrastructure for our trains to operate.”

Expanded capacity through sidings and terminals

The Design and Construction (D&C) team is charged with the construction and maintenance of our large intermodal, auto, bulk terminals and the modification and expansion of our yard and rail network. The team has focused on designing and constructing additional long passing sidings on key routes and undertaking work at the intermodal facilities for greater capacity and throughput.

As part of this work, they also extended 5 existing shorter sidings from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, including a key network location between Chicago and Cincinnati at Sidney, Indiana.

“Working closely with Strategic Planning, we evaluated multiple locations to determine where longer sidings would be most effective and most efficiently added,” said David Becker, Chief Engineer, Design and Construction. “These projects allow the operation of maximum length trains which help expand corridor capacity and bring real value to our operations.”

D&C also rehabilitated and expanded several of our intermodal terminals this year providing additional grounding capacity and more efficient container stacking to support the needs of our customers. As part of these efforts, extensive repaving was completed at our Chicago facilities, including the 47th Street, Landers, and Calumet intermodal facilities (IMF). The Charlotte IMF also added an additional 4,000-foot loading pad track and expanded parking this year.

Building bridges to strengthen our infrastructure

Our Bridges and Structures team is responsible for the maintenance, design, and repair of 9,545 bridges and over 50,000 culverts, along with maintaining retaining walls, slide fences and the structural components of our dock facilities.

"Our bridge structures are designed to last 100 years or more," said Ruth Brown, Chief Engineer, Bridges and Structures. "The planning and financial investment in these projects is significant."

In 2022, the Bridges and Structures team completed 37 bridge replacements, 92 bridge rehabilitations, and 3 movable bridge mechanical component replacements. Structural projects completed included 124 culvert replacements, 2 pile encasement projects, 3 retaining wall replacements, 4 slide fence replacements, and a shiploader hinge pin and dumper gear rack replacements at the Lamberts Point Coal Terminal.

“What we do is essential to the Norfolk Southern’s strategy of providing reliable and resilient service, driving continuous productivity improvements, and achieving smart and sustainable growth,” said Boyle. “I am very proud of what our Engineering Team accomplished in 2022 and even more proud of how we have come together to succeed as ONE TEAM.”