Atkins Nuclear Secured (ANS) Chairman Elmer Naples joined Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw at the railroad’s Atlanta headquarters this week to meet with the company’s top leaders and officially kick off his firm’s multi-year engagement as an independent safety consultant.  

Teams from ANS have been on the ground at Norfolk Southern since June 5.  

“I want to reinforce throughout the 20,000 people who work at Norfolk Southern that the ANS team has our full support and our total commitment,” President and CEO Alan Shaw told a room full of the company’s senior leaders.“We’re going to give them whatever resources they need to help us succeed and enhance safety.”

“The members of the Atkins Nuclear Secured team all have nuclear propulsion DNA,” said Chairman Elmer Naples. “Alan set this up from the beginning as a collaborative effort – the nuclear standard brought to the railroad industry. The commitment from leadership is better than I’ve seen anywhere.”

Naples toured Norfolk Southern’s Network Operations Center. There, he met train dispatchers and saw first-hand the company’s wayside detector desk. Earlier this year, Norfolk Southern announced a six-point safety plan that includes enhancements now underway to the company’s wayside detector network. Naples received an update on that work from EVP & Chief Operating Officer Paul Duncan and Vice President Safety John Fleps. 

Naples also toured Inman Yard. Last year, Norfolk Southern railroaders safely performed over 770,000 intermodal lifts in the Atlanta market, which includes yards at Inman and Austell. Naples received an overview of the facility and spent time interacting with Norfolk Southern operations professionals.

“We're seeing some great strengths at Norfolk Southern,” Naples added. “The people are the main thing – the level of commitment, alignment, and depth of talent here. We recognize that Norfolk Southern is focused on improving engagement with craft railroaders and establishing trust. As we conduct our independent review, one of the biggest positive learnings for ANS has been Norfolk Southern's commitment to field engagement.”