NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC)

Norfolk Southern Corporation is an Atlanta, Georgia-based holding company that owns a major freight railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway Company. Incorporated in Virginia in 1980, it is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "NSC." The company is primarily engaged in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products and finished goods, mainly in the Southeast, East and Midwest, and via interchange with other rail carriers to and from the rest of the United States. It also moves overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports and describes its intermodal network as the most extensive in the eastern half of the U.S. On July 28, 2025, it agreed to be acquired by Union Pacific in a stock-and-cash merger, subject to conditions including U.S. Surface Transportation Board approval, with each NS share to be converted into one Union Pacific share plus $88.82 in cash.

Railway operating revenues were $12.2 billion in 2025 across three commodity groups. Merchandise (63% of revenues, 2.3 million carloads) covers agriculture, forest and consumer products; chemicals; metals and construction; and automotive. Intermodal (25% of revenues, 4.1 million units) consists of domestic and international containers and trailers. Coal (12% of revenues, 78.0 million tons) serves electric generation, export, domestic metallurgical and industrial markets, including 18 directly served coal-fired power plants and terminals such as Lamberts Point, Baltimore, Mobile and the Ohio River and Lake Erie facilities.

Customers include manufacturing plants, electric generating facilities, mines, distribution centers and transload facilities in its service area. Intermodal shipments are handled for intermodal marketing companies, international steamship lines, premium customers and asset-owning companies. Pricing is mainly through private contracts and exempt price quotes, and about 90% of revenues come from exempt or contract shipments. The railroad is regulated by the STB, as well as the DOT (including the FRA) and DHS (including the TSA).

At December 31, 2025, NS operated approximately 19,100 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia. It is capital intensive, with net properties of about $36 billion, and owns 3,258 locomotives, 31,128 freight cars and 56,391 intermodal chassis and containers, plus leased freight cars. It maintains about 28,200 of the 35,000 track miles it operates, and shares some lines with Amtrak and commuter operations. It averaged 19,400 employees in 2025, about 80% of its railroad employees being covered by collective bargaining agreements. Its primary rail competitor is CSX, and it also competes with motor carriers, water carriers and private carriage.