NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern Corp. participated in the location of 67 new industries and the expansion of 28 existing industries along its rail lines in 2010, the railroad said.
New plants and expansions represented an investment of $2.5 billion by Norfolk Southern customers and are expected to create 2,000 jobs in the railroad’s territory, eventually generating more than 132,000 carloads of new rail traffic annually.
Norfolk Southern assisted state and local government and economic development officials throughout 16 states in helping customers identify ideal locations for new and expanded facilities.
“The energy sector again anchored our results during 2010,” said Newell Baker, assistant vice president industrial development. “Norfolk Southern assisted in the location or expansion of 32 energy-related facilities in 12 states across our service area. Biofuels production and distribution accounted for the lion’s share of energy projects, with nine new and expanded facilities that began to receive NS rail service in 2010. In addition, we are seeing the first fruits of traffic from Marcellus Shale gas exploration projects, and we expect this to be a strong subsector for us in the coming years.”
The balance of other projects secured during 2010 was distributed among several of the broad product areas Norfolk Southern serves.
