Norfolk Southern Corp. has appointed Brian Barr as chief operating officer.
Barr has been with Norfolk Southern for two years, leading the Mechanical department. As COO, he will leverage more than 28 years of experience, including more than a decade leading transportation teams in the east, to oversee Norfolk Southern’s railway operations, including safety, transportation, network planning and operations, engineering and equipment maintenance.
Brian assumes the role effective June 1, 2026, following John Orr’s decision to step down from the executive vice president and chief operating officer role. Orr will remain employed as a special advisor to the chair of the board through June 30, at which time his employment will terminate, and he will retire from the Company effective July 1.
To support continuity and the successful closing of the Union Pacific merger, and following his retirement, Orr will continue as a special advisor to the Chair of the Board through the earlier of the merger closing or June 1, 2027.
Barr began his career in 1998 as a craft dispatcher at Conrail.
During his career, Barr has held leadership roles of increasing responsibility, including terminal superintendent, Senior Vice President Network Planning & Services, Senior Vice President Operations, Chief Mechanical Officer and Senior Vice President Engineering and Mechanical, while at CSX. At Union Pacific, he was senior vice president of transportation and had also held the position of general manager of Great Lakes Services.
Since joining Norfolk Southern in September 2024, Barr has led meaningful, measurable progress for the Mechanical team, delivering significant improvements in safety performance and reducing FRA-reportable injuries and mechanically caused derailments. This has strengthened the reliability of the assets that power the Norfolk Southern network.
Barr holds a degree in business administration from Bellevue University and has completed the Executive Leadership Forum through Harvard Executive Education.