Norfolk Southern is working on more than 450 projects, representing $9 billion in investments, as part of the railroad’s role in industrial development, says Stefan Loeb, the railroad’s vice president of business development and first- and final-mile markets.Loeb was appearing on the FreightWaves podcast “Bring It Home,” which addresses American reindustrialization.
Norfolk Southern is working to enhance its rail infrastructure to support industrial clients and present rail as an environmentally friendly and efficient transportation option, Loeb said. He highlighted the railroad’s efforts in partnering with economic development agencies and clients to facilitate new developments connected to its network.
“When you look at the benefits and positives that rail brings to the overall supply chain and the economy in general, we can’t think of a better, more environmentally friendly, safer transportation mechanism than rail,” Loeb said. “… Providing the visibility on the inbound … is one thing that we’re doing through this program so that we minimize – and hopefully fully mitigate at some point – those loads getting lost to the alternative mode,” Loeb said.
He said reliable and consistent service across sectors is necessary, and that rail also needs to incorporate technological advancements to compete with the trucking industry’s ease of access through apps.
The podcast also discusses manufacturing investments by Honda, beverage company Diageo, and GE Vernova. It is available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
— A version of this article originally appeared at FreightWaves.com.
