EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Norfolk Southern will open a permanent field office in East Palestine and has purchased property for that facility, the company announced on Tuesday.
The building at 248 North Market Street will include community engagement and operational functions. It will eventually include the Family Assistance Center, currently in space leased from Centenary United Methodist Church, although for the short term, that facility will remain in its current location at Rebecca Place.
“We’ve pledged our long-term commitment to East Palestine and this permanent field office is a physical symbol of that pledge,” NS CEO Alan Shaw said in a press release. The company said building will receive a brick façade to better match the aesthetic of East Palestine’s downtown district.
The new office is just across the street from East Palestine’s train station, which the railroad is donating to the community following the completion of exterior renovations [see “Norfolk Southern opens new assistance center, donates station …,” Trains News Wire, May 30, 2023].
Sounds like NS will be testing a new application for Artificial Intelligence in East Palestine. Anything to maintain an ROI on this whole matter.
East Palestine, Ohio is putting NS on so many guilt trips that they should be earning frequent flier miles.
The related building renovations will begin this fall.
So far, Norfolk Southern has committed nearly $70 million to East Palestine as well as the surrounding cities.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Despite how people of this town may act when there’s cameras pointed at them, no one wants this. Since you clearly aren’t interested in taking accountability for how your business is run, since you still want to push forward with these stupid and dangerous mega-trains despite very lax safety measures and training, they want you to recede back to within your right-of-way and hopefully not bother them ever again.
HMMMM. maybe I will rethink and like the stupid computer comments better than this….