Railroad News

The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has helped paved the way for Norfolk Southern Railway and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to collaborate on an operating agreement and finalize the improvements required to increase passenger-rail service between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, state and NS officials announced last week.

Passenger-rail funds included in the IIJA will enable improvements on the NS-owned rail corridor west of Harrisburg. The engineering and construction will stem from an NS operational feasibility study identifying the improvements required to eliminate eight chokepoints and to allow freight and passenger trains to operate without conflicting with each other.

Norfolk Southern Corp. yesterday announced it's offering starting bonuses of up to $5,000 for conductor trainees staffed in priority locations and $2,500 for those stationed in other locations.

Priority locations include Binghamton and Buffalo, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Manassas and Roanoke, Virginia; Harrisburg and Conway, Pennsylvania; Birmingham and Sheffield, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Linwood, North Carolina.