Norfolk Southern Corp. announced that its customers advanced over 60 industrial development projects in 2025, representing a significant $7.7 billion in industry investment for new or expanded rail-served facilities along the railroad and its short line partner routes.
The company (NSE: NSC) in a release characterized the industrial environment in 2025 as “two speed,” with the U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index contracting for much of the year, which reflected softer new orders and a decrease in manufacturing employment; however, factory output and industrial production demonstrated stabilization late in the year, showing “pockets of strength in durable goods” as capacity utilization improved from previous months.
The carrier in 2024 saw 149 industrial development projects representing a total investment of $4.3 billion, with 65 reaching completion for a total $1.2 billion investment that created 1,700 jobs.
Despite the mixed momentum, which saw freight volumes slip 4% in 2025, Norfolk Southern’s pipeline continues to attract long-term private investment, specifically aligned with growth corridors and port gateways throughout the southeast and midwest, and the corporation currently has over 500 U.S. manufacturing projects in the site selection phase, representing additional opportunities for rail-supported growth.
Ed Elkins, Norfolk Southern executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said, “Our customers’ $7.7 billion pipeline underscores rail’s foundational – and increasingly strategic – role in U.S. supply chains. In 2026, we’re focusing on creating turnkey sites and achieving ever-higher service standards so that customers benefit from a range of advantages that come with choosing a Norfolk Southern-served property.”
The Atlanta-based railroad, which is in the process of being acquired by Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), said industrial development activity in 2025 was robust across numerous sectors including metals, paper, aggregates, and automotive-related projects. Leading projects were achieving significant outcomes for the company, its customers, and respective communities, which included support for Alabama’s emerging biotech sector and a new automotive manufacturing facility for Scout Motors’ electric vehicles in South Carolina.
Norfolk Southern, which operates 28,400 miles of track in 22 states, improved its portfolio of rail-served industrial sites, with 15 of its sites receiving the independent “Readiness Evaluation for Development and Investment (REDI Sites)” designation, which it said reflects rigorous assessments conducted by the Site Selectors Guild.
“These REDI designations make site selection faster and more predictable for companies that rely on rail,” said Craig Hudson, Norfolk Southern group vice president of Industrial Development. “Our development-ready sites are engineered for rail connectivity and logistical efficiency, which helps customers compress timelines and communities capture high-quality jobs and investment.”
Site selectors are able to search NSites, Norfolk Southern’s optimized platform that currently features more than 800 rail-served properties and 340 transload facilities, and the company plans to add even more sites this year on behalf of its more than 270 short line partners.
The company said it also implemented a disciplined real estate strategy in 2025 to unlock rail-backed customer growth across its network, with several of the company’s land sales being directly linked to integrated freight opportunities, such as intermodal expansion, port connectivity, and transload development, while other sales facilitated reinvestment into higher-value sites located at the heart of emerging industrial clusters.
According to Cliff Garner, Norfolk Southern assistant vice president,Real Estate and Facility Services, “These strategic sales, paired with targeted land acquisitions, reflect a deliberate ‘trade‑up’ approach: leveraging non‑core assets to secure opportunities that strengthen network capacity, attract rail‑served industries, and position Norfolk Southern for sustained economic and industrial development.”
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