Norfolk Southern customers advanced more than 60 industrial development projects in 2025, representing $7.7 billion in investments for new or expanded rail-served facilities along Norfolk Southern and short line partner routes.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) customers advanced over 60 industrial development projects in 2025, representing $7.7 billion in industry investment for new or expanded rail-served facilities along Norfolk Southern and short line partner routes. This economic activity across states and industries was made possible by the reach of Norfolk Southern's strategic network footprint.

Industrial signals in 2025 were two speed: The U.S. Manufacturing PMI contracted through much of the year, reflecting softer new orders and manufacturing employment, yet factory output and industrial production showed late-year stabilization – and pockets of strength in durable goods – as capacity utilization improved from prior months.

Even as U.S. manufacturing indicators showed mixed momentum in 2025, Norfolk Southern's pipeline continues to attract long-term private investment aligned to growth corridors and port gateways across the Southeast and Midwest. Norfolk Southern currently has over 500 U.S. manufacturing projects in the site selection phase, representing additional opportunities for growth supported by rail.

"Our customers' $7.7 billion pipeline underscores rail's foundational – and increasingly strategic – role in U.S. supply chains," said Ed Elkins, Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "In 2026, we're focusing on creating turnkey sites and achieving ever-higher service standard so that customers benefit from a range of advantages that come with choosing a Norfolk Southern-served property."

A Range of Industries Benefit from Rail Access

Norfolk Southern 2025 industrial development activity was strong across many sectors, including: metals, paper, aggregates, and automotive-related projects. Leading projects that achieved significant outcomes – for Norfolk Southern, our customers, and the respective communities – include support for Alabama's emerging biotech sector and a new automotive manufacturing facility in South Carolina.

Over the last year, Norfolk Southern sharpened its portfolio of rail-served industrial sites. 15 of Norfolk Southern's sites received the independent Readiness Evaluation for Development and Investment (REDI Sites) designation, reflecting rigorous assessments by members of 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 GVP 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 can search NSites, Norfolk Southern's optimized platform featuring more than 800 rail served properties and 340 transload facilities. This year, Norfolk Southern will be adding even more sites on behalf of its more than 270 short line partners.

Norfolk Southern also advanced a disciplined real estate strategy in 2025 to unlock rail-backed customer growth across the network. Several of the company's land sales were directly tied to integrated freight opportunities — including intermodal expansion, port connectivity, and transload development — while other sales enabled reinvestment into higher-value sites at the heart of emerging industrial clusters.

"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," said Cliff Garner, Norfolk Southern AVP Real Estate and Facility Services.

 

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