when officials decided to blow open several tank cars filled with vinyl chloride because they believed they might explode. The resulting fire sent a towering plume of black smoke over the town three days after the derailment that spilled several other hazardous chemicals when the tank cars carrying them ruptured.
The additional charges related to the derailment, combined with a 6% drop in the number of shipments the railroad delivered, more than halved the Atlanta-based company’s profit to $356 million, or $1.56 per share. That’s down from $819 million, or $3.45 per share, a year ago. Norfolk Southern’s revenue declined to $2.98 billion in the quarter, which also disappointed. Analysts were expecting $3.08 billion revenue.
CEO Alan Shaw said Norfolk Southern’s service has improved to levels rivaling its 2019 performance before the deep cuts it made during the pandemic once it reopened both rail lines through East Palestine. The railroad has also been hiring aggressively over the past year to give it enough crews and other workers to handle all the freight.