(Norfolk Southern issued the following on September 8.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern continues to make rapid progress toward restoration of service into the New Orleans area with most of our effort currently focused on repair to the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge and our lines south of the bridge into New Orleans. Several areas of track south of Lake Pontchartrain still remain under water.
An embargo of traffic to and from points south of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, remains in effect. Depending on progress in removal of flood water in the area, we anticipate having restoration of some interchange traffic to connecting carriers through New Orleans in a few days.
In the meantime, we continue the cooperative effort with other carriers to re-route traffic normally handled over New Orleans to points west via alternate gateways. Customers seeking information on active shipments should contact the Customers Service Operations Center at (800) 635-5768.
For questions regarding local service in the affected area, please contact our Central Yard Operations Center at (800) 898-4296.