(Norfolk Southern issued the following news release on January 17.)
NORFOLK, Va. — David R. Goode, chairman and chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC – News), has been named 2005 Railroader of the Year by railroad industry trade journal Railway Age.
“In 2004, a year characterized by record traffic and revenues — but spotty performance by railroads coping with the difficulties and expenses of handling such enormous volume — Norfolk Southern was the best-performing of the U.S. Class I’s,” said Railway Age Editor William C. Vantuono. “Norfolk Southern stock over the past year handily beat both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Dow Jones U.S. Railroad Average. The railroad’s operating ratio dropped by nearly six percentage points to 74.7 in third-quarter 2004, compared to the prior-year period. Add to that an unprecedented 15 Harriman Gold safety awards in a row. All this is the result of sound management and a disciplined approach to operations, combined with solid forecasting and planning. Norfolk Southern saw the business boom coming and prepared for it with a carefully thought-out program of select capital investments, hiring and training, and operations planning.”
David Goode is the 42nd recipient of Railway Age’s Railroader of the Year Award, which was started by Modern Railroads magazine in 1964 as the “Man of the Year” award. Railway Age acquired Modern Railroads in 1992 and has presented the award annually since then. Goode will receive the award, one of the most prestigious in the railroad industry, on March 15, 2005, at Chicago’s Union League Club.
Norfolk Southern Corporation (http://www.nscorp.com) is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates 21,500 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada, serving every major container port in the eastern United States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers. NS operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is North America’s largest rail carrier of automotive parts and finished vehicles.
Railway Age (http://www.railwayage.com) is a monthly magazine circulated at the management levels of North American freight and passenger railroads. Founded in Chicago, Ill., in 1876, it is the transportation industry’s oldest trade magazine. Railway Age is published by the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., New York.