(Norfolk Southern issued the following news release on January 6.)
MEMPHIS, Tenn., and CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The number of trains on Norfolk Southern Railway’s Memphis to Chattanooga rail line is increasing.
Thirteen to 17 trains a day had been using this route, which includes portions of southern Tennessee and northern Mississippi and Alabama. That number is increasing to 16-20 trains per day as the result of additional coal traffic moving from the western United States across the tri-state area to a power plant in Georgia. Trains traveling over this route average speeds of 35-60 mph. The 307-mile rail line includes the cities of Memphis, Germantown and Chattanooga, Tenn.; Corinth, Miss.; and Muscle Shoals, Decatur, and Huntsville, Ala.
Operation Lifesaver, www.oli.org , a nationwide public education program to promote public awareness of the highway-rail crossing environment and to encourage compliance with the traffic laws relating to crossing signs and signals and trespassing, reminds motorists to obey railroad crossing signals and warnings and to use caution when approaching all highway-rail grade crossings. Operation Lifesaver state coordinators are available to make presentations to community groups, school children, bus and truck drivers and others who live or travel near train tracks to offer safety tips. To schedule a presentation, contact Operation Lifesaver.
Norfolk Southern Corporation 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, 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 the nation’s largest rail carrier of automotive parts and finished vehicles.