Norfolk Southern aims to make rail transport greener

Vintage photos of freight trains often feature billowing plumes of smoke generated by coal-burning steam engines. But rail operator Norfolk Southern Corp. says those plumes are a thing of the past, noting that today, rail is far and away the most fuel-efficient—and low-carbon—way to move freight.

Now, the Atlanta-based company is looking to go even greener. In May 2021, it issued nearly $500 million in “green bonds” to raise funds for further emissions-reduction initiatives, a move it described as the first such offering by a Class I railroad in North America.

Last month, the railroad issued a report on the projects funded by that cash and their expected environmental and social benefits. According to the report, the company has already allocated $496 million of the green bonds’ proceeds to various eco-initiatives. The allocations included:

• $275.6 million to convert locomotives from DC to AC power, improving their fuel efficiency by up to 25%,
• $99.5 million in improvements to intermodal facilities, which help shift millions of tons of freight onto the rails to decongest the nation’s highways and cut truck emissions,
• $10.9 million to advance locomotive fuel management initiatives, in support of its target to reduce carbon emissions intensity 42% by 2034, and
• $3.4 million to restore and protect vital stream and wetland ecosystems.