Justice Department sues Norfolk Southern over Amtrak delays

By David Lassen | July 30, 2024



Amtrak’s northbound Crescent is 50 minutes late passing Norfolk Southern’s Frenchman Street interlocking on the railroad’s New Orleans “Back Belt” on Dec. 12, 2021. The train left the station on time but was delayed by freight trains on both tracks. The Justice Department is suing NS over delays to the Crescent, saying it fails to observe the passenger train’s statutory right of preference. Bob Johnston
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department is taking Norfolk Southern to court, alleging the railroad’s delays of Amtrak’s Crescent violate federal law.

The civil complaint, filed today (July 30) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges NS regularly fails to give the Crescent preference over freight trains as required by statute, leading to delays that harm and inconvenience passengers, impede passenger rail transportation, and negatively affect Amtrak’s financial performance. The New York-New Orleans Crescent operates on NS-owned or managed track between Alexandria, Va., and New Orleans, including the state-owned North Carolina Railroad segment between Danville and Greensboro, N.C. In all, NS controls 1,140 of the Crescent’s 1,377 route-miles.

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