Ancora Urges Norfolk Southern’s Board to Immediately Replace Current Leadership Following New Train Derailment in Pennsylvania

Ohio-based Ancora Holdings Group, LLC (collectively with its affiliates, “Ancora” or “we”), which owns a large equity stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) (“Norfolk Southern” or the “Company”), today issued the below statement regarding the Company’s latest derailment. As a reminder, we recently announced the nomination of eight highly qualified, independent candidates (the “Investor Slate”) for election to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. In addition, we announced a proposed management team that includes transportation network leader Jim Barber, Jr. as Chief Executive Officer and lifelong railroad operator and turnaround expert Jamie Boychuk as Chief Operating Officer. To learn more, visit www.MoveNSCForward.com.

“We hope the crew and everyone in Lower Saucon Township are unharmed by yet another derailment of a Norfolk Southern train. Although our fiduciary obligation is to pursue optimal returns for the pensions, family offices and other clients who entrust us with their capital, nothing takes precedence over the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Our proposed slate and management team are unanimous in their view that Norfolk Southern must become a safer and more reliable railroad before it can ever reach its full potential. Following this latest derailment, we call for the immediate termination of CEO Alan Shaw and stand ready to engage with the Company about an orderly reconstitution of the Board and a transition to capable management with a track record of actually delivering on safety commitments.

It is all too common for people to see in the news that a Norfolk Southern train is at the center of a derailment or tragedy.¹ It is only by the grace of God that preliminary reports indicate no fatalities are associated with this accident. Images of diesel-filled locomotives lying on their sides underscore the urgent need to replace the Company’s failed executive leadership and provide this railroad the fresh start it so desperately needs.

This latest incident, which follows other accidents and the tragic death of an engineer this year, has resulted in two locomotives tumbling down a riverbank just 50 miles outside of Philadelphia and 85 miles outside of New York City. A derailment of this nature could cause fuel to leak into the river and nearby soil, resulting in health risks for communities who drink from this water and inviting investigations from state and federal governments. American Rivers, a non-profit, states that the Lehigh River supports the drinking water supply of 15 million people.² A derailment like this could also hurt near-term service quality on an extremely busy line that connects major cities. This latest chapter in a series of accidents, which have been downplayed by Norfolk Southern, leads us to believe that it is only a matter of time before Mr. Shaw’s approach results in another wholesale disaster like the one in East Palestine, Ohio.