Day 6 - 8/28/05, Hurricane Katrina Stops Railroad Operations

Norfolk Southern

In preparation for Hurricane Katrina, Norfolk Southern has pulled rolling equipment on its lines near coastal areas and low lying areas in southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama inland to higher ground. Operations south of Meridian, Miss., to New Orleans, La., and South of Selma, Ala., to Mobile, Ala., were discontinued early Sunday afternoon. Operations south of Birmingham have been curtailed and will be discontinued later today. Traffic normally moving though these areas for interchange is generally being rerouted in cooperation with other carriers.

Norfolk Southern embargoed all shipments to New Orleans and Mobile.

This action was taken to avoid further complication of operations due to congestion in the area expected to be impacted by the Category 5 storm.

Customers with traffic to, from, or normally moving through the areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina should anticipate delays.

For questions on specific shipments, please contact our Customer Service Operations Center at (800) 635-5768.

For questions regarding potential impact on local service in this area, please contact our Central Yard Operations Center at (800) 898-4296.

CSX

Hurricane Katrina is now a Category 5 storm, and it continues to move WNW in the Gulf of Mexico. Predications are that the storm will make landfall near New Orleans, La., mid-day Monday, Aug. 29. Flood gates in New Orleans were closed at 6 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, and rail traffic in the area is suspended.

CSXT is monitoring the path of Hurricane Katrina and has activated its hurricane preparedness plan for the Gulf Coast. Some traffic scheduled for interchange with other railroads at New Orleans is being rerouted through different gateways. Weather conditions permitting, rail traffic will continue to run as usual today from Mobile east through the Florida Panhandle.

As a result of the initial impact of Katrina in south Florida on Friday, freight and passenger service on CSXT's network is being restored incrementally as subdivisions are inspected and deemed safe for operations. Tri-Rail service is scheduled to resume Monday, Aug. 29.

All precautions are being taken to ensure the safety of our employees, customers, and the public with minimum delay to shipments as we continue to monitor the progress of the storm.

For more information, customers can call their local CSX representatives or the CSX Customer Service Center at 1-877-SHIP CSX (1-877-744-7279).