Indications of Norfolk Southern offices moving?

[NS Newsfeed]

BLUEFIELD — Signs of a possible move that would shift Norfolk Southern offices from the city of Bluefield to Roanoke, Va. appeared Thursday when word spread of furniture being moved in the railroad's local office building.



A reduction of coal rail traffic going through Bluefield's rail yard has fueled word of a possible division realignment and staff reductions in the Pocahontas Division. One railroad employee outside the Bluefield building said the division's offices would be moved to Roanoke, Va.



Local business leaders and officials who spoke Thursday to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph had not heard of any plans to move Norfolk Southern's division offices from Bluefield.



"No, we haven't heard anything about it," Marc Meachum, president of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, stated.



Jim Spencer, community and economic development director for the city of Bluefield, said he had not been in contact with Norfolk Southern.



"I have had no communications with those folks and have not heard anything," Spencer said. "In our economy as it is, any job loss is important."



When contacted Thursday by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Norfolk Southern spokesman David G. Pidgeon said, "All I can say now is what we have told the paper previously."



In that previous statement, Pidgeon said: "Norfolk Southern is evaluating options to reduce costs and streamline operations across its rail network to adjust to changes in its business mix and the expectation of continued challenges to the energy sector and other commodities."



On Dec. 14, 2015, Norfolk Southern rejected a revised and reduced proposal from Canadian Pacific Railway to purchase the company.