Norfolk Southern Expects Railroad To Reopen By End Of March

Norfolk Southern Railroad has announced the date that they expect to have the rail line from Asheville NC to Newport back open. Several sections of the railroad were washed away because of flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. Numerous bridges were also destroyed. On the east side of Newport, the railroad trestle across the Oigeon River collapsed due to the floodng damage. Norfolk Southern had originally propjected the run from Asheville to Newport to reopen in January. That has now been pushed back to an estimated opening date of March 31. The run from Newport to Morristown was reopened a couple weeks ago.

Norfolk Southern says the run from Old Fort, NC to Asheville is still under evaluation. Many sections of that track between Black Mountain and Asheville were totally destroyed by the raging waters caused by Hurricane Helene.