Railroads today are incredibly rich compared with the 1970s. Back then, everyone believed railroads had no future. What a wrong predication.

NS profit in one quarter: nearly half a billion dollars. So, a $1 Billion derailment is affordable, and CEOs can still get a performance bonus.

QUOTE:

The costs related to the East Palestine derailment continue to grow to reach nearly $1 billion for Norfolk Southern, but the railroad's service is improving and its insurance companies have started to pay their share of the cost of the crash in eastern Ohio early this year.

The Atlanta based railroad said this year's third-quarter profit of $478 million, or $2.10 per share, was half of last year's $958 million, or $4.10 per share. The results were hurt by the derailment costs, a drop in its fuel surcharge revenue and flat volume.

Without the derailment costs, the railroad would have made $601 million, or $2.65 per share.