EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Norfolk Southern on Thursday donated its station in East Palestine to the city, following up on a pledge made last year in the wake of the February derailment and chemical release in the community.
The Times Leader newspaper reports that NS CEO Alan Shaw turned over the keys to the building to East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway. NS had announced plans to donate the building last March, but said first it would restore the structure’s exterior and turn the interior into “a blank space” for the community to develop as it chose [see “Norfolk Southern opens new assistance center, donates station …,” Trains News Wire, May 30, 2023]. That work is now complete; NS Director of Corporate Giving Kirstin Wong said renovations cost about $1 million; the railroad is also providing a $100,000 grant for the city to finish the interior. The city has yet to determine how it will use the structure.
“There are a lot of people here today that have spent the last 15 months focused on helping East Palestine recover and helping East Palestine thrive over the long term,” Shaw said, according to the newspaper. “Just like Norfolk Southern, this facility has been a part of this community for years and, with the improvements we’ve made to it and turning it over to the community, we are going to make sure this train depot will be part of the community for decades moving forward.”
The structure dates to 1905, when it was built by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Ownership eventually passed to Penn Central and Conrail before coming to Norfolk Southern in the division of Conrail in 1998
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