Norfolk Southern Corporation is consolidating its Virginia and Pocahontas divisions to form the new Pocahontas Division, with headquarters in Roanoke, Va., effective Feb. 1, 2016. The consolidation is part of the company's ongoing drive to enhance operating efficiencies and support long-term growth. This announcement follows other recent strategic initiatives, including the reduction from three corporate office locations to two, restructuring of the Triple Crown Services subsidiary, and integration of the D&H South Line to increase options for shippers. Combining the divisions will improve service by placing most of the company's coal routes under the operating authority of a single division. Additionally, the move further consolidates operational control over the company's Heartland Corridor, a double-stack intermodal route through Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. Roanoke, which will serve as headquarters of the new Pocahontas Division, currently is headquarters of the Virginia Division. The consolidation will affect management and office staff positions now based in Bluefield, W.Va., currently the Pocahontas Division headquarters. Those employees will have an opportunity to relocate to Roanoke or apply for other positions at the company. With the consolidation, Norfolk Southern will operate 10 divisions across its network. The company will continue to operate its rail yard in Bluefield. Trains moving Appalachian coal comprise most of the business handled there, and yard traffic has declined as coal volumes moved by the railroad have dropped over the past five years. Currently, about 130 people work in operations departments at the yard, including in transportation, engineering, and mechanical.

The new division, Pocahontas Division will be led by Superintendent Charles M. ‘Mike' Irvin, a 33-year employee with wide experience managing several different divisions for the railroad. In Roanoke, Norfolk Southern currently operates a local switching yard, locomotive and rail car maintenance and overhaul facilities, and a material yard that supports track maintenance gangs systemwide.