Norfolk Southern working to repair Appalachian railroads damaged during Helene

Norfolk Southern says hundreds of miles of track in Western North Carolina are still in need of repair – months after Hurricane Helene.

Officials told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they’re still assessing the damage from Old Fort to Asheville.

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The track along Mill Creek was heavily damaged by the flooding. Travel toward Black Mountain and you’ll see where major repairs need to be made along the headwaters of the Swannanoa River.

Landslides eroded large sections of the track toward Asheville, and Norfolk Southern says rail workers have cleared 15,000 trees so far.

Near Black Mountain, an asphalt company is relying on trucks to bring asphalt. Because of the damaged tracks, the railway tanker cars can no longer get there.

The company says it’s working hard to reopen service from the Tennessee line to Asheville and is hopeful that will happen by the end of March.

Channel 9 spoke with several folks who live in some of the hardest hit areas, including one man who lost his house and two cars during the storm. He was here when the tracks got washed away too.

“I said, ‘Golly!’ It was terrible. Couldn’t even see the tracks,” Lee Grooms told Channel 9.

Railroad company CSX says 60 miles of its tracks have extensive damage, and they can no longer freight millions of tons of products near the North Carolina and Tennessee line.

Brandon Allen showed Channel 9 the damage to the rail line behind his home along the headwaters of the Swannanoa River. He says a culvert washed out taking the ground beneath the tracks with it.

“I was surprised,” Allen said. “I didn’t realize how bad it was going to be. The water on the other side of the tracks is about two feet below the rails.”

Statement from CSX:

“CSX continues to work collaboratively with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and other state and federal agencies to ensure the rail infrastructure is recovered from the Nolichucky River in a safe and responsible manner. CSX remains committed to complying with USACE directives and all regulatory requirements to conduct the complex and challenging work to rebuild this infrastructure that is so vital to the regional and national supply chain.

“Information about CSX repair efforts and the impacts of Hurricane Helene on railroad infrastructure can be found on the CSX Blue Ridge Subdivision Recovery webpage.”

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