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Activist investor Ancora Holdings reiterated its call for Norfolk Southern’s (NYSE:NSC) CEO to be replaced after the railroad operator’s latest derailment in Pennsylvania.
A Norfolk Southern (NSC) train went off the tracks in eastern Pennsylvania Saturday morning, leaving at least one railroad car partially submerged in the Lehigh River, according to media reports on Saturday, including the Daily News.
“Following this latest derailment, we call for the immediate termination of CEO Alan Shaw and stand ready to engage with the company about an orderly reconstitution of the board and a transition to capable management with a track record of actually delivering on safety commitments,” Ancora said in a statement on Saturday.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) didn’t immediately respond to Seeking Alpha email request on Saturday.
Ancora has accumulated a $1B stake in Norfolk Southern (NSC) and has been actively seeking to not only replace the board but to oust the company’s current CEO Alan Shaw with former UPS COO Jim Barber as CEO and former CSX vice president of operations Jamie Boychuk as COO. Boychuk left CSX in August and is still under a non-compete agreement with his former company.
On Monday, the railroad company took steps against Ancora by appointing two new appointees to its 13-member board. Norfolk Southern filed preliminary proxy materials to appoint former CEO of Amtrak and Delta Air Lines (DAL) Richard Anderson and former U.S. Senator Mary Kathryn “Heidi” Heitkamp.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) has been plagued by lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny following a catastrophic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio last February, which was followed less than a month later by a second derailment in Ohio.