.His ouster happens after two tough years in the top task and simply days after the company's board announced it was examining him for alleged honest lapses.The Atlanta-based railway stated Shaw possessed an unacceptable consensual partnership along with Norfolk Southern's chief legal policeman, that was actually also terminated. Norfolk Southern marketed Principal Financial Policeman Smudge George to be the railroad's following CEO.Shaw was actually leading Norfolk Southern in February 2023 when among its own trains derailed, spilled harmful chemicals and also caught fire in East Palestine, Ohio, the most awful railway catastrophe in the final many years. At that point, activist client Ancora Holdings attempted to take management of the railroad previously this year and also fire Shaw.He endured legislative hearings as well as difficult area meetings after the East Palestine derailment, while guaranteeing to make Norfolk Southern the "gold requirement for safety" in the business. He likewise took care of to urge entrepreneurs certainly not to back most of Ancora's board nominees. 3 of its own candidates carried out succeed chairs on the railway's panel, however that had not been good enough to offer it control.The derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania boundary urged the country to re-examine railway safety as well as led legislators and also regulatory authorities to call for reforms. However those proposals have actually greatly stalled, and also the field has actually helped make only low changes considering that the derailment, like putting in much more trackside detectors to locate overheating bearings like the one that led to the East Palestine crash.The frustrating economic outcomes Norfolk Southern delivered after the derailment, incorporated along with inquiries concerning Shaw's approach of keeping extra employees accessible throughout a slump, made the railroad ready for tension coming from a client like Ancora. Norfolk Southern's revenues have regularly dragged the various other major railways that additional boldy taken on the lean operating style that has actually come to be the industry specification.