Norfolk Southern to increase conductor trainee pay to $25 an hour and add biweekly $300 incentive

Published: July 21, 2022 

By Ciara Linnane


Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC, +1.78% said Thursday it is increasing pay for its conductor trainees to $25 an hour with a minimum fo $200 in earnings per shift. The railroad operator said it's also offering an on-the-job training incentive of $300 per bi-weekly pay period, for trainees who make themselves available for work. Applicants interested in the program can apply online at Jobs.NSCorp.com, the Atlanta, Ga.-based Norfolk said in a statement. Conductor trainees in priority locations can earn up to $5,000 in starting bonuses. Those locations include: Bellevue, Ohio, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Binghamton, New York, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky , Conway, Pennsylvania, Peru, Indiana, Decatur, Illinois, Princeton, Indiana , Elkhart, Indiana and Roanoke, Virginia. At non-priority locations, starters can get a bonus of up $2,500. In their first year, conductors can earn an average of $67,000 and are entitled to join a pension and have a a 401 (k) savings option, health care coverage and other benefits. Training takes about 16 weeks and includes classroom and field training. Shares were not active premarket but are down 20% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.99% has fallen 17%.