J.D. Vance Won't Say What He Thinks of the Potential Norfolk Southern Sale in Cincinnati

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Photo: Madeline Fening

J.D. Vance stops by the Butler County Republican Party headquarters in Middletown, Ohio during his 2022 Senate campaign.

Weeks after Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) called out Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) for putting in minimal work on the Railway Safety Act of 2023, Vance still won’t comment on the potential sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to the rail giant at the center of his own bill.

Fetterman is a co-sponsor on Vance's Railway Safety Act, a bill that was created to improve safety standards for rail giants like Norfolk Southern when carrying loads of hazardous chemicals. The bill followed the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3, resulting in a controlled burn of hazardous chemicals that loomed in the atmosphere above the small village and leached into local waterways. The aftermath was felt, seen and smelled: residents reporting skin irritation and headaches, scores of dead wildlife, the sharp smell of chemicals in the air. Along with ash, anxiety loomed over East Palestine as residents wondered what long term impacts are yet to be determined.

One of those impacts is residential property value. In a statement released on Sept. 18, Vance said Norfolk Southern's treatment of East Palestine residents who are concerned about their home values after the disaster shows why the rail company can't be trusted.

"In the run up to the markup of the Railway Safety Act, Norfolk Southern and its backers in Congress announced that they had reached an agreement to establish a fund making East Palestine residents whole for the diminution of their property value," said Vance. "This announcement was a transparent attempt to distract from the fact that they were opposed to railroad safety reform to prevent another East Palestine disaster. I did not join this effort because I did not trust the railroad to make good on its word."

Fetterman on Vance

Norfolk Southern’s property value reimbursement program is separate from Vance’s Railway Safety Act, but Fetterman recently told reporters he believes Vance has been disengaged from driving home the bill.

Fetterman told Insider that Vance "wants to put up an act that's going to go nowhere,” referencing the anti-masking bill Vance pushed in early September, instead of "focusing on getting [the rail bill] finished and taken care of.”

Vance pushed back on this claim to Insider, saying most of his work on the railway bill has been “persuading Republican colleagues to sign on to the bill."

"Obviously, we talked a lot when we were cutting the initial draft of the bill, and we've been doing separate things to try to get it over the hill,” Vance told Insider.

How hard Vance and others in D.C. are pushing to regulate Norfolk Southern is of special interest to Cincinnati groups like "Derail the Sale,” who are fighting to defeat a November ballot question to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway (CSR) to Norfolk Southern for $1.6 billion.

"Norfolk Southern is a corporation that refuses to be held accountable for their negligence, from ongoing worker fatalities to derailments and catastrophic environmental disasters," the group wrote on Instagram.

The CSR deal in a nutshell

Last November, city leaders announced a plan to sell the CSR to Norfolk Southern in exchange for a $1.6 billion trust fund to shore up basic services for the city. The principal balance wouldn't be touched, meaning the city estimates it would have an annual stream of cash ranging from $50 million to $70 million. Cincinnati voters will decide whether to approve the sale on Nov. 7.

The CSR is a single rail line that starts in Cincinnati and ends in Chattanooga that the city leases to Norfolk Southern for $25 million a year. The 336-mile commercial freight railway is the only city-owned multi-state railway in the country. The first lease agreement with Norfolk Southern was signed in 1881 and has been renewed on a 25-year cycle ever since. The latest lease agreement turns 25 this year, and city leaders want Cincinnati to break up with the commercial rail industry in the form of a sale. Pureval told CityBeat that it's the only way to fund our city's existing infrastructure needs in perpetuity amid a growing $300 million deficit.

Vance, who is from Middletown and currently lives and votes in Cincinnati, has repeatedly pushed off CityBeat’s questions about his opinion on the controversial CSR sale.

“This November, Cincinnatians have a historic opportunity to invest in our children and families. By supporting the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, we can repair our roads, improve our parks, and enhance the critical infrastructure needed to strengthen our community and help our families thrive — all without raising taxes. I hope you will join me in voting in favor of this much needed investment in our future.”

CityBeat has reached out to Sen. Brown’s office for comment on the CSR sale, who has also not yet responded.