Exhibit 23
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The Board of Directors
Norfolk Southern Corporation:
We consent to the incorporation by reference in registration statement numbers 33-52031, 333-71321, 333-60722, 333-100936 and 333-109069 on Form S-8 of Norfolk Southern Corporation of our reports dated February 18, 2009, with respect to the consolidated balance sheets of Norfolk Southern Corporation as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related consolidated statements of income, changes in stockholders' equity, and cash flows, for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2008, and the related financial statement schedule, and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, which reports appear in the December 31, 2008, annual report on Form 10-K of Norfolk Southern Corporation. Our report on the consolidated financial statements and related financial statement schedule refers to the adoption by Norfolk Southern Corporation of Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, effective January 1, 2007, and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 158, Employers' Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans, effective December 31, 2006.
/s/ KPMG LLP
Norfolk, Virginia
February 18, 2009