FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 20, 1999


                                   Contacts: Robert Fort
                                   Norfolk Southern Corporation
                                   (757) 629-2710
                                   
                                   Elisabeth Gabrynowicz
                                   CSX Corporation
                                   (804) 782-1449
                                   

NORFOLK SOUTHERN AND CSX ANNOUNCE
READINESS FOR JUNE 1 CONRAIL TRANSACTION CLOSING DATE

NORFOLK and RICHMOND, VA -- Norfolk Southern Corporation  (NYSE:
NSC)  and  CSX  Corporation (NYSE: CSX) jointly announced  today
that  they will close the Conrail transaction on June  1,  1999,
and  begin  operating  their respective  portions  of  Conrail's
routes and assets.
      With  the  necessary  customer service  planning,  capital
improvement  projects, employee training and labor  implementing
agreements  now  largely  complete, and  with  computer  systems
integration  testing under way, the June 1 date  provides  ample
time for ensuring that post-Closing operations are seamless  for
rail  customers and safe for employees and the communities  that
the railroads serve.
        "Our   heightened   readiness   will   give   customers,
stockholders,  employees  and  communities  a  high  degree   of
confidence that our expanded system will meet their expectations
for  safe, reliable rail service," said David R. Goode,  Norfolk
Southern  chairman, president and chief executive  officer.  "We
will  avoid  problems of the kind that could cause inconvenience
to  the  public  and thereby compromise expected  operating  and
financial  synergies. We want to get things  right  -  from  the
start."


                              - 2 -
                                
      John  W.  Snow, CSX chairman and chief executive  officer,
said, "We have been consistent in our definition of a successful
integration, and we have gone to extraordinary lengths over  the
past  15 months to assure success. Any other approach would have
been  shortsighted. We are now within a few months of  beginning
the  new era of railroading in the East, and we look forward  to
the  high  prospects  it  brings  our  customers,  shareholders,
employees and the public."
      After  Closing, Norfolk Southern will operate about  7,200
miles  of  Conrail  routes, creating a 21,600-mile  rail  system
serving  22  states in the East, as well as in the  District  of
Columbia  and the Province of Ontario, Canada. CSX will  operate
approximately  4,000  miles of Conrail routes,  resulting  in  a
22,300-mile   rail  system  serving  23  states  east   of   the
Mississippi, the District of Columbia and Montreal and  Ontario,
Canada.
      Norfolk  Southern  Corporation, a  Virginia-based  holding
company  with  headquarters in Norfolk,  owns  a  major  freight
railroad,  Norfolk  Southern Railway,  which  will  operate  its
portion of the Conrail properties.
        CSX   Corporation,  based  in  Richmond,  Va.,   is   an
international transportation company providing rail, intermodal,
container-shipping and contract logistics services worldwide.
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NS World Wide Web Site: www.nscorp.com

CSX World Wide Web Site: www.csx.com