Exhibit (a)(26)










Norfolk South. Nominates 5 Directors to Conrail Bd

FORM TYPE: PRNews
ISSUER: CONRAIL INC.
SYMBOL: CRR

     NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 10/PRNewswire/ -- Norfolk Southern Corporation
announced today that it has nominated a slate of five directors to
serve on the board of Conrail Inc. and said it would also seek to
remove all but three current members of the Conrail board.

     In addition, Norfolk Southern said it proposed reducing the size
of Conrail's board of directors from thirteen to eight and
"declassifying" the board, which would change the current system of
electing Conrail directors on a staggered basis and instead require
that they all be elected annually by the shareholders.

     The proposals, which were delivered to Conrail today, are to be
considered at the annual meeting of Conrail shareholders. Conrail has
scheduled the annual meeting -- usually held in April or May -- for
December 19, 1997. Atlantic Investment Company, the wholly owned
Norfolk Southern subsidiary that submitted the proposals, said it is
seeking to replace most of the Conrail board with directors who are
committed to evaluating fairly and impartially all acquisition
proposals for Conrail and to seeking the most advantageous transaction
for Conrail shareholders.

     The nominees include:

     George A. Butler, retired president of CoreStates Financial Corp.
in Philadelphia.

     Stephen P. Lamb, a partner in the Wilmington, Del., law firm of
Lamb & Bouchard.

     Mary Patterson McPherson, the president of Bryn Mawr College in
Bryn Mawr, Pa., who will join the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New
York later in the year.

     Bernard C. Watson, chairman of the HMA Foundation in Philadelphia
and former president and chief executive officer of the William Penn
Foundation in Philadelphia.

     J. Roger Williams, Jr., of counsel to the Philadelphia law firm
of Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish & Kauffman.





     Norfolk Southern said it would seek to remove all current Conrail
directors except for Daniel B. Burke, David B. Lewis and John C.
Marous. David R. Goode, Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Norfolk Southern, said that Norfolk Southern was forced to
submit the shareholder initiative today after Conrail announced that
it was delaying the annual shareholders meeting. By delaying the
meeting to late December, Conrail triggered a provision of its by-laws
requiring shareholders to submit nominations and proposals within ten
days. "We would have preferred waiting to submit these proposals,
especially now that both CSX and Conrail have agreed to meet and
discuss the issues facing us," Goode said. "However, Conrail's recent
action to delay the shareholders' meeting as long as possible imposed
a very short deadline on its own shareholders and we had to act to
protect shareholder interests."

     Goode said that "a Norfolk Southern acquisition of Conrail is the
best opportunity for achieving balanced competition." And he
emphasized that "Conrail shareholders must get $115 in cash for each
of their shares."

     Norfolk Southern also announced that on Tuesday it will commence
payment for the 8.2 million shares of Conrail which were accepted for
payment upon expiration of Norfolk Southern's 9.9 percent tender
offer. The offer was oversubscribed with more than 90 percent of the
Conrail shares held by shareholders other than CSX being tendered. The
final proration factor is approximately 12.6 percent for all Conrail
shares tendered.

     Norfolk Southern intends to promptly commence a second $115 per
share all-cash tender offer for all of the remaining Conrail shares.

     Conrail shareholders on January 17 overwhelmingly defeated
Conrail management's proposal to "opt out" of the Pennsylvania Fair
Value Statute, clearly signaling their preference for Norfolk
Southern's all-cash offer of $115 per share.

     Norfolk Southern is a Virginia-based holding company with
headquarters in Norfolk, Va. It owns a major freight railroad, Norfolk
Southern Railway Company, which operates about 14,400 miles of road in
20 states, primarily in the Southeast and Midwest, and the Province of
Ontario, Canada. The corporation also owns North American Van Lines,
Inc., and Pocahontas Land Corporation, a natural resources company.

/FEDERAL FILINGS CONTACTS:
               (202) 393-7856 FOR EDITORIAL
               (800) 487-6162 FOR DOCUMENT SALES
               (202) 628-8990 FOR NEWSWIRE SALES
           & (888) FED-FILE FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT./

(END) FEDERAL FILINGS-DOW JONES NEWS 02-10-97

16:44

02/10/97 16:44
:TICKER: CRR CSX NSC
:SUBJECT: RAIL BDDR PA VA INDG MNA
Copyright(c)1997 Federal Filings, Inc. - A Dow Jones
Information Services Co.
Received by NewsEDGE/LAN: 2/10/97 4:46PM