Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' derives its 'BBB+' corporate credit rating on Norfolk Southern Corp. from: Our anchor of 'a-', based on our "strong" business risk and "intermediate" financial risk assessments for the company. The anchor choice, given the two potential outcomes ('a-' and 'bbb+') for this combination of business risk and financial risk assessments, reflects Norfolk Southern's significant market position as well as its strong end-market and customer diversity. We lowered the anchor by one notch, based on our comparable ratings analysis assessment, due to limited visibility regarding Norfolk Southern's coal segment, which is a significant source of earnings and cash flow for the company, and ongoing significant shareholder rewards. All other modifiers were neutral to the rating. Favorable
