Companies: railroads, terminals, and coal

Railroad Companies in Hampton Roads

CSX

CSX Train and Tracks in Newport News. 2024. — CSX train and tracks toward Southeast Newport News, 2024.

CSX Transportation (CSX) is a Class I freight railroad company operating across the eastern U.S., especially in and out of West Virginia.^[1] The company was formed through a wave of railroad mergers, with its parent company, CSX Corporation, now based in Jacksonville, Florida. CXS political contributions are posted on their website as of 2025.

CSX is one part of a duopoly with Norfolk Southern. In 2018, CSX attempted to press monopoly charges against Norfolk Southern because of their attempts to control the crucial Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line, of which Norfolk Southern owns a slight majority.^[2]^[3]

Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation (abbreviated as Norfolk Southern or NS) is a Class I freight railroad company based in the eastern U.S. It is one of the five biggest railroad operators in North America by revenue and one part of a duopoly with CSX. Norfolk Southern operates in 22 states and Washington, D.C. Currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Norfolk Southern was based in Norfolk, Virginia until 2021. Most of the company's revenue comes from the transportation of coal, coke, and iron ore. Norfolk Southern is connected to the Corporation Political Action Committee (PAC) Norfolk Southern Good Government Fund, which publishes their political contributions bi-yearly as of 2025.

Norfolk Southern was responsible for a high-profile train derailment, fire, and chemical release of toxic pollutants that included dioxin in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, 2023.^[4] In March 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board announced a special investigation into Norfolk Southern's safety practices, as the accident in East Palestine was just one of a series of recent incidents involving the company.^[5]

Coal Terminals in the Port of Virginia

The Dominion Terminal and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals are located in Southeast Newport News. Pier 6 is located between the Norfolk neighborhoods of Lambert's Point and Ghent, with Lambert's Point typically being on the downwind side. Together, these terminals export more coal through the Port of Virginia than is exported anywhere else in the U.S.^[6] This coal is largely metallurgical coal, also known as cooking coal, from Central Appalachia. It is transported to Southeast Newport News by CSX and to Lambert's Point by Norfolk Southern.

Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals and Dominion Terminal Associates

Kinder Morgan operates Pier IX and X, which sit adjacent to the Dominion Terminal. Dominion Terminal is owned by Alpha Metallurgical Resources and Core Natural Resources and operated by Dominion Terminal Associates. Coal is offloaded and stored in large piles before being loaded onto ships for export. The Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals have the capacity to store 1.4 million tons coal and export up to 16 million tons annually^[7] and use a system of 44 sprinklers to spray water that suppresses dust emissions from the piles and transloading equipment.

According to a 2014 report by the Sightline Institute, Kinder Morgan's activities across North America include a record of pollution, bribery, labor violations and unsafe working conditions, fraud and theft, and pipeline failures resulting in deaths, felonies, and environmental damages.^[8]

Norfolk Southern

Owned and operated by Norfolk Southern, Pier 6 in Lambert's Point was built in 1962 (predating the U.S. Clean Air Act by eight years), although coal has been exported here since 1885. Norfolk Southern's Pier 6 is the largest coal export facility in the U.S. Coal carrying rail cars are loaded directly onto ships, rather than being stored in large staging piles as in Newport News.

Satellite map (Google) of the Dominion Terminal and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals in Southeast Newport News
Satellite map (Google) of the Dominion Terminal and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals in Southeast Newport News
Satellite map (Google) of the Norfolk Southern Terminal in Lambert's Point

Coal Ships

Ships are typically in port in Newport News and Norfolk for 2–5 days (possibly longer) for loading. There are records that 2–4 days are required to load large ships (for iron ore), with a minimum of 24 hours,^[9] and three days round-the-clock for large container ships.^[10]

It is not clear if loading is always continuous, but we speculate that ships avoid sitting at port longer than needed. Ships do arrive and depart from both cities overnight. Ships may not be able to load under inclement weather, which at least for petcoke, a similar material to coal, includes very hot days.^[11]

Bulk carriers used for coal transport include: Handymax, Panamax, and Capesize.^[12] Because coal is shipped in covered holds, coal dust emissions during ocean transport are assumed to be minimal.^[13]

Coal Companies

Alpha Metallurgical Resources

Alpha Metallurgical Resources (formerly known as Contura Energy) is a Tennessee-based mining company that extracts, processes, and markets steam and metallurgical coal. It operates across Central Appalachia.^[14]

Core Natural Resources

Core Natural Resources (previously Arch Resources, or Arch Coal) is the second-largest supplier of coal in the United States, with 11 active mines. In August 2024, Arch Resources and Consol Energy announced that they entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger of equals to create Core Natural Resources. source. In January 2025, the merger was successfully completed.^[15]

United Coal

United Coal is a producer of coking coal located in Central Appalachia that owns several mines in West Virginia, including in Affinity and East Gulf. In 2009, the Ukrainian business group, Metinvest, purchased the company for an estimated $1 billion^[16].