The DBU is the product of the business model Norfolk Southern successfully created and implemented in North Carolina in 2002 with its East Carolina Business Unit. The objective of these business units is to bring the railroad closer to its local customers, better meeting their needs, while improving the use of rail assets and benefiting state and local economies.
"This business model incorporates the flexibility and local focus of a small railroad, supported by the industrial development and technological resources of a major carrier," said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern's chief executive officer. "It's a proven way of doing business for Norfolk Southern, and by working with our partners at the Delaware and Maryland departments of transportation and the Port of Wilmington, along with on-line communities and customers, we are confident the DBU will strengthen rail service in New Castle County and on the Delmarva Peninsula."
The DBU has dedicated local management with complete responsibility for managing 191 miles of Norfolk Southern-operated railroad track between Newark, Del. and Edgemoor Yard in Wilmington, DE, between Wilmington and Pocomoke City, MD, and between Harrington and Frankford, DE. As an internal unit with its own budget, the DBU has some similarities with a short line railroad but is linked to Norfolk Southern's centralized dispatching, customer service and operating systems.
The DBU's main terminals for sorting freight cars and building trains are at Harrington, Wilmington and Newark, Del. The DBU operates three main rail lines on the Delmarva Peninsula, and interchanges with three shortline railroads. More than 115 Norfolk Southern employees are assigned to the DBU team.
