By William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief, Railway Age Magazine; July 27, 2020
Cindy Sanborn, one of the first women to hold a senior-level executive role at a Class I railroad, will succeed the retiring Michael Wheeler as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Norfolk Southern, effective Sept. 1, 2020.
Sanborn, who was unceremoniously axed as EVP and COO at NS’s eastern competitor CSX by the late E. Hunter Harrison in a messy management purge in 2017 following 30 years of service there, resurfaced at Union Pacific as Regional Vice President Transportation-Western Region in February 2018. She was subsequently elevated to Vice President Network Planning and oversaw all activities in UP’s Northern Region. At CSX, prior to her role as EVP and COO Sanborn held various leadership positions during her 30-year tenure at CSX, including VP and Chief Transportation Officer, and Vice President Northern Region. She now heads back east.