NORFOLK, Va., July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Norfolk Southern Corporation named two people to key positions in its operations division, effective Aug. 1, 2006.
Gerhard A. Thelen has been named vice president operations planning and support, headquartered in Norfolk. He will be responsible for the corporation's operations planning, policies, budgets, research and tests and quality management functions. He has a masters degree from Pennsylvania State University and graduated from the Fachhochschule Munich (university for applied sciences). Thelen joined Norfolk Southern in 1977 and served in quality, engineering, research, and mechanical positions before being named vice president mechanical in 2004.
Tim A. Heilig has been named vice president mechanical, headquartered in Atlanta. He will be responsible for maintenance and repair of the railroad's motive power and rolling stock. A graduate of Georgia Tech, Heilig joined Norfolk Southern in 1971 and served in management information, intermodal, engineering, mechanical and transportation positions before being named assistant vice president transportation network in 2001.
Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 21,200 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada, serving every major container port in the eastern United States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers. NS operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is North America's largest rail carrier of automotive parts and finished vehicles.
