Norfolk Southern plans to buy a regional railroad it already operates from Cincinnati for $1.62 billion. The deal announced Monday will give Norfolk Southern ownership of the busy 337-mile-long Cincinnati Southern Railroad that connects the Ohio city with Chattanooga, and that opens up more business doors and opportunities for us here in Tennessee. A Norfolk Southern subsidiary now leases the railroad and runs as many as 30 trains a day on it. As part of the deal, the railroad would acquire 9,500 acres of land underneath the tracks, which would mean an end to any uncertainty about how much it would have to pay under future lease agreements.