A Norfolk Southern railway network connecting East Tennessee to Asheville and other parts of North Carolina is expected to be closed for months after railroad tracks and bridges suffered flood damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

Norfolk Southern says it was able to open all core routes within 72 hours of Helene making landfall after crews cleared over 15,000 trees and repaired multiple washouts and over 50 damaged slide fences.

However, portions of the railway along Norfolk Southern’s AS Line that runs from Salisbury, North Carolina to Morristown, Tennessee suffered major damage.

The AS Line, which crosses the Eastern Continental Divide through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Asheville, had more than 21,500 feet of track washed out, more than 50,000 feet of track damaged by scour, over 15,000 feet of fill failures and slides and multiple bridges damaged.

Within the last week, officials said engineering teams reopened the line between Salisbury and Old Fort in North Carolina and between Newport and Morristown.

Due to the remote nature and mountain topography of the region, Norfolk Southern said teams have had difficulty assessing damage along portions of the line around Asheville and over Black Mountain, where much track has been destroyed.

Initial projections estimate Norfolk Southern’s line between Asheville and Newport will reopen by late January 2025 while evaluations of the track between Asheville and Old Fort are ongoing.