FILE – Cleanup continues, Feb. 24, 2023, at the site of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. The costs related to the East Palestine derailment continue to grow to reach $966 million for Norfolk Southern, but the railroad’s service is improving and its insurance companies have started to pay their share of the cost of the crash in eastern Ohio early this year. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern’s costs related to the East Palestine derailment have grown to reach $966 million. But the railroad’s service is improving and its insurance companies have started to pay their share of the cost of the crash in eastern Ohio early this year. The Atlanta-based railroad on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit of $478 million, half of last year’s $958 million. But without the derailment costs its adjusted earnings were just ahead of Wall Street expectations. The average speed of Norfolk Southern’s trains increased to 20.5 mph during the quarter as service improved.