The decision issued Friday (May 17) means the Virginia-based railroad can close the repair shop whenever it wants, idling the 180 workers still working at the site, about 85 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband said there's no timetable for closing the facility, one of the largest railcar repair shops in the world.

Norfolk Southern originally planned to close the shop on Oct. 1, when it employed about 300 people, saying the work could be done more efficiently at other facilities.

That decision was delayed after unions and politicians, notably U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., challenged the move in a variety of venues and eventually asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide the matter.

State officials and Specter complained that the federal Surface Transportation Board ignored what they called Norfolk Southern's promise to keep the shop open in return for the board's authorizing Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp. to acquire Conrail in 1999. The Surface Transportation Board is empowered to regulate railroad mergers.

"Although officials of the commonwealth, the local communities, the employees and influential public figures ... may have been led to understand otherwise, we can find no representation by (Norfolk Southern) that it intended to operate (the car shop) indefinitely, without regard to business conditions," the court ruled.

The court essentially said the Surface Transportation Board's initial approval of the closure was legal, and that the board alone has the power to regulate such decisions.

The court, however, warned that the transportation board should be more wary of commitments railroads make when they're asking for mergers to be approved.

"The events that precipitated the petitions before us may serve as an object lesson to other states and communities," the court's opinion said.

Richard Edelman, attorney for the Transportation Workers Union, said the court's decision means the assurances given by Norfolk Southern "weren't firm enough, and the binding agreements weren't binding enough."

"It's a dark day for working people who put their faith in the legal system," Edelman said.

Specter said he was "disappointed" by the decision and may petition the 3rd Circuit to hear the case again with a full panel of judges. It was not immediately clear whether asking for a rehearing would again keep the shop from closing.