May 9 (Reuters) - Norfolk Southern ( NSC ) investors elected

three new directors to the railway's board and re-elected the

company's chief executive in a bitter boardroom battle with

activist investor Ancora Holdings, executives said on Thursday.

The preliminary results were announced on Thursday after

Ancora waged a proxy fight and pushed to get seven newcomers

elected to the 13-member board. Ancora also urged investors to

oust CEO Alan Shaw but he was re-elected.

Reuters reported earlier that Ancora was poised to win some

board seats.

The fight was one of the year's most closely watched votes

because Ancora was pushing for so many seats at such a sizable

company, industry analysts and bankers said.

Ancora nominees William Clyburn, Sameh Fahmy and Gilbert

Lamphere won seats, according to preliminary voting results,

while investors did not support board chair Amy Miles, Jennifer

Scanlon, chair of the governance and nominating committee, and

John Thompson, chair of the human capital management and

compensation committee.

The hedge fund argued new blood was needed to improve

financial and operational metrics while Norfolk Southern ( NSC )

countered that its team had the right strategy and people in

place.

Three prominent proxy advisory firms last week recommended

that investors elect at least five of Ancora's seven candidates,

arguing that change is needed at the railway which is valued at

$52 billion.

Norfolk Southern ( NSC ) had argued that replacing its board members

with Ancora's candidates would "introduce significant risk, and

ultimately destroy long-term shareholder value."