May 2 (Reuters) - Proxy advisory firm Egan Jones said on Thursday that it recommended Norfolk Southern shareholders vote for activist investor Ancora's nominees to the company's board and backed a CEO change at the railroad.

The advisory firm said it favored Ancora's plan to replace the company's current CEO Alan Shaw with former UPS executive Jim Barber and elect seven of its candidates to the railroad's 13-member board.

The east-coast railroad has come under pressure following the derailment of one of its trains in East Palestine, Ohio, last year.

Earlier this week, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended that shareholders elect five of the activist hedge fund's nominees to the board, while peer Glass Lewis backed six nominees.

The proxy fight is one of the year's most hotly contested board challenges and will be decided at the railroad's May 9 annual meeting unless the two sides reach an agreement first.

Earlier in the week, investment group EdgePoint said it had voted all of its 3.7 million shares in Norfolk Southern in favor of Ancora Holdings' seven nominees.

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)