Many-named troll Wrote:
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> If deregulation had come a decade earlier than it
> did, perhaps Penn Central and Erie Lackawanna
> would have survived?
>
> Brief history of deregulation below. Source:
> [railfan.com]
> ulation-and-deregulation/
>
> ...
> In 1968, of course, the ill-fated Penn Central
> merger was consummated, stuffing the New Haven
> into the mix a year later. By 1970, what was
> deemed to be anti-trust in the early 1900s was now
> recognized as an important component of railroad
> survival, when Burlington Northern was formed in
> March. Three months later, colossus PC filed for
> bankruptcy, nearly bringing down the American
> economy with it.
>
> As a result, the United States Railway Association
> was formed in 1974 to rationalize the Northeastern
> railroad system in the wake of the bankruptcies of
> Penn Central and other railroads. The fear was
> that if rationalization did not take place, and
> promptly, much of even the viable portions of rail
> service in the northeast would be at risk.
>
> In effect, the USRA, which ended up recommending
> the formation of Conrail, was installed to provide
> the “cover” to abandon large portions of routes
> that were no longer economically viable, and to
> fold most of the remaining railroads in the area
> into a single entity. It would be an interesting
> intellectual question whether this could have been
> accomplished at all via traditional ICC
> proceedings, or even if it could, how long that
> might have taken.
>
> The Staggers Act, and Finale
>
> Following the creation of Conrail in 1976, in a
> further acknowledgment of the fact that U.S.
> railroads were no longer de facto monopolies in
> the U.S. transportation market, the Staggers Act
> was passed and became law in 1980. This
> effectively deregulated the U.S. railroad
> industry, and enabled it to reverse its previously
> declining share of the U.S. surface transportation
> industry.
> ...
>
> Erie Lackawanna ALMOST became a part of Chessie System; last - minute EL labor union " guaranteed work " issues soured the deal. This purchase would have included much of the ex - Erie mainline, now known as The Southern Tier, between upstate New York & New Jersey.
Erie Lackawanna possessed the shortest route between NY / NJ & Buffalo ( the Lackawanna ) and a fairly direct route across the middle of Ohio & Indiana. This was both a curse ( It missed most of the major cities and their potential revenue ) and a blessing ( little congestion VS. Penn Central. )