United States Railway Association - Mandate To Create Plan For Conrail

Mandate To Create Plan For Conrail

Under the 3R Act, the USRA was to create a "Final System Plan" to decide which lines should be included in the new Consolidated Rail Corporation. Unlike most railroad consolidations, only the designated lines were to be taken over; the others were to remain with the old companies along with non-rail related properties. The plan was formulated by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), an industry trade group. USRA announced a preliminary plan on February 26, 1975, and the ICC then conducted public hearings on the draft plan. USRA published the Final System Plan on July 26, 1975. The plan called for Conrail to consist of lines from Penn Central and six other companies: the Ann Arbor Railroad (bankrupt 1973), Erie Lackawanna Railway (1972), Lehigh Valley Railroad (1970), Reading Company (1971), Central Railroad of New Jersey (1967) and Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (1972). Controlled railroads and jointly owned railroads such as Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines were also included. (See List of railroads transferred to Conrail.) The final plan also identified certain commuter rail lines (not designated for freight service) that could be purchased by state transportation agencies from Conrail following the initial transfer.

Congress approved the final plan on November 9, 1975, and on February 5, 1976 President Gerald Ford signed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (the "4R Act"), which included this Final System Plan, into law.

USRA published a supplementary report in 1986 which provides a complete overview of the disposition of the affected rail lines and related properties.