The Washington Terminal Company (reporting mark WATC) was a corporation created in Washington, D.C., USA, to provide support to railroads using Washington's Union Station. The company was established in 1901 and was jointly owned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad. The latter was controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Washington Terminal Company owned and operated Union Station and about 5 miles (8.0 km) of track in the Washington area, providing switching services for passenger trains using the station or passing through the area:
- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)
- Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)
- Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O)
- Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P)
- Southern Railway (SOU)
- Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL)
- Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL).
The terminal company's operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1981. However the Washington Terminal Company, despite Amtrak ownership, remains a separate legal entity. It is not exempted from the Interstate Commerce Act as is Amtrak. This status is what allowed Virginia Railway Express to threaten a filing to the Surface Transportation Board to enforce its right to access when Amtrak tried to oust VRE from Union Station after VRE said they would not automatically re-hire Amtrak as its operating contractor. Faced with this action, Amtrak backed down.
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