Erie Lackawanna Railway

Erie Lackawanna Railway
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Railroad
Predecessor	Erie Railroad, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Founded	October 17, 1960; 66 years ago
Defunct	1976
Fate	Assets merged into Conrail
Headquarters	United States
Area served	Northeastern and Midwestern United States
Products	Freight and passenger rail transport
Parent	Dereco (from 1968)

The Erie Lackawanna Railway, originally known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, emerged from the 1960 unification of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. It was recognized by its slogan, "The Friendly Service Route".

Facing financial difficulties due to competition from the growing U.S. Interstate Highway System, the railroad was further debilitated by catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, from which it never fully recuperated. The majority of its assets were integrated into Conrail in 1976, concluding its sixteen-year period as an independent entity.

Creation and Initial Growth

On September 13, 1960, the Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the merger; subsequently, on October 17, the Erie Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad officially combined to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Both predecessor companies were grappling with diminishing passenger and freight volumes, substantial debts, and expensive commuter operations. Efforts to consolidate facilities had already begun in 1956, four years prior to the official merger.

By the late 1940s, the Lackawanna line experienced a reduction in anthracite coal and cement shipments, while Erie lost significant high-tariff fruit and vegetable business during the 1950s due to improved highway infrastructure. Additionally, the inauguration of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 diminished ocean freight previously managed at DL&W’s Hoboken Terminal.

Railroads in the Northeast such as EL encountered obstacles including stringent regulations, subsidized competition from highways, burdensome commuter services, and saturated markets. The decline of manufacturing industries in the eastern United States throughout the 1960s and 1970s further weakened EL’s core freight traffic. Regulatory restrictions delayed discontinuation of unprofitable passenger routes despite growing competition from airlines and buses.

Nevertheless, EL achieved profitability during the mid-to-late 1960s by implementing rigorous cost reductions, modernizing equipment, capitalizing on suburban industrial expansion, increasing piggy-back trailer shipments, and gradually eliminating long-distance passenger trains (which ceased on January 6, 1970). Temporary rerouting of traffic from troubled Penn Central lines also contributed to volume increases.

Key investments included establishing a diesel locomotive maintenance facility in Marion, Ohio and enhancing car repair shops located in Meadville, Pennsylvania. EL secured subsidies from New Jersey for its suburban passenger operations and landed a profitable contract with United Parcel Service in 1970 to run five daily dedicated intermodal trains between New Jersey and Chicago.

Decline and Integration into Conrail

The Erie Lackawanna Railway was formed on March 1, 1968, as a subsidiary under Dereco, the holding company controlled by the Norfolk and Western Railway, which had acquired EL. On April 1 that year, its assets were transferred as part of a planned but ultimately unrealized merger between N&W and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. At this time, Dereco also owned the Delaware & Hudson Railway.

In 1972, extensive damage from Hurricane Agnes to tracks and infrastructure across northeastern Pennsylvania and New York's Southern Tier resulted in substantial repair expenses and revenue losses that pushed EL into bankruptcy. The company filed for reorganization under Section 77 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act on June 26. The completion of Interstate 80 by 1971 further diminished EL’s market share by redirecting piggyback traffic away from key less-than-truckload carriers.

Despite these setbacks, EL maintained important contracts with UPS, thanks to dependable piggyback service connecting Chicago with the New York metropolitan area, although its transit times lagged behind rivals like Penn Central. For example, in 1971 EL’s quickest piggyback transit took nearly 29 hours compared to Penn Central’s advertised schedule of 24.5 hours.

Following bankruptcy proceedings, EL’s management initially opposed joining Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), seeking to reorganize independently without incurring substantial debt. Early proposals for Conrail included merging EL into the Chessie System. However, after the oil crisis of 1973 and a deteriorating economic climate in the eastern U.S., EL’s chances for independent survival weakened considerably. As a result, EL applied for inclusion in Conrail and was accepted shortly before its formation.

In 1976, most of EL’s rail assets were acquired by federal authorities and consolidated with other bankrupt railroads to create Conrail. Meanwhile, an independent Erie Lackawanna Estate remained active to liquidate non-rail assets and distribute proceeds among creditors—who ultimately recovered more through asset sales than ongoing operations. This transition marked EL’s exit from direct rail operations while illustrating broader trends in U.S. railroad consolidation and financial restructuring.

Current service operations

The commuter routes once operated by the Erie Lackawanna are presently under the management of NJ Transit and Metro-North. Electrified lines provide service to both Hoboken Terminal and Pennsylvania Station, whereas non-electrified routes connect exclusively to Hoboken Terminal. The Port Jervis and Pascack Valley Lines are jointly administered by Metro-North and NJ Transit, while NJ Transit solely oversees the Main, Montclair-Boonton, Morristown, Bergen County, and Gladstone Lines.

The track restoration initiative seeks to reinstate rail service along the Lackawanna Cut-Off, spanning approximately 28.45 miles from Port Morris Junction in New Jersey to the Delaware River at the Pennsylvania border. This project envisions extending rail connectivity into northeastern Pennsylvania, potentially reaching Scranton.

Regarding the Erie portion of the original Mainline, operations between Port Jervis and Binghamton are conducted by the CNYK. Westward from Portland, the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad manages the mainline up to Scranton, after which Norfolk Southern assumes control northward to Binghamton. Norfolk Southern additionally operates the segment from Binghamton to Buffalo along the Erie mainline. The former Chicago mainline west of Hornell is currently run by the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. Most tracks located in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois have been abandoned.

Prominent passenger trains

Nos. 1 and 2, Phoebe Snow, running between New York (Hoboken) and Chicago; service ended November 27–28, 1966.
No. 7, Pacific Express, and No. 8, Atlantic Express; discontinued in August 1965.
Nos. 5 and 6, Lake Cities; ceased operations January 5–6, 1970.
No. 10, New York Mail, and No. 15, Owl; both terminated on May 23, 1969.
Nos. 28/29 commuter trains between Cleveland and Youngstown; discontinued January 14, 1977. After April 1976, these were operated by Conrail and represented the final EL passenger services outside the New York-New Jersey commuter area.
No. 40, Pocono Express, and No. 43, Twilight, local trains serving the Pocono Mountains; service ended in Fall 1965.
Nos. 623 Morning Steel King and 624 Evening Steel King, pool trains operated jointly with NYC, P&LE, and B&O railroads running from Toledo to Washington D.C., via Cleveland, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh; discontinued by 1962.

Heritage units

In September 2015, Norfolk Southern revealed an EMD SD45-2 numbered 1700 repainted in its original Erie Lackawanna scheme at Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was the second locomotive from NS’s predecessor lines restored to its initial livery. For its 40th anniversary in 2019, New Jersey Transit applied Erie Lackawanna colors to an ALP-45DP unit numbered 4519 as well as a Bombardier MultiLevel Coach, highlighting historical branding within its fleet.

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