Conrail's 5-Year Plan for Abandoning or Discontinuing Service Over Its Rail Lines

The Consolidated Rail Corporation's (Conrail) plans to abandon or discontinue service on certain rail lines were addressed. Conrail refers to these plans as plant rationalization, which includes abandonment as well as other options such as transferring traffic to other rail carriers or sustaining service with Federal, State, or local support. Under Conrail's 5-year business plan, it proposed to reduce its rail system by 1,940 route miles with the assumption that complete railroad deregulation would begin and that Government investment in Conrail would be limited to $3.3 billion. The 5-year plan also contained two contingency plans. The first, assuming that there would be no regulatory reform and no change in Federal funding, proposed a reduction of 2,200 route miles. The second plan, projecting no change in the regulatory environment and the availability of additional Federal funding, would call for the abandonment of 1,730 miles. Questions have been asked concerning how Conrail determined which lines would be abandoned, how the plans compare with each other and with U.S. Railway Association (USRA) studies, and what would happen to the traffic on lines planned for abandonment.