Penn Central Transportation Company

Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly called Penn Central, was an American Class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976, formed by merging three major competing lines serving the New York metropolitan area, New England and Chicago: the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The merger proved disastrous, and barely two years after its formation the company failed, at the time the largest bankruptcy in United States history. Its railroad operations were later absorbed into Conrail, while its remaining assets were reorganized into American Premier Underwriters.