Reading Company
The Reading Company (/ˈrɛdɪŋ/ RED-ing) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976.
Map of the rail lines of Reading Railroad | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Reporting mark | RDG |
| Locale | Delaware Maryland New Jersey Pennsylvania |
| Dates of operation | 1833–1976 |
| Successor | Conrail (now Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation) Reading International (cinemas and real estate) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 1,460 miles (2,350 kilometres) |
Commonly called the Reading Railroad and logotyped as Reading Lines, the Reading Company was a railroad holding company for the majority of its existence, and a single railroad in its later years. It operated service as Reading Railway System and was a successor to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, founded in 1833. Until the decline in anthracite shipments from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania following World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States.
Enactment of the federally-funded Interstate Highway System in 1956 led to competition from the modern trucking industry, who used the Interstates for short-distance transportation of goods, which compounded the company's competition for transportation business, forcing it into bankruptcy in 1971.
In 1976, its railroad operations merged into Conrail, and the remainder of the corporation was renamed Reading International.