Harrisburg Line


The Harrisburg Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Philadelphia west to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Harrisburg Line was formed the day Conrail began operations, April 1, 1976. However, all trackage of the line has been established way before the line’s establishment as the rail line was once represented as two rail lines, the Reading Company main line and the Lebanon Valley Branch. Both rail lines which is now the single Harrisburg Line rail line were owned by the Reading Company.
Today, the Harrisburg Line is owned by Norfolk Southern Railway under their Harrisburg Division. The Harrisburg Line runs through two tunnels, the Flat Rock Tunnel and the Black Rock Tunnel.

History

The Harrisburg Line, as a single rail line, was formed on April 1, 1976. However, all of the line has been in existence way before its establishment as the rail line was once two rail lines both owned by the Reading Company. Under the Reading Company, the Harrisburg Line as two rail lines were represented as the original commercial form of the Reading Company main line from Reading, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Lebanon Valley Branch from Reading to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Reading Company main line was established on July 16, 1838 between Reading and Norristown, Pennsylvania by the Reading Company’s Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road. The Reading to Norristown route is the Reading Company main line's original route/right of way. The Reading Company main line was extended to Philadelphia from Norristown on December 9, 1839. The Reading Company main line was later extended to the north from Reading to Port Clinton, Pennsylvania.
The Lebanon Valley Branch was opened by the Lebanon Valley Railroad from Reading to Harrisburg and the line and its railroad were purchased by the Reading Company on March 20, 1858. The Lebanon Valley Railroad built the Lebanon Valley Branch a few months before it got purchased by the Reading Company.
The Reading Company's railroad properties along with the Reading Company main line and the Lebanon Valley Branch became part of the Consolidated Rail Corporation on April 1, 1976 and the Reading Company main line’s Reading to Philadelphia trackage and all of the Lebanon Valley Branch were combined into a new rail line which became known as the Harrisburg Line. The Reading to Port Clinton trackage was separated from the Reading Company main line and was later sold to Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad. The newly created Harrisburg Line continued under Conrail until the late 1990s.
The Harrisburg Line became part of Norfolk Southern Railway on June 1, 1999, after the breakup of Conrail. Other Conrail lines such as the Lehigh Line, the Pittsburgh Line, Reading Line, Buffalo Line, the Lurgan Branch and the Royalton Branch also became lines of the Norfolk Southern Railway on the same date.

Connections

At its east end, near the Falls of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Harrisburg Line junctions with CSX Transportation's Trenton Subdivision and Philadelphia Subdivision. Its west end in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is at a junction with the Pittsburgh Line, the Lurgan Branch, the Royalton Branch, and Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line.
The line junctions the Morrisville Line at Norristown, Pennsylvania and the Reading Line near Reading, Pennsylvania. Also at Norristown, the line junctions with SEPTA’s Manayunk/Norristown Line.