The Harrisburg Line is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway

Norfolk Southern Railway

The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. The line runs from Philadelphia west to Harrisburg along the former Reading Company

Reading Company

The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...

 main line.

At its east end, near the Falls of the Schuylkill, the Harrisburg Line junctions with CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

's Trenton Subdivision

Trenton Subdivision

The Trenton Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The line runs from Park Junction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania northeast to Manville, New Jersey along a former Reading Company line....

. Its west end is at a junction with the Pittsburgh Line, the Lurgan Branch

Lurgan Branch

The Lurgan Branch is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Maryland. The line runs from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania southwest to Hagerstown, Maryland along former Reading Company and Pennsylvania Railroad lines...

, the Royalton Branch, and Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line

Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line

The Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line is an electrified rail line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Zoo Interlocking in Philadelphia, where it meets the Northeast Corridor, west to Harrisburg , where electrification ends, along the former...

. The line junctions the Morrisville Line (indirectly) at Norristown and the Reading Line near Reading.

History

The Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road opened in 1839, including the current Harrisburg Line east of Reading. The line from Reading to Harrisburg was opened by the Lebanon Valley Railroad

Lebanon Valley Railroad

The Lebanon Valley Railroad is a railroad line between Harrisburg and Reading in Pennsylvania, USA. The line opened on 18 January 1858.The road was acquired by the Reading Railroad on 20 March 1858, which put them in direct competition with the Pennsylvania Railroad for the Philadelphia to...

 in 1858. Through leases, mergers, and takeovers, the line became part of Conrail. In the 1999 breakup of Conrail, the line was assigned to Norfolk Southern.