The Trenton Cutoff (sometimes spelled Trenton Cut Off) is a rail corridor in the U.S. state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

that runs from Morrisville to Glenloch. Today used by

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, it consists of two rail lines: the Morrisville Line, which runs between Morrisville and Ernest (near Norristown), and the Dale Secondary between Ernest and Glenloch. The corridor was opened by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

in 1892 to allow main line freight traffic to run between

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

without passing through

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The Trenton Cutoff goes through the suburbs north and west of the city. The second track (the original westbound track) was removed by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

around 1992. Compare with A low-grade line (one with very gradual rises and descents), the Trenton Cutoff runs from

Conrail Shared Assets Operations Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail (reporting mark CRCX), an American railroad company. It operates three networks, the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Are ...

Morrisville Yard The Morrisville Yard is an American rail yard that is used by New Jersey Transit rail operations for trains on its Northeast Corridor Line. It is located roughly two miles west of the New Jersey state capital, Trenton, in Morrisville, Pennsylvani ...

on the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

to GLEN interlocking where it joins the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

-owned

Keystone Corridor The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line, Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main li ...

(

Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line The Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. This is the only electrified Amtrak line in the United States outside of the main line of the Northeast Corridor. The line ...

). Between Morrisville and Ernest, the Trenton Cutoff has active freight service. At Ernest, the Trenton Cutoff connects with the

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

Manayunk/Norristown Line The Manayunk/Norristown Line is a commuter rail service in Delaware Valley, Southeastern Pennsylvania between Center City Philadelphia and Norristown, Pennsylvania, Norristown, and one of the 13 lines in SEPTA's SEPTA Regional Rail, Regional Rai ...

(former

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) 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. Commonly called the Reading Railr ...

), with a connection to Norfolk Southern's

Harrisburg Line The Harrisburg Line is a railroad, rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) in the United States, U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Philadelphia (HP 5.2) west to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg (HP 112 ...

via a bridge over the Schuylkill River west of the

Norristown Transportation Center Norristown Transit Center is a two-level multimodal public transportation regional hub located in Norristown, Pennsylvania and operated by SEPTA. It opened in 1989, replacing the older M terminus one block away at Main and Swede Streets, and ...

. From Ernest west to GLEN interlocking, the Trenton Cutoff is a single track in dark (unsignaled) territory. As of 2014, it sees one freight per day, carrying

Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CCI, formerly Cliffs Natural Resources) is an American steel manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. They specialize in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping a ...

steel from Coatesville to

Conshohocken Conshohocken ( ; ) is a borough on the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in suburban Philadelphia. Historically a large mill town and industrial and manufacturing center, after the decline of industry in recent years Conshohock ...

. Originally a two-tracked

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

rail line, the catenary wire over the tracks was dismantled by Conrail to provide greater overhead clearance for double-stack container trains. The high voltage transmission lines running along the Trenton Cutoff from Norristown, where the Trenton Cutoff crosses over the abandoned

Schuylkill Branch The Schuylkill Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in Pennsylvania. The line ran from the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line at 52nd Street in Philadelphia north via Norristown, Reading, and Pot ...

, to Glenloch are part of

Amtrak's 25 Hz traction power system The traction power network of Amtrak uses 25 Hz for the southern portion of the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the Keystone Corridor, and several branch lines between New York City and Washington D.C. The system was constructed by the Pennsylvania Rai ...

, used to power trains on the

and the

. For the most part, the line is

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

, except for two public

grade crossings Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

at Bustleton Pike and County Line Road and a private grade crossing in Fort Washington. The line closely parallels the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for across the southern part of the st ...

through

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Montg ...

. One of PECO's power lines follows the line from Willow Grove to Langhorne.

References

{{Reflist Norfolk Southern Railway lines Pennsylvania Railroad Through-freight Lines Railroad cutoffs Railway lines opened in 1892

See also

References