policy formulated in the late 19th century, the EL and other railroads could not immediately abandon long-distance passenger runs, despite the fact that competition from airlines, bus lines and the private automobile made them unprofitable. However, the EL did post profits in the mid and late-1960s through heavy cost-cutting (reduction of parallel services), equipment modernization, suburban industrial development, increased piggy-back trailer traffic and steady reduction of long-distance passenger train service, which ended on January 6, 1970. Also, additional rail traffic was temporarily diverted to the EL because of service problems on the troubled Penn Central lines, which the EL largely paralleled. The EL built a state of the art diesel engine repair facility in Marion, Ohio, and upgraded a large car repair shop in Meadville, Pennsylvania. As to its money-losing suburban passenger train services in the New York City metropolitan region, the EL had come to terms with the state of New Jersey during the late 1960s for adequate subsidy and for the purchase of new engines and coaches. The EL also gained a lucrative contract with United Parcel Service in 1970, which led to the operation of five dedicated intermodal trains daily between New Jersey and Chicago. Decline and conveyance into Conrail The Erie Lackawanna Railway was formed on March 1, 1968, as a subsidiary of Dereco, the holding company of the Norfolk and Western Railway, which had bought the railroad. On April 1, the assets were transferred as a condition of the proposed but never-consummated merger between the N&W and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Dereco also owned the Delaware & Hudson Railway at the time. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes destroyed many miles of track and related assets, especially in northeastern Pennsylvania and New York State's Southern Tier. The cost of repairs, and the loss of revenue, forced the company into bankruptcy, filing for reorganization under Section 77 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act on June 26. The completion of the Interstate 80 highway across Pennsylvania and New Jersey by 1971 added to the Erie Lackawanna's financial problems, as it diverted piggyback traffic previously garnered from less than truckload shipping companies such as Navajo and Cooper-Jarrett. On the flip-side, EL was able to land large contracts with UPS because of its ability to move piggyback traffic between Chicago and Metro New York more reliably, although not faster than Penn Central (and formerly, New York Central). For example, in 1971, the