Daily traffic peaked during World War II with up to 45,000 daily passengers, then declined in the 1950s with the advance of road and air travel. Major named inter-city trains in mid-20th century: Black Diamond: to Buffalo's Lackawanna Terminal (in partnership with Lehigh Valley Railroad) Crusader: to Jersey City (Communipaw Terminal) Interstate Express: to Syracuse (in partnership with Lackawanna Railroad) King Coal: to Pottsville via Reading Maple Leaf: to Toronto via Buffalo (in partnership with Lehigh Valley Railroad) Schuykill: to Pottsville via Reading Scranton Flyer: to Scranton The terminal buildings declined with the railroad's fortunes as maintenance budgets were cut. The Reading declared bankruptcy on November 23, 1971. The shed was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. In 1976, Conrail took over the freight operations of the Reading and other northeastern lines. The railroad's regional rail service went to SEPTA, the regional transit authority for Philadelphia (though Conrail ran the services under contract from SEPTA until 1983). Still, the Reading retained ownership of its Terminal complex. SEPTA also gained control of the ex-PRR regional lines and consolidated all regional rail service. The agency then launched the construction of the Center City Commuter Connection, a rail tunnel to connect the former Reading Railroad commuter lines with the former Pennsylvania Railroad commuter lines at Suburban Station, the stub-end terminal of the ex-PRR network, located on the site of the former Broad Street Station. Because the stations were to connect underground—Suburban Station's terminal is located beneath the former PRR headquarters—the Market East Station was built to replace the Reading Terminal with its elevated platforms. The new station is adjacent to and partially under Reading Terminal. Reading Terminal handled its last train, a specially made-up train using Blueliners from Lansdale, on November 6, 1984. Four days later, after final track connections were made to the Center City Commuter Connection tunnel, rail service on the ex-Reading Lines to and from Center City Philadelphia was via the Market East Station. Later use In the years that followed, the Reading Terminal's fate was uncertain, with various proposals for replacement or adaptive reuse. Its demolition was staved off by a group led by urban-renewal advocate Edmund Bacon, who pointed to its landmark status and its location within the Market Street East Redevelopment Area. This urban-renewal zone stretched along Market Street from City Hall to 6th