The Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) provided subsidized passenger and freight contract service from the beginning of operations in 1976 through the 1980s. Conrail operated commuter trains until the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 transferred then to local authorities. It also operated freight on "light-density lines" owned by its bankrupt predecessors, and later by government authorities; these were gradually abandoned or transferred to short-line railroads.