For Immediate Release

Public Relations Division
Public Affairs Department
1170 Eighth Avenue
Bethlehem, PA 18016-7699
(610) 694-3711 - Phone
(610) 694-1509 - Fax

BETHLEHEM, Pa., March 19, 1999 -- The Brandywine Valley Railroad Company (BVRY) has acquired, subject to final approval of the appropriate regulatory agencies, the right to operate on 44 miles of track in southeastern Pennsylvania that will allow the subsidiary railroad of Bethlehem Steel Corporation to expand its operations.

"Our subsidiary railroads have played important roles in serving customers within Bethlehem as well as others outside the corporation. The BVRY is a strategic asset for Bethlehem Steel because it is ideally located to serve growing markets and create additional value for Bethlehem Steel and its customers," said Curtis H. Barnette, chairman and chief executive officer.

The Brandywine Valley Railroad Company was formed in 1981 by the former Lukens Inc. and acquired by Bethlehem as part of the merger with Lukens in May 1998. The short-line railroad was created to move goods within the steelmaking and finishing operations in Coatesville and surrounding areas.

The BVRY will operate as a short-line, or Class III, railroad on tracks that run (north and south) from Modena to Elsmere, Del., and (east and west) on SEPTA-owned tracks from Sylmar to Wawa. On the north-south route in Delaware, the BVRY will operate from the Pennsylvania-Delaware state line to Elsmere with the permission of the Reading Company. The BVRY connects with Conrail, soon to become Norfolk Southern, to the north and with CSX to the south.

BVRY will operate the line on an interim basis for about three months while the purchase from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is finalized. PennDOT has owned the line since the establishment of the Consolidated Rail Corporation in the 1970s and has been seeking a new owner.