The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central was a combination of three railroads: the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), New York Central System (NYC) and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NH). The NH was merged into Penn Central on January 1, 1969.

The legal entity that eventually became the Penn Central Transportation Company was the former Pennsylvania Railroad, which absorbed the New York Central as part of the original 1968 merger and, at the same time, began using the Penn Central name to reflect its merger with the New York Central. The company remained headquartered in Philadelphia after its merger with the New York Central. By 1970, the company had filed for what was, at that time, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.