Faced with the possible loss of commuter service, local business interests, politicians, and the railroad unions in Philadelphia pushed for limited government subsidization.
He is best known for his involvement in labor disputes with railroad unions.
Last week, because railroad unions traditionally honor one another's picket lines, 110,000 daily riders paid the price.
Members of four railroad unions voted overwhelmingly for the largest union merger ever in the railroad industry.
The railroad union voted to stop trains all over the country in a sympathy strike.
The signalmen's union is the only other railroad union besides the engineers whose members are working without a contract.
About a month before the primary election the railroad unions said that they wanted Truman to win.
For one thing, the railroad unions were powerful and operated under a less controversial wage structure based on pay per mile traveled.
The railroad unions instead proposed a motion not to hold the 1925 organizational convention.
Traditionally, railroad unions honor each other's picket lines.