Increased passenger and freight traffic during World War II lifted the fortunes of the New Haven. The reorganization continued; the railroad was ultimately required to continue Old Colony passenger service unless losses exceeded $850,000 in a single calendar year. The New Haven emerged from bankruptcy on September 11, 1947, and fully acquired the Old Colony a week later; the B&P was kept as a separate New Haven-owned company. Palmer v. Massachusetts had been just one of eight Supreme Court cases generated by the reorganization. Losses on the Old Colony reached the critical value in October 1948; after threatening to discontinue all service, the New Haven cut back to a 26-train peak-only schedule on the Boston Group in March 1949.
