Southern Railway Enforces Segregation Across Its Network After 1896

Following Plessy, the Southern Railway and other large railroads implement and enforce segregation across their networks. Black passengers holding first-class tickets are expelled from sleeping cars and dining cars. 'Colored' waiting rooms are smaller, dirtier, and lacking amenities. The railroad companies, which had previously sometimes objected to segregation laws as operationally costly, now use them to justify reduced service quality for Black passengers.