The New England States was a passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad and its successor Penn Central over the Water Level Route (predominantly alongside rivers and lake shores) between Chicago and Boston. It was launched in 1938, in tandem with the relaunch of the newly-streamlined 20th Century Limited, and assumed responsibility for that train's Boston sleepers. In 1949 it became the first Chicago–Boston streamliner. The New York Central dropped the name in 1967; an unnamed remnant continued running until 1971. Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited now serves the route.