The CN Newmarket Subdivision is a rail line in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

operated by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

(CNR). The original route runs northward from just west of

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

in downtown

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, ending just south of North Bay. A short portion between Allandale in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

and Longford outside

Orillia Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of Cent ...

was lifted in 1996, and the southern section sold off in parts to

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that manages and integrates road and public transport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), which comprises much of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region. Headquartered at Union Sta ...

. Metrolinx operates the southern section as their

Barrie line Barrie is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto in a generally northward direction to Barrie, and includes ten stations along its route. From ...

, while CN continues to operate the northern section from Longford to North Bay. The severed northern section was never renamed, despite it no longer running through its namesake town. Access to Toronto is currently via the

Bala Subdivision The Canadian National Railway (CN) Bala Subdivision is a major railway line in Ontario, Canada. It runs between the provincial capital of Toronto in Southern Ontario and Capreol in Northern Ontario, where the line continues as the Ruel Subdivisio ...

Washago Severn is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, located between Lake Couchiching, and the Severn River (both are part of the Trent–Severn Waterway) in Simcoe County. Communities The township comprises the communities of Amigo Beach, Ar ...

Junction, a short distance north of the remaining section's southern terminus, which is now used as a

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

serving industries. The line was originally the

Northern Railway of Canada The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a ...

, the first railway to open for commercial business in what was then

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. It reached Allandale in 1853 and then began construction northwest towards Collingwood and beyond to Meaford. After merging with their competitor, the Hamilton and Northwestern Railway, they built a joint line running northeast out of Barrie toward Orillia, and then on to meet the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

transcontinental lines in North Bay. The Northern was purchased by the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

in 1888, whose bankruptcy in 1918 led to the line becoming part of the newly formed CNR in 1923. The northeastern branch became part of the Newmarket Subdivision, with the original line becoming the Meaford Subdivision, which CN sold off in 1998 to the municipalities of Barrie and Collingwood to become the

Barrie-Collingwood Railway The Barrie-Collingwood Railway , commonly referred to as the BCRY, is a shortline railway operating between the towns of Innisfil and Utopia in south central Ontario, Canada. The line was started in 1998 and runs on abandoned Canadian Nationa ...

. CNR continued use of both lines in spite of now having several routes northward, and did not begin closing portions (Collingwood to Meaford) until the 1980s. The line was used by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

's transcontinental ''

The Canadian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', running north from Toronto to Washago at the north end of

Lake Couchiching Lake Couchiching ( ), from the Ojibwe ''gojijiing'' meaning "inlet", is a medium-sized lake in Central Ontario, Canada, separated from Lake Simcoe by a narrow channel. Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching are popular spots for fishing in summer and ice f ...

where it switched to the Bala Sub and proceeded to

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

. From 1976, the ONR operated the ''

Northlander The ''Northlander'' was a passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Ontario, Canada. The ''Northlander'' operated six days per week year-round in both directions and connected Cochrane with Toronto. The train typically con ...

'' passenger train service along this line between Toronto and North Bay, albeit often in one direction only to avoid turning the trainset; switching onto their own lines in North Bay to continue on to

Cochrane Cochrane may refer to: Places Australia *Cochrane railway station, Sydney, a railway station on the closed Ropes Creek railway line Canada * Cochrane, Alberta * Cochrane Lake, Alberta * Cochrane District, Ontario ** Cochrane, Ontario, a town wit ...

. Beginning in 1982, the line also began to be used by

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

for service from Toronto to Bradford, with a brief period of service to Barrie lasting from 1990 to 1993. Barrie did not see GO service again until 2007. In 1996, the rails between Barrie and Longford (just south of Washago Junction) were removed, thus ending service to Orillia, severing the line. ''The Canadian'' then used the line as far as Snyder Junction with the York Sub just north of the Toronto city limits, and then uses the York Sub to access the Bala Sub and on to Sudbury. The ''

'' instead switched to the Bala Sub for its entire run. In 1996, CN also applied to abandon the entire section from York Sub to Barrie. This section was then purchased by the Ontario government for use by

. CN retained the section from the York Sub to

, but eventually sold off that section to the newly formed

in 2009. This junction has been grade separated and has allowed increased commuter traffic on the line, including 15 minute service and weekend trains. The northern portion of the original Newmarket Sub between Washago Junction and North Bay is still owned and operated by CN, and is exclusively used for freight traffic travelling between Toronto (from the Bala Sub) and North Bay. On September 19 2018, CN declared that the section running south of Washago to Longford Mills would be discontinued as part of their 3-year-plan. On September 21 2019, the Canadian Railway Preservation and Restoration Association (CRPRA) expressed their interest in that section of the Newmarket Sub to operate a local tourism train. The CN Newmarket Sub hasn't seen a passenger train on its tracks since the last remaining passenger service, the ''

'', which ended service in 2012.

References

{{Rail Subdivisions in Ontario

Newmarket Subdivision The CN Newmarket Subdivision is a rail line in Ontario operated by Canadian National Railway (CNR). The original route runs northward from just west of Union Station in downtown Toronto, ending just south of North Bay. A short portion between Al ...

Rail infrastructure in Simcoe County Rail infrastructure in the District Municipality of Muskoka Rail transport in Bracebridge, Ontario Rail transport in Huntsville, Ontario Rail infrastructure in Parry Sound District Rail infrastructure in Nipissing District Rail infrastructure in North Bay, Ontario