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

's Kingston Subdivision, or Kingston Sub for short, is a major

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

connecting

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

with

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

that carries the majority of CN traffic between these points. The line was originally the main trunk for 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 ...

between these cities, although there has been some realignment of the route between these cities. The majority of the Kingston Sub runs close to the northern bank of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

and the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. The infrastructure consists of twin tracks, on which over 50 pieces of interlocking

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

tracks are grafted all along the subdivision. The extra length of these crossover tracks allows for high speed track interchange. Low gravity intermodal container trains are allowed to change tracks at 45 miles per hour, and

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 operati ...

's passenger trains, at 60, and in some areas, 90. The governing traffic control system is CTC. Since 1995, no OCS operation clearance forms need to be filled by train conductors on the Kingston Subdivision. CTC signals thus provide both permission and authorization for train movements, as is the situation with most main line operation at CN. Just east of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, east of Toronto, the line is joined by the CP Belleville Subdivision,

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 Canad ...

's similar mainline route. The two remain nearly side-by-side to the east of Belleville, where the Belleville sub turns north to

Smiths Falls Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is separated from the county. The Rideau Canal waterway passes th ...

. Sections of the Kingston Sub are no longer owned by CN. In particular, CN mainline freight traffic in the Toronto area no longer follows the Kingston Sub, and is re-directed north of the city along the York Sub. The section between Pickering Junction and

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 has been sold 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 ...

for

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 ...

service, part of their

Lakeshore East line Lakeshore East is one of the seven commuter rail lines of GO Transit in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto to in Durham Region. Buses from Oshawa connect to communities further east in Newc ...

Stations

The 1850s

mainline consisted of 34 stations, many of which have been removed from service or no longer exist. Lansdowne station was torn down soon after CN abandoned service to the village in 1966; CN demolished an

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

station in 2002. Stations currently on the Toronto-Montréal mainline include: *

Union Station (Toronto) Union Station is a major railway station and intermodal transportation hub in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Front Street West, on the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in downtown Toronto. The munici ...

(no VIA service) at Danforth, Scarborough, Eglinton in Toronto * Guildwood * Commuter stations in

Rouge Hill Rouge is a neighbourhood in the northeastern area of Toronto, Ontario, within the former city of Scarborough. It is Toronto's largest neighbourhood by surface area; however, unlike other neighbourhoods, most of its area remains undeveloped, as th ...

Pickering Pickering may refer to: Places Antarctica * Pickering Nunataks, Alexander Island Australia * Pickering, South Australia, the original name (1872–1940) of the town of Wool Bay * Pickering Brook, Western Australia, Australia Canada * Pic ...

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

and

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

serve

; No VIA service *

Oshawa GO Station Durham College Oshawa GO station is a station for commuter rail, passenger rail and regional bus services in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the terminal station for the Lakeshore East line of GO Transit and serves Via Rail's '' Corridor'' service ...

* Port Hope railway station *

Cobourg railway station The Cobourg railway station in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada is served by Via Rail trains running between Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. The station is staffed, with ticket sales, free outdoor parking, and a wheelchair lift for access to the trains. ...

* Brighton (not in use, now part of Memory Junction railway museum) *

Trenton Junction railway station Trenton Junction railway station (french: Gare de Trenton Junction); is an unstaffed inter-city train station at 18277B Telephone Road in Trenton, Ontario, Canada operated by Via Rail. The station is located south of Ontario Highway 401 on Onta ...

* Belleville station (Ontario) * Napanee railway station * Ernestown (not in use) *

Kingston railway station (Ontario) The Kingston railway station is an inter-city passenger rail station in Cataraqui, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is served by Via Rail trains running from Toronto to Ottawa or Montreal, along the ''Corridor'' route. It is located on John Counte ...

* Kingston Outer Station (abandoned, in ruins) * Gananoque railway station * Brockville railway station * Prescott (not in use, now houses Grenville historical society and archives) * Near Morrisburg, two historic stations from

The Lost Villages The Lost Villages were ten communities (nine conventional villages and a populated island) in the Canadian province of Ontario, in the former townships of Cornwall and Osnabruck (now South Stormont) near Cornwall, which were permanently sub ...

were relocated but did not return to service. New stations were built in Morrisburg and Long Sault in the 1950s but the train no longer stops. *

Cornwall railway station Cornwall railway station is located at the north end of Station Road, east of Pitt Street in the north end of the city of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The station is wheelchair accessible but advance notice has to be given. In 2013, the ticket co ...

* Dorval railway station (Via) * The line ended at

Bonaventure Station Bonaventure is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Orange Line. It opened on February 13, 1967, four months after ...

, which has been replaced by Montreal Central Station.

References

{{Rail Subdivisions in Ontario Kingston Subdivision Kingston Subdivision Railway lines in Toronto Transport in Montreal Rail infrastructure in the Regional Municipality of Durham Rail infrastructure in Quebec Rail transport in Pickering, Ontario Rail transport in Ajax, Ontario Rail transport in Whitby, Ontario Rail transport in Oshawa Transport in Clarington Rail transport in Northumberland County, Ontario Rail transport in Cobourg Transport in Quinte West Rail transport in Hastings County Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Rail transport in Belleville, Ontario Rail transport in Lennox and Addington County Rail transport in Kingston, Ontario Rail infrastructure in Leeds and Grenville United Counties Rail transport in Brockville Rail transport in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Rail transport in Cornwall, Ontario