Montreal Subdivision (CSX Transportation)


The Montreal Subdivision is a railroad line owned by the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway and Canadian National. Operations are currently by Canadian National. The line originally ran from Massena, New York, northeast to Kahnawake, Quebec, along a former New York Central Railroad line. At its south end, the St. Lawrence Subdivision continues south; its north end was at Adirondack Junction, a junction with the Canadian Pacific Railway's Adirondack Subdivision, along which it had trackage rights north over the Saint-Laurent Railway Bridge into Montreal.

History

The piece from Huntingdon, Quebec, north to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield opened in 1892 as part of the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway. The line from Valleyfield to Beauharnois was originally a branch of the Grand Trunk Railway, built in the 1880s. The StL&A leased this line and in 1897 opened an extension from Beauharnois to Adirondack Junction. The line passed to the New York Central Railroad and Conrail through leases, mergers, and takeovers. Conrail bought the line from Massena to Huntingdon from the Canadian National Railway in 1993. The line between Beauharnois and Kahnawake was placed out of service, but not abandoned, in the late 1990s. In the 1999 breakup of Conrail, the Montreal Subdivision was sold to CSX Transportation. On August 19, 2019, with an agreement between CSX Transportation and Canadian National established, the St. Lawrence Subdivision along with the Montreal & Fulton Subdivision, were all sold off to CN. CN plans to operate under the subsidiary of Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad. On April 6th, 2020 the Surface Transportation Board approved the deal under certain circumstances, and therefore, the transaction will go into effect on May 21st, 2020. Instead of trains laying over 24 hours in Massena, NY and being interchanged via numerous transfer jobs, CN‘s current plan is to run trains all the way between Montreal, PQ and Syracuse, NY in one trip, via CN trains M326 & M327. CN will interchange with CSX directly at CSX's Dewitt, Woodard, and Belle Isle Yard. The transaction will affect approximately 60 CSX employees, whom CN will be offering jobs. CN's operations have yet to begin as of editing this.