CN Kingston Subdivision

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Kingston Subdivision
CN on the Kingston Subdivision in October 1981
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Canadian National Railway Metrolinx
Locale	Ontario and Quebec, Canada
Termini	Union Station Rail Corridor, Toronto Montreal
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	Canadian National Railway
Services	Lakeshore East Toronto-Montreal Corridor Toronto-Ottawa Corridor
Operator(s)	Canadian National Railway (freight) GO Transit (passenger) Via Rail (passenger)
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Signalling	Centralized traffic control

Canadian National Railway's Kingston Subdivision, or Kingston Sub for short, is a major railway line connecting Toronto with Montreal that carries the majority of CN traffic between these points. The line was originally the main trunk for the Grand Trunk Railway 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 and the Saint Lawrence River.

The infrastructure consists of twin tracks, on which over 50 pieces of interlocking crossover 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'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, east of Toronto, the line is joined by the CP Belleville Subdivision, Canadian Pacific Railway'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. 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 in downtown Toronto has been sold to Metrolinx for GO Transit service, part of their Lakeshore East line.^[1]

Via rail of Canada operates their corridor service along the entirety of the line. VIAs Toronto-Ottawa trains runs along the line to Brockville, where it splits off and heads north. The Toronto-Montreal train runs along the whole line. In fact, many say that VIA trains run along the line more than CN freight trains. The most used station on the line is Kingston, due to Montreal, and Toronto stations being on their own subdivisions.