History

The Brampton Subdivision has as its origin the Toronto & Guelph Railway (T&GR), which was incorporated in August 30, 1851 to build from Toronto to Guelph. In TBD, the T&GR was among the constituent railways that formed the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) mainline from Toronto to Sarnia. The line opened to Guelph on July 1, 1856 and to Stratford on November 17, 1856.

By January 3, 1965 the Brampton Subdivision was reorganized as follows:

On April 8, 2009, GO Transit acquired the Weston Subdivision.

Footnotes

Mileage 0.00 to 1.12 Brampton Subdivision corresponds to mileage 0.00 to 1.12 Oakville Subdivision.

Single track except:

Coming eventually...

Diagram showing location of train phone wires

Face direction named: Count cross arms from the top down.

Image Not Available
Look West
West Toronto to Guelph Jct.		 Image Not Available
Look West
Guelph Jct. to Stratford Yard.

Train phone wires marked Image Not Available

Note—

Emergency telephone wire must be hooked up as close as possible to the pole, first scraping any corrosion off the pole line wire in order to establish contact with the train dispatcher.

Chronology

Date Event
1851-08-30 T&GR incorporated[Stevens-1960, p. 83; Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo!® Group, Message #2482]
1851-08-30 City of Toronto votes 781 to 170 in favour of subscribing to £100,000 of T&GR stock[The North American (Toronto), Monday, November 21, 1851, p. 2].
1856-07-01 GTR opens to Guelph[Stevens-1960, p. 279; Trout-1970, p. 35]1.
1856-11-17 GTR opens to Stratford[Brown-1864, p. 22; Bladen-1932, p. 46; Trout-1970, p. 83].
1871-12-16 Third rail added Parkdale to Weston to accomodate 3'6" TG&BR[Wilson-1983, p. 35].
1873-10-03/04 Gauge changed from Provincial to Standard[Bladen-1932, p. 46].
1875-11-01 TG&BR constructs its own line between Parkdale and Weston[Wilson-1983, p. 35] and presumably third rail is lifted shortly thereafter.
1923-01-31 GTR becomes part of CNR[Bowers-1983, p. 162; Cooper-2001, p. 394]
1954-10-18 In the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel CNR operates shuttle service between Malton and Parkdale with stops at Weston and West Toronto[The Globe and Mail (Toronto), Monday, October 18, 1954, p. 1].
1964-10-26/1965-01-03 Brampton Subdivision reorganized as follows:
  • Mileage 0.0 to 17.0: Weston Subdivision;
  • Mileage 17.0 to 30.0 Part of Halton Subdivision (Mileage 11.1 to 24.1); and
  • Mileage 30.0 88.6: Guelph Subdivision.
[CNR.GLR.TA.62/63].
2009-04-08

GO Transit acquires important CN rail line for expanded commuter rail service in the Greater Toronto Area

Toronto, April 8 /CNW Telbec/—GO Transit and CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) announced today that the Toronto area commuter rail agency will acquire CN's Weston Subdivision for expanded GO service between Union Station and regions northwest of the city.

This strategically important rail line runs from a point near Strachan Avenue and Wellington Street West in downtown Toronto, northwest through the city to CN's main east-west freight line near the intersection of Steeles Avenue and Bramalea Road. The purchase is valued at C$160 million.

GO currently runs its Georgetown commuter rail service over the line, which also accommodates VIA Rail trains running between Toronto, Kitchener, and other points in southwestern Ontario. In total, the two passenger carriers operate 46 trains per day over the line, while CN operates three daily local freight trains along this corridor.

Under its agreement with GO Transit, CN will continue to serve its freight customers on the Weston Subdivision. VIA will also continue to operate trains on the line.

By owning the Georgetown rail corridor, GO is better positioned to add more service, build new infrastructure, and expand its operations along that line. This acquisition aligns with GO Transit's Strategic Plan, GO 2020.

"This is a major step forward for future growth and expansion along this already busy corridor," said GO Transit Chairman Peter Smith. "This purchase sets the framework for future GO rail corridor purchases, and we look forward to continuing our strong, long-standing partnership with CN."

Claude Mongeau, CN executive vice-president and chief financial officer, said: "CN is pleased to have reached this line-sale agreement with GO Transit. GO is a valuable CN customer—the vast majority of its services in the Greater Toronto Area operate over CN's rail network—and we believe this transaction and our continuing partnership with GO will help to advance commuter rail and its clear environmental benefits to the Toronto region. At the same time, our line sale—reflecting CN's tight focus on asset management —will also generate value for the company."

End Notes

  1. This date is at odds with Churcher, who states the line to Berlin (now Kitchener) opened for traffic on June 23, 1856[Churcher].