The Trenton Subdivision is a
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
line owned by
CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. The line runs from CP NICE in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, northeast to
Port Reading Junction in
Manville, New Jersey. The line was formerly part of the
Reading Company system.
At its south end, CP NICE, in
Nicetown-Tioga, Philadelphia, the Trenton Subdivision becomes the
Philadelphia Subdivision, Conrail and Norfolk Southern has trackage rights to go through CP Park to access the
Delair Branch. The north end of the Trenton Subdivision at Port Reading Junction is where the
Conrail Lehigh Line (in the
North Jersey Shared Assets Area) heads northeast and the
Norfolk Southern Railway Lehigh Line heads west.
SEPTA Regional Rail's
West Trenton Line parallels the line from
Neshaminy Falls, Pennsylvania to
Ewing, New Jersey, they shared the tracks until 2015 when CSX built a bypass at
West Trenton station. SEPTA's
Fox Chase Line parallels the line from
Newtown Junction to
Cheltenham Township, having used it until 2005 when single-track service on the SEPTA line eliminated the need for usage of the freight track.
History
The former southernmost piece of the Trenton Subdivision, from its south end across the
Columbia Railroad Bridge to
Belmont, opened in 1834 as part of the
Main Line of Public Works. The
Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road opened in 1839, including from Belmont north to the junction with the
Norfolk Southern Railway's
Harrisburg Line near the
Falls of the Schuylkill. A branch of the Reading from the Falls east to
Nicetown and southeast to
Port Richmond opened in 1842, now the Trenton Subdivision from the Falls to Nicetown. The line south of Belmont was sold to the Reading in 1851.
The portion of the Trenton Subdivision from
Olney (near Tabor Road) northeast to
Cheltenham Township near Martins Mill Road opened in 1876 as part of the
Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad. That same year, the
North Pennsylvania Railroad and
Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad opened the
New York Branch from
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania (on the NPRR main line) northeast to the
Central Railroad of New Jersey to
Bridgewater, New Jersey, including the entire Trenton Subdivision north of
Oakford, Pennsylvania. A cutoff from Cheltenham northeast to Oakford opened in 1906 as the New York Short Line Railroad.
[ , March 2005 Edition]
All the above pieces became part of the
Reading Company through leases and mergers, and part of
Conrail in 1976. In the 1999 breakup of
Conrail, the Trenton Subdivision was assigned to
CSX Transportation.
Though trackage is owned by CSX, Norfolk Southern has Trackage Rights over the Trenton Subdivision, between CP Laurel Hill to CP Nice to go to Port Richmond, and CP River to Eastwick.
See also
*
List of CSX Transportation lines
References
External links
*{{commons category-inline, Trenton Subdivision
CSX Transportation lines
Rail infrastructure in Pennsylvania
Rail infrastructure in New Jersey
Reading Company lines