The Columbia 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 CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The line runs along CSX's S Line from

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

, to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, for a total of . At its north end it continues south from the

Hamlet Subdivision The Hamlet Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in North Carolina and South Carolina. The line runs from Hamlet, North Carolina, to Columbia, South Carolina, for a total of 105.2 miles. At its north end it continues south f ...

and at its south end it continues south as the Savannah Subdivision of the Jacksonville Division.

Operation

The Columbia Subdivision runs along CSX's S Line, the former SAL passenger main line. In addition to CSX freight service, the line also hosts

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

Silver Star (Amtrak train) The ''Silver Star'' is a temporarily discontinued long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Savanna ...

'', which stops in Columbia and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

History

The Columbia Subdivision was originally built by the South Bound Railroad which opened in 1891. Two years later, the South Bound Railroad was leased by the

Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900. The system, including some of the first railroads in Florida, stretched from Jackso ...

, which operated a vast railroad network in Florida and southern Georgia. After leasing the South Bound Railroad, the FC&P would extend its Northern Division to Savannah to connect with the South Bound Railroad and making a continuous route from Columbia to Jacksonville. This extension opened in 1894. The line would be extended north to

Camden, South Carolina Camden is the largest city in and the county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census, and the 2022 population estimate is 8,213. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolita ...

by the end of the decade (this extension is now part of the

). The line would become part of the main line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1900, after they bought the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad. The Seaboard Air Line designated the line as the Columbia Subdivision, which it is still known as today. Through various mergers, the company became

by 1986. The line continues to be part of CSX's S Line (the designation given to the former Seaboard main line).

References

{{Attached KML CSX Transportation lines Seaboard Air Line Railroad Rail infrastructure in Georgia (U.S. state) Rail infrastructure in South Carolina

Operation

History

See also

References