The Trillium Railway is a Canadian
short-line railroad
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...
operating in the province of
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. Much of its right-of-way in the Niagara area was formerly part of the "
Welland Canal Railway" (also known as the
Welland Railway) that closely followed the route of the second
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller, Ontario, Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lak ...
.
Trillium Railway began operations in 1997 with only eleven kilometres of railway, all of which were located in
Port Colborne.
With an expansion in 1998, Trillium added 55 kilometres of track between
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
and
St. Thomas. Another expansion in 1999 added another 55 kilometres of track in
Welland,
Thorold, and
St. Catharines.
In the
Niagara Region, Trillium's trackage, referred to as
Port Colborne Harbour Railway, is made up of
Canadian National's former secondary and branch lines, including a number of urban spurs, on the west side of the Canal. CN and
Canadian Pacific
The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
interchange with Trillium at CN/CP Feeder. Trillium no longer operates on the south tracks of the
Townline Tunnel under the Welland Canal.
From July 2018 until the line's closure in December 2021, Trillium operated the
Orangeville Brampton Railway under contract from the Town of Orangeville, taking over operations from
Cando Rail Services Ltd. The train was discontinued in 2019
In 2018 Trillium Railway was purchased by Gio Rail.
Closed subdivision
The
St. Thomas and Eastern Railway operated over the former CN Cayuga Spur, the historical "Canada Air Line".
It reached the city of St. Thomas via
trackage rights over CN.
References
External links
Trillium Railway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trillium Railway
Ontario railways
Companies based in Ontario
Transport in Port Colborne