The Berkshire Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. The line runs from near Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

 west to Schodack, New York

Schodack, New York

Schodack is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 12,536 at the 2000 census. The town name is derived from the native word, Escotak. The town is in the southwestern part of the county. Schodack is southeast of Albany, New York.- History :Prior to the advent of...

 (near Albany) along a former New York Central Railroad

New York Central Railroad

The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

 line. Its east end is in Wilbraham, east of Springfield, at the west end of the Boston Subdivision

Boston Subdivision

The Boston Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The line runs from Boston west to near Springfield along a former New York Central Railroad line. Its east end is at Amtrak's Northeast Corridor at Back Bay Station, over which CSX has...

. Its west end is at the east end of the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge

Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge

The Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge is a railroad bridge spanning the Hudson River at Castleton-on-Hudson and Selkirk, New York in the United States....

, at a junction with the Castleton Subdivision

Castleton Subdivision

The Castleton Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from Schodack northwest to Selkirk along a former New York Central Railroad line. At its southeast end, it junctions with the Berkshire Subdivision and Schodack...

 and Schodack Subdivision

Schodack Subdivision

The Schodack Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from Stuyvesant north to Schodack along a former New York Central Railroad line. At its south end, it merges with the Hudson Subdivision; its north end is at a junction with the...

. Along the way, the line junctions Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Post Road Branch

Post Road Branch

The Post Road Branch is a railroad line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from a junction with CSX Transportation's Berkshire Subdivision in Schodack northwest to CSX's Hudson Subdivision at Rensselaer along a former New York Central Railroad line...

 (over which CSX has trackage rights

Trackage rights

Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....

) in Schodack.

Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Lake Shore Limited

Lake Shore Limited

The Lake Shore Limited is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. The train runs between Chicago and Albany, NY, where it divides into two sections that provide thru-service to New York and Boston...

operates over the Berkshire Subdivision east of the junction with the Post Road Branch.

History

The Western Railroad opened east of Springfield in 1839, and from Springfield west to the New York state line in 1841. In 1842, the portion of the Boston-Albany line in New York was completed by the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad. The Hudson River Connecting Railroad opened the piece of the current Berkshire Subdivision west of the Post Road Branch junction in 1924. The line became part of the Boston and Albany Railroad

Boston and Albany Railroad

The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail and CSX. The line is used by CSX for freight...

, New York Central, and Conrail through leases, mergers, and takeovers, and was assigned to CSX in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.