The Niagara Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated 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...

 of 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 Buffalo north and west to Niagara Falls 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 south end is at the Buffalo Terminal Subdivision; its north end is near the Canadian border at the Whirlpool Bridge. It junctions the Belt Subdivision

Belt Subdivision

The Belt Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of New York. The line is located in Buffalo, connecting the Buffalo Terminal Subdivision with the Niagara Subdivision along a former New York Central Railroad line.-History:...

 in Buffalo and the Lockport Subdivision east of Niagara Falls.

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 Maple Leaf operates over the entire Niagara Subdivision; the Empire Service

Empire Service (Amtrak)

The Empire Service is a train service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service along the 460-mile Empire Corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls, New York...

uses the line south of the Niagara Falls station.

History

The Buffalo and Black Rock Railroad opened a line from downtown Buffalo north to Black Rock in 1834. The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad

Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad

The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was a part of the New York Central Railroad system, connecting Buffalo, New York to Niagara Falls. It is still used by CSX for freight and Amtrak for passenger service.-History:...

 extended the line to Tonawanda

Tonawanda (town), New York

Tonawanda is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 78,155. The town is at the north border of the county and is the northern suburb of Buffalo...

 in 1837 and Niagara Falls in 1840, coinciding with the current line south of the curve near Wheatfield

Wheatfield, New York

Wheatfield is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 18,117 at the 2010 census. The name stems from the agricultural use of the town lands: Growing Wheat....

. The line from Niagara Falls east to what is now the west end of the Lockport Subdivision opened in 1838 as part of the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad. A cutoff bypassing downtown Niagara Falls opened in or near the 1950s, forming the current line. The line became part of the New York Central and Conrail through leases, mergers, and takeovers, and was assigned to CSX in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.