Mohawk Subdivision

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The Mohawk Subdivision is a railroad line owned by New York Central Lines LLC and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from Amsterdam west to Syracuse^[1] along the former New York Central Railroad main line. At its east end, east of downtown Amsterdam, the line becomes the Selkirk Subdivision. It intersects the St. Lawrence Subdivision in downtown Syracuse and the Fairgrounds Subdivision to the west before becoming the Rochester Subdivision.

Amtrak's Empire Service, Lake Shore Limited, and Maple Leaf operate over the entire Mohawk Subdivision.

[edit] History

In 1836, the Utica and Schenectady Railroad opened a line from Schenectady west via Amsterdam to Utica.^[2] The Syracuse and Utica Railroad opened in 1839, extending the line west to Syracuse.^[3] The portion of the Mohawk Subdivision west from downtown Syracuse was opened in 1853 by the New York Central Railroad as part of a more direct route from Syracuse to Rochester.^[4] The entire 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.