The Lake Shore 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 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...

 and Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. The line runs from Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

 southwest along the shore of Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

 to Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...

 along the 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...

 main line.

At its east end, the Lake Shore Subdivision becomes the Buffalo Terminal Subdivision; the west end is west of downtown Erie, where the Erie West Subdivision

Erie West Subdivision

The Erie West Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The line runs from Erie, Pennsylvania southwest along the shore of Lake Erie to Cleveland, Ohio along the former New York Central Railroad main line.At its east end , the Erie West...

 begins.

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...

uses the Lake Shore Subdivision.

History

The line was built by two companies - the Buffalo and State Line Railroad in New York and the Erie and North East Railroad in Pennsylvania - and opened in 1852. Through mergers, leases, and takeovers, it became part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway

The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, NY to Chicago, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana...

, 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...

, and Conrail. When Conrail was broken up in 1999, the main line east of Cleveland, including the Lake Shore Subdivision, was assigned to CSX.