National Transcontinental Railway
The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a state railway company in Canada . It was founded on October 24, 1903 to build a transcontinental railroad line from Moncton to Winnipeg , where the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, founded in the same year, was to join in the direction of the Pacific. Construction began in 1906 and was completed in November 1913 , except for the Québec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City . In 1915, the GTPR also began operating as far as Prince Rupert on the Pacific coast. After some rework, the National Transcontinental Railway from Moncton to Winnipeg was officially opened on June 1, 1915. However, the Québec Bridge did not start operating until October 3, 1919.
The route ran from Moncton via Edmundston , Quebec City, Amos and Cochrane (Ontario) to Winnipeg. The end of the line in Moncton was about 1.2 kilometers from the Intercolonial station. This 1.2 kilometer route was also used. However, the railway ran from the junction just under 20 kilometers right next to the main intercolonial line. Since the quality of the NTR's track system was of a very high standard, the Intercolonial decided just a few months after the NTR opened to shut down its parallel line and use the NTR instead. Only three kilometers in Moncton remained.
The Canadian government leased the railway to the Grand Trunk Railway , which was also the parent company of the GTPR. Soon, however, GTR could no longer pay the lease fees and the government transferred the management of the Intercolonial Railway. On August 1, 1914, these, the NTR and other railroad companies went into the Canadian Government Railways , which were reorganized in 1918 into the Canadian National Railways .
Due to its routing away from the more densely populated areas, the route could never generate much profit. The section from Pelletier to Quebec City was closed in 1976 after a 45 kilometer long new line from Pelletier to the former intercolonial main line had been built. In 1986 the train service between Nakina (Ontario) and Calstock (Ontario) ended and in 1997 between Cochrane (Ontario) and La Sarre (Québec) . The intermediate section Calstock – Cochrane was sold in 1993 to the Ontario Northland Railway .
literature
- Cameron, Douglas: The people's railway: A history of Canadian National. Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, 1992. ISBN 1-55054-062-9
