British Columbia/Railways

This page documents all of British Columbia's freight, industrial and passenger railways as mapped in OSM.

Much of BC's railway network have been imported from Geobase and Canvec, and while improvements have been made, there were still much for improvement, as with track alignment, missing railway crossings, or missing or incorrect track data (e.g. track names, usage and service tags, speed limit).

BC's major railway owners are Canadian National Railway (CN), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and BC Rail. CN operates most freight service across BC, including on BC Rail trackage leased to CN. CPKC owns trackage and primarily operates in the Lower Mainland and southern parts of the Interior. BC Rail owns trackage emanating from a main line running from North Vancouver to Prince George, and except for a line connecting with Deltaport, leased all its train operations, tracks and rolling stock to CN. The now-disused network in Vancouver Island are owned by the Island Corridor Foundation and formerly by Canadian Pacific (present CPKC). Primarily freight railways, these three railways support some limited passenger service on their lines, operated by VIA Rail, Amtrak, Rocky Mountaineer and TransLink. Also in BC are commuter rail and rapid transit, all in Metro Vancouver, and a few scattered heritage/tourist lines.

Active lines

Canadian National Railway (CN)

Mainline

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Albreda Subdivision	Jasper Yard-Blue River Yard			Carries VIA Rail Canadian and Rocky Mountaineer Journey Through the Clouds. Part of CN Transcontinental (part ex-Grand Trunk Pacific main line, part ex-Canadian Northern main line).
Ashcroft Subdivision	North Kamloops Yard-Boston Bar Yard			Carries VIA Rail Canadian. Part of CN Transcontinental (ex-Grand Trunk Pacific main line). Ripley to Boston Bar segment also carries westbound CPKC trains as part of Fraser Canyon directional running.
Clearwater Subdivision	Blue River Yard-North Kamloops Yard			Carries VIA Rail Canadian and Rocky Mountaineer Journey to the Clouds. Part of CN Transcontinental (ex-Grand Trunk Pacific main line).
Fraser Subdivision	McBride Yard-Prince George Yard			Carries VIA Rail Jasper-Prince Rupert train (formerly named Skeena) and Rocky Mountaineer Rainforest to Gold Rush. Part of CN Transcontinental Prince Rupert branch (part of Canadian Northern main line).
Nechako Subdivision	Prince George Junction			Carries VIA Rail Jasper-Prince Rupert train (formerly named Skeena). Part of CN Transcontinental Prince Rupert branch (part of Canadian Northern main line).
New Westminster Subdivision		Pacific Central Station-Surrey Junction		Carries VIA Rail Canadian, Amtrak Cascades and Rocky Mountaineer. Part of ex-Grand Trunk Pacific (GTP) main line. BNSF Railway holds trackage rights for whole line for through service to Vancouver terminal. Southern Railway of British Columbia holds trackage rights for interchange service to New Westminster across the New Westminster Bridge.
Robson Subdivision	Spicer Junction-Red Pass Junction			Mostly carries westbound/southbound traffic as part of directional running arrangement around Tête Jaune Cache except for Tête Jaune Cache-Spicer Junction segment which is bidirectional to accommodate through trains travelling to and from Tete Jaune Subdivision. Carries VIA Rail Canadian and Jasper-Prince Rupert train (formerly named Skeena) on westbound runs only and and Rocky Mountaineer Rainforest to Gold Rush. Part of CN Transcontinental Prince Rupert branch (ex-Canadian Northern main line).
Tete Jaune Subdivision	Tête Jaune Cache Junction-McBride Yard			Carries VIA Rail Jasper-Prince Rupert train (formerly named Skeena) and Rocky Mountaineer Rainforest to Golf Rush. Part of CN Transcontinental Prince Rupert branch (ex-Canadian Northern main line).
Yale Subdivision	Boston Bar Yard-Surrey Junction			Carries westbound VIA Rail Canadian, Rocky Mountaineer First Passage to the West and Journey Through the Clouds and CPKC trains between Boston Bar Yard and Abbotsford Junction as part of Fraser Canyon directional running. Part of CN Transcontinental (ex-Grand Trunk Pacific main line).

Branch

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Grande Prairie Subdivision		(Grande Prairie, AB)-(Hythe, AB)-Pouce Coupe-CN Dawson Creek Yard		Formerly owned by Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) until acquisition by CN. Inactive east of Pouce Coupe (see "Grande Prairie Subdivision" entry on #Disused lines).
Kitimat Subdivision		Terrace Junction-Kitimat
Lumby Subdivision		Lumby Junction-Lumby Wye		Abandoned east of Dure Meadow Road
Okanagan Subdivision		Kamloops Junction-Lumby Junction-(Kelowna Yard)		Line split into two segments (Kamloops Junction-CPKC Kamloops IMS and Campbell Creek-Lumby Junction) by CPKC Shuswap Subdivision (CN holds trackage rights for Kamloops-Campbell Creek segment to connect both segments). Formerly connects with Kelowna, with abandoned segment south of Lumby Junction converted to rail trail.

Spur/industrial lines

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Lulu Island Industrial Line
North Shore Industrial Line

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC)

Mainline

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Cascade Subdivision		Waterfront Yard-North Bend Yard		Carries West Coast Express between Waterfront and Mission. Also carries eastbound CN trains, VIA Canadian and Rocky Mountaineer First Passage to the West and Journey Through the Clouds between North Bend Yard and Mission Junction as part of Fraser Canyon directional running. Part of CPKC transcontinental main line.
Mountain Subdivision		Revelstoke Yard-Field Yard		Carries Rocky Mountaineer First Passage to the West. Part of CPKC transcontinental main line.
Shuswap Subdivision		CPKC Kamloops Yard-Revelstoke Yard		Carries Rocky Mountaineer First Passage to the West. Part of CPKC transcontinental main line.
Thompson Subdivision		North Bend Yard-CPKC Kamloops Yard		Carries eastbound CN trains, VIA Canadian and Rocky Mountaineer First Passage to the West and Journey to the Clouds between North Bend Yard and Ripley Junction as part of Fraser Canyon directional running. Part of CPKC transcontinental main line.

Branch

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Mission Subdivision		Mission Junction-Sumas border crossing		Segment over Mission Bridge also carries eastbound CN trains, VIA Rail Canadian and Rocky Mountaineer First Passage to the West and Journey to the Clouds as part of Fraser Canyon directional running.

Spur/industrial lines

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Ioco Spur

BC Rail (BCOL)

All trackage (except Deltaport Spur), facilities and rolling stock are leased to CN for a 60-year period, in which BC Rail retains ownership.

Mainline

All of BC Rail lines tagged with usage=main forms the ex-Pacific Great Eastern main line between North Vancouver and Prince George.

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Squamish Subdivision		North Vancouver Yard-Lillooet Yard		Carries Rocky Mountaineer Rainforest to Gold Rush. D'Arcy to Lillooet segment also used by Tsal'alh First Nation's Seton railbus. Part of BC Rail main line.
Prince George Subdivision		Williams Lake Yard-Prince George Yard		Carries Rocky Mountaineer Rainforest to Gold Rush.
Lillooet Subdivision		Lillooet Yard-Williams Lake Yard		Carries Rocky Mountaineer Rainforest to Gold Rush

Branch

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Chetwynd Subdivision		Prince George Subdivision-BC Rail Dawson Creek Yard
Fort Nelson Subdivision		Chetwynd Junction-Fort Nelson Yard
Port Subdivision		Halls Prairie-Deltaport		Also known as the Deltaport spur. Only line still owned and operated by BC Rail after 2010 since sale and lease was abandoned following the 2003 BC Legislature raids and following events. Line split in half by the BNSF New Westminster Subdivision. CN, CPKC and BNSF Railway holds trackage rights for port access.
Stuart Subdivision		Odell Junction-Minaret Lake-(Dease Lake)		Also the Dease Lake line. Line gradually left derelict or abandoned in the 1970s and 1980s, but reinstated in 1991 up to Minaret Lake.
Tumbler Ridge Subdivision		Tumbler Junction-Quintette coal mine		Formerly electrified with overhead line at 50 kV 60 Hz.

BNSF Railway

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
New Westminster Subdivision		Peace Arch border crossing-Surrey Junction		Carries Amtrak Cascades. Ex-Great Northern Vancouver branch line. CN holds trackage rights for access to Tilbury, Langley City and Deltaport.

Southern Railway of British Columbia

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Fraser Valley Subdivision		Surrey Junction-Chilliwack Yard		CPKC holds trackage rights for industrial service. CN holds trackage rights for access to Deltaport. Formerly BC Electric Railway (BCER, now BC Hydro) New Westminster-Chilliwack interurban line. Right-of-way carries power lines by BC Hydro inherited from BCER.

Disused lines

Canadian National Railway (CN)

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Grande Prairie Subdivision		(Hythe, AB)-Pouce Coupe		Formerly owned by Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) until acquisition by CN. Segments fell into disuse in the late 1990s and reopened in 2003 as part of CN-BC Rail sale and lease agreement, but inactive.

BC Rail

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Stuart Subdivision		Minaret Lake-Dease Lake		Closed as part of Dease Lake line closure in 1983. Odell Junction to Minaret Lake segment reopened in 1991.

Island Corridor Foundation

All lines were closed due to poor track condition but tracks remain for potential service reactivation. All were previously owned by Canadian Pacific (present CPKC). The Vancouver Island railways were connected to the BC mainland by train ferry between Nanaimo and Delta.

Name	Relation	Route	Status	Notes
Port Alberni Subdivision		Parksville-Port Alberni
Victoria Subdivision		Victoria-Courtenay		Was used by VIA Rail's Courtenay-Victoria train (formerly named Malahat).