Grand Trunk Railway - The Grand Trunk Today

The Grand Trunk Today

Grand Trunk Railway was built fully a century before major property and highway development took place in the various jurisdictions it crossed and as such had the choice of geography in selecting the most direct routes. As a result, significant sections of GTR mainlines in Canada and Grand Trunk Western routes the U.S. are still in active use by Canadian National (CN) today, particularly the Quebec City – Chicago corridor by way of Drummondville, Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, London, Sarnia/Port Huron, and Battle Creek. Following deregulation of the railway industry in Canada and the United States, CN has abandoned or sold many former GTR and GTW branch lines in recent decades, including the former Portland-Montreal main line which had instigated the development of the system to a large degree. As well, nearly the entire original Toronto–Sarnia routing via Kitchener, Stratford and Forest, Ontario, was sold or abandoned, using the Great Western Railway routing instead.

Grand Trunk Corporation
CN continues to use the "Grand Trunk" name for its holding company the Grand Trunk Corporation. The corporation was created in 1971 to provide autonomy in operation for CN's US subsidiaries; Grand Trunk Western Railroad, Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway, and the Central Vermont Railway. The main goal of the corporation, headquartered in Detroit, was to make GTW profitable and keep parent CN from having to subsidize GTW's losses. CN sold off the Central Vermont in 1995 when CN became a public traded company instead of a crown corporation. CN continued to place its US acquisitions as subsidiaries under the Grand Trunk Corporation which includes Illinois Central, Wisconsin Central, and Great Lakes Transportation. The American Association of Railroads considers the Grand Trunk Corporation as a Class 1 railroad.

The Portland, Maine-Chicago, Illinois mainline of the Grand Trunk is or was known by the following names:

• CN Berlin Subdivision, Portland to Island Pond
• CN Sherbrooke Subdivision, Island Pond to St-Hyacinthe
• CN Saint-Hyacinthe Subdivision, St-Hyacinthe to Montreal
• CN Montreal Subdivision, Montreal to Dorval
• CN Kingston Subdivision, Dorval to Toronto
• CN Weston Subdivision, Toronto to Brampton
• CN Halton Subdivision, Brampton to Georgetown
• CN Guelph Subdivision, Georgetown to St. Marys
• CN Forest Subdivision, St. Marys to Sarnia (St. Clair Tunnel)
• GTW Flint Subdivision, Port Huron (St. Clair Tunnel) to Battle Creek
• GTW Southbend Subdivision, Battle Creek to Chicago

The Montreal-Toronto segment was previously known by the following names:

• CNR Cornwall Subdivision, Dorval to Brockville
• CNR Gananoque Subdivision, Brockville to Belleville
• CNR Oshawa Subdivision, Belleville to Toronto

The Grand Trunk Railway Building on Warwick House Street in London continues to stand. Built by Aston Webb, the 7 storey building was built in 1907 with the banner The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada on 4 Warwick House Street and Canadian National Railway on Cockspur Street. CN no longer owns the building. Current tenant on the lower floor is The Original London Tour Centre at 17–19 Cockspur.