The oldest part of the Rochester Subdivision is from
Rochester southwest to
Batavia, opened in 1837 by the
Tonawanda Railroad. The portion of the line from
Rochester east to
Brighton was opened in 1841 by the
Auburn and Rochester Railroad; the rest of the original route to
Syracuse was less direct than the current line. The two lines were connected in
Rochester in 1844. The
Buffalo and Rochester Railroad was built from
Depew east to
Batavia in 1852, replacing the old, longer route via
Attica. In 1853, the
New York Central Railroad built a more direct route from
Syracuse to
Rochester, meeting the old route east of
Rochester at
Brighton. Most of the line once had four tracks, and, while much of the railbed is still wide enough to support such infrastructure, only two tracks are currently in service. The entire line became part of the
New York Central Railroad and
Conrail through leases, mergers and takeovers, and was assigned to
CSX Transportation in the 1999 breakup of
Conrail. In the 1850s,
New York Central Railroad took over the line in an effort to build new direct routes. The railroad built signal bridges along the line to increase safety and capacity. Currently, all
New York Central Railroad signals along the subdivision have been replaced by
CSX Transportation with the newer Safetran signals. ==See also==