Editing Branch line

{{Short description|Minor railway line}}
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[[File:Abzweig Reichswald.jpg|thumb|Railway connection between the new [[Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway]] and Germany's historical rail network.]]
[[Image:Railway kilometre peg.jpg|thumb|The "0-kilometre peg" marks the start of a branch line in [[Western Australia]].]]

A '''branch line''' is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a [[Main line (railway)|main line]]. A very short branch line may be called a '''spur line'''. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located on a main line. Branch lines may also connect two or more main lines.

== Industrial spur ==
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An industrial spur is a type of secondary [[Track (rail transport)|track]] used by railroads to allow customers at a location to load and unload [[Railroad car|railcars]] without interfering with other railroad operations.

Industrial spurs can vary greatly in length and [[Goods wagon|railcar]] capacity depending on the requirements of the customer the spur is serving. In heavily industrialized areas, it is not uncommon for one industrial spur to have multiple [[Siding (rail)|sidings]] to several different customers. Typically, spurs are serviced by local trains responsible for collecting small numbers of railcars and delivering them to a larger yard, where these railcars are sorted and dispatched in larger trains with other cars destined to similar locations. Because industrial spurs generally have less capacity and traffic than a mainline, they tend to have lower maintenance and signaling (train control) standards.

Before the rise of the long-distance trucking in the early 1930s, railroads were the primary means of transportation around the world. Industries of the era were commonly built along railroad lines specifically to allow for easy access to shipping. Short (under a mile, oftentimes only several hundred yards) industrial spurs with very small (under ten car) capacities were a common sight along railroads in industrial and rural cities alike. As [[Car|automobile]] and roadway technology improved throughout the early and mid-20th century, most low volume industry spurs were abandoned in favor of the greater flexibility and economic savings of trucking. Today, railroads remain the most economical way to ship large quantities of material, a fact that is reflected in industrial spurs. Most modern day spurs serve very large industries that require hundreds, if not thousands, of carloads a year.

==Around the world==
===Europe===
There is an international branch line between Italy and Vatican: the 300-metre [[Vatican Railway]], connecting from the [[Pisa-Rome railway]] mainline at [[Roma San Pietro railway station]], to [[Vatican City station]].

====United Kingdom====
Many British railway branch lines were closed as a result of the "[[Beeching cuts]]" in the 1960s, although some have been re-opened as [[heritage railway]]s.

The smallest branch line that is still in operation in the UK is the [[Stourbridge Town Branch Line]] from [[Stourbridge Junction railway station|Stourbridge Junction]] going to [[Stourbridge Town railway station|Stourbridge Town]]. Operating on a single track, the journey is {{convert|0.8|mi|km|abbr=off}} long and the [[BR Class 139|train]] takes around two and a half minutes to complete its journey.

===North America===
[[File:NS Mt Holly Branch Line at Mt Laurel.jpg|thumb|[[Conrail Shared Assets Operations]]' Hainesport Industrial Track is a prime example of a freight branch line. This line sees one short freight train a day primarily to serve a paper mill, industrial park, and lumber yard in [[Mount Laurel, New Jersey|Mount Laurel]], [[Hainesport Township, New Jersey|Hainesport]], and [[Mount Holly, New Jersey]], respectively. The [[River Line (NJ Transit)|nearest main line railroad]] is roughly {{convert|6|mi|km|spell=in}} from where this photograph was taken.]]
In North America, little-used branch lines are often sold by large railroads to become new [[common carrier]] [[short-line railroad]]s of their own. Throughout the United States and Canada, branch lines link smaller towns too distant from the main line to be served efficiently, or to serve a certain industrial site such as a [[power station]] either because of a location away from the main line or to reduce congestion. They were typically built to lower standards, using lighter rail and shallow roadbeds when compared to main lines.

====Canada====
{{See also|Rail transport in Canada}}

Much of Canada's branch line history relates to large rail transport conglomerates (such as the [[Grand Trunk Railway|Grand Trunk]], [[Canadian National Railway|Canadian National]], or [[Canadian Pacific Railway|Canadian Pacific]]) which would acquire formerly independent [[short line railway]]s for use as branch lines, with the short line often continuing to exist as a subsidiary. For example, when the Canadian Pacific acquired the [[Algoma Eastern Railway]] (a short line) in 1930,<ref name=wilson-1973>{{cite journal |last=Wilson |first=W. A. "Dale" |date=December 1973 |title=Algoma Eastern: The Line to Little Current |journal=[[Canadian Rail]] |volume=263 |publisher=[[Canadian Railroad Historical Association]] |url=https://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_no263_1973.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729005840/https://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_no263_1973.pdf |archive-date=29 July 2020 |pages=350–379}}</ref>{{rp|373}} it soon after abandoned much of the Algoma Eastern mainline, but retained sections close to Algoma Eastern–Canadian Pacific junctions as short branch lines or spurs.<ref name=wilson-1973 />{{rp|374}}

The ''National Transportation Act'' of 1967 provided government subsidies for branch lines.<ref name=earl-prentice>{{cite web |last1=Earl |first1=Paul D. |last2=Prentice |first2=Barry E. |date=2016 |title=Western Grain Exceptionalism: Transportation Policy Change Since 1968 |publisher=Canadian Transport Research Forum |url=https://ctrf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/CTRF2016EarlPrenticeAgricultureTransportation.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|2}} Western railway development in Canada worked in concert with land settlement and cultivation, as pioneers were settled near railway lines, often on land the railways had owned. However, by the mid-20th century, railways began neglecting lines in western agricultural regions. This was historically driven by factors such as the [[Crow Rate]], which regulated the price railways could charge for shipping grain. Railways had little incentive to invest in rural [[Canadian Prairies|Prairie]] branch lines, but were legally unable to abandon them under the ''National Transportation Act'', which also did not provide a subsidy for grain transport, and instead allowed railways to absorb branch line subsidies freely without making effort to improve the profitability of the lines.<ref name=earl-prentice />{{rp|2}} The term "grain-dependent branch lines" began being used as early as 1978 to refer to the special case of these branch lines in agricultural areas whose viability depended on the economics of grain transport.<ref name=mason>{{cite journal |last=Mason |first=Greg |date=Spring 1978 |title=The Grain Handling and Transportation Commission |journal=Canadian Public Policy |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |volume=4 |number=2 |pages=235–245 |doi=10.2307/3549347 |jstor=3549347 |url=https://gregorymason.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/The-Grain-Handliong-and-Transportation-Commission.pdf}}</ref> The ''[[Western Grain Transportation Act]]'' of 1983 addressed this case specifically, but was repealed in 1994 in the wake of the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] and budget-balancing initiatives in favour of a one-time payout by the federal government directly to farmers, to arrange transport of grain themselves. From the mid-1970s to the late 2010s, more than {{convert|9300|km|mi}} of Prairie branch lines were abandoned or had a discontinuance of service.<ref name="topia-whistle">{{cite journal |last=Barney |first=Darin |date=10 April 2018 |title=To Hear the Whistle Blow: Technology and Politics on the Battle River Branch Line |url=https://darinbarneyresearch.mcgill.ca/Work/Topia_Whistle.PDF |journal=TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies |volume=25 |access-date=9 May 2021 |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825030541/https://darinbarneyresearch.mcgill.ca/Work/Topia_Whistle.PDF |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|10}}

[[David Blyth Hanna]], the first president of the [[Canadian National Railway]], said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are even essential to make main lines pay.<ref>Hanna, David Blyth, Macmillan 1924</ref><ref>Dow, Andrew, ''Dow's Dictionary of Railway Quotations'', JHU Press 2006.</ref>

====United States====
{{See also|Rail transportation in the United States}}

In the United States, abandonment of unproductive branch lines was a byproduct of deregulation of the rail industry through the ''[[Staggers Act]]''.

The [[Princeton Branch]] is a [[commuter rail]] line and service owned and operated by [[New Jersey Transit]] (NJT) in the U.S. state of [[New Jersey]]. The line is a short branch of the [[Northeast Corridor Line]], running from [[Princeton Junction (NJT station)|Princeton Junction]] northwest to [[Princeton (NJT station)|Princeton]] with no intermediate stops. Also known as the "Dinky Line",<ref>{{cite book | last = Rosenbaum | first = Joel | author2 = Tom Gallo | title = NJ Transit Rail Operations | publisher = Railpace Newsmagazine | year = 1997 | url = http://www.railpace.com/store/njt_book.htm | access-date = 20 July 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111003090513/http://www.railpace.com/store/njt_book.htm | archive-date = 3 October 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref> at {{convert|2.9|mi|km|abbr=on}} it is the shortest scheduled commuter rail line in the United States.<ref>{{citation | title = Picks and Pans Review: Princeton Junction & Back | magazine = [[People (magazine)|People]] |volume=11 |issue=13 | date = 2 April 1979 | url = http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073295,00.html | access-date =15 April 2012 }}</ref><ref name = NJTweighsin>{{cite web | last = Schultz | first = Bonnie | title = Arts and Transit: NJ Transit Weighs In | publisher = AllPrinceton.com | date = June 2011 | url = http://allprinceton.com/content/arts-and-transit-nj-transit-weighs | access-date = 15 April 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121018222612/http://allprinceton.com/content/arts-and-transit-nj-transit-weighs | archive-date = 18 October 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The run takes 4 minutes, 47 seconds.<ref name = shorter>{{cite news | last = Frassinelli | first = Mike | title = Historic Princeton 'Dinky' line train station to move for arts center | newspaper = The Star-Ledger | date = 25 June 2013 | url = http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/06/historic_princeton_dinky_line_train_station_to_move_for_arts_center.html | access-date = 26 June 2013 }}</ref>

Other than the Princeton Line, other surviving branch lines include the [[Gladstone Branch]] in New Jersey; as well as the [[New Canaan Branch]], [[Danbury Branch]], and [[Waterbury Branch]] in [[Connecticut]]. The [[Long Island Rail Road]] also refers to its services as "branches".

===South America===
====Chile====
In Chile, there are many branch lines on its main line, but only a few remain operational. Most only operating in touristic services (like the Antilhue-Valdivia branch line), others have been taken over by other railways (like the San Rosendo-Talcahuano branch line, which has been taken over by [[Biotrén]] and the Laja-Talcahuano train service) however, there is one branch line that still remains as fully operative. The Talca-Constitución branch line, which uses trains with bus motors.

===Asia===
====Hong Kong====
Two extensions to the [[MTR]] rapid transit network were built as branches of existing lines: the [[Lok Ma Chau Spur Line]] to [[Lok Ma Chau station]], which opened in 2007; and the [[Tseung Kwan O line|South Tseung Kwan O Spur Line]] to [[LOHAS Park station]], opened in 2009.

Earlier, a spur line was built in 1985 on the [[East Rail line]] to serve [[Racecourse station (MTR)|Racecourse station]], bypassing [[Fo Tan station]].

Also, the {{interlanguage link|Tsim Sha Tsui Extension|yue|尖沙嘴支線}} was built in 2004 on the [[East Rail line]] to serve [[East Tsim Sha Tsui station]]. However, after the [[Kowloon Southern Link]] was completed in 2009, this spur line turns into a section of the [[West Rail line]].

Discontinued services include the [[Sha Tau Kok Railway]] and the [[Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery|Wo Hop Shek Branch]].

A spur line to Siu Sai Wan has been proposed.

'''Delhi'''

On the [[Delhi Metro]], the [[Blue Line (Delhi Metro)|Blue Line]] has a Branch Line with 8 Stations, linking [[Yamuna Bank metro station|Yamuna Bank]] to [[Vaishali metro station|Ghaziabad]] via [[Anand Vihar metro station|Anand Vihar ISBT]] and terminating at Vaishali.

The first section of the Branch opened on 8 January 2010 with [[Anand Vihar metro station|Anand Vihar]] as its terminal with six stations. It was further extended to [[Vaishali metro station|Vaishali]] in 2011. The line is planned to be extended from Vaishali to [[Mohan Nagar metro station|Mohan Nagar]] via Sahibabad Station to link with the main line.

====Singapore====
The [[East–West MRT line|East West Line]] of the [[Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)|MRT]] system in Singapore has a two-station branch to [[Changi Airport]]. The first station, [[Expo MRT station|Expo]], opened in 2001. It was extended to [[Changi Airport MRT station|Changi Airport]] station the next year.

From 1990 to 1996, the section of the [[North–South MRT line|North South Line]] between [[Jurong East MRT station|Jurong East]] and [[Choa Chu Kang MRT/LRT station|Choa Chu Kang]] stations was operated as a separate line, known as the [[Branch MRT line|Branch line]]. It was merged into the North–South Line with the opening of the Woodlands Extension in 1996. The future [[Jurong Region MRT line|Jurong Region Line]] and [[Cross Island MRT line|Cross Island Line]] will also have branch lines.

==== Bangkok ====
There are two notable spur lines within the [[Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan in Bangkok Metropolitan Region|various rapid transit systems in Bangkok]], of which one is under construction and one has been tendered.
The [[MRT (Bangkok)|MRT]] [[Pink Line (Bangkok)|Pink Line]] will have a spur line reaching into "[[Impact, Muang Thong Thani|Impact, Muang Thong Thani]]", a commercial complex. This spur line, known as the Impact Link, is currently under a [[soft launch]], and is accessible via the [[Muang Thong Thani MRT station|Muang Thong Thani]] station.
The [[SRT Red Lines|SRT]] [[SRT Light Red Line|Light Red Line]] will have a branch line heading towards [[Siriraj Hospital|Siriraj Hospital]] and the adjacent [[Siriraj MRT station|MRT Station]]. This  branch line has been [[tendered]], and will be constructed along with the main line, which will go to [[Salaya railway station|Salaya]] and possibly beyond.

===Australasia===
====New Zealand====

New Zealand once had a very extensive network of branch lines, especially in the [[South Island]] regions of [[Canterbury, New Zealand|Canterbury]], [[Otago]], and [[Southland Region|Southland]]. Many were built in the late 19th century to open up inland regions for farming and other economic activities. The branches in the South Island regions were often general-purpose lines that carried predominantly agricultural traffic, but lines elsewhere were often built to serve a specific resource: on the [[West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast]], an extensive network of branch lines was built in rugged terrain to serve coal mines, while in the central [[North Island]] and the [[Bay of Plenty Region]], lines were built inland to provide rail access to large logging operations.

Today, many of the branch lines have been closed, including almost all of the general-purpose country lines. Those that remain serve ports or [[Industry (economics)|industries]] far from main lines such as coal mines, logging operations, large dairying factories, and [[steelworks]]. In [[Auckland]] and [[Wellington]], two branch lines in each city exist solely for commuter passenger trains. For more, see the [[list of New Zealand railway lines]].

==References==
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[[Category:Railway line types]]