The Canadian National Electric Railways (CNER) was a subsidiary of Canadian National Railways created to operate a few electric lines. It was formed in November 1923, with headquarters in Toronto.
Contents
Acquired lines
The CNER inherited the following lines or systems from the Canadian Northern Railway and unified them under one management:
Associated lines
The CNER was closely associated with three railways which Canadian National Railways inherited from the Grand Trunk Railway. These railways were never a corporate part of the CNER:
Radial network
With the creation of the CNER, CNR president Henry Thornton was enthusiastic to develop Canadian National's own network of electric railways. This followed setbacks that Adam Beck had in promoting an Ontario Hydro radial network with its subsidiary the Hydro-Electric Railways.
Thornton planned to link the unfinished Toronto Eastern Railway to the Toronto Suburban Railway's Guelph line via the Toronto Belt Line Railway running through northern Toronto. There was also another plan to extend the Guelph line from its "temporary" terminal at Keele Street and St. Clair Avenue to downtown via the nearby CNR line. The CNER's Toronto Suburban district never turned a profit, and its abandonment in 1931 was the result of huge deficits from that line.