branch line

American  

noun

1. a rail line, directly or indirectly connected with a main line, having its own stations and service.

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branch line British  

noun

1. railways a secondary route to a place or places not served by a main line

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Etymology

Origin of branch line

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

branch line

When a branch line was built from Goshen to Visalia in 1874, people had high hopes that it would lead to prosperity for the town, but the boom never arrived.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2023

The car was so close to being struck by the Northern service that the camera angle only captured its roof as it drove straight over the tracks on the Windermere branch line at Burneside.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2021

The oldest surviving timber trestle railway bridge in England, the structure at Wickham Bishops, also in Essex, comprises two adjoining viaducts and was part of the Braintree to Maldon branch line between 1848 and 1966.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2019

Before the rise of the automobile killed off the old branch line, its little steam locomotives puffed by so slowly that passengers would toss their bags out as the train passed their homes.

From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2018

She walked to the branch line station at Deeside.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein