The community of Routhierville is located on the west bank of the Matapédia River along the Canadian National Railway that was originally constructed as the Intercolonial Railway in the 1860s, while its train station was built in 1878.
Canadian Pacific Railway | Great Western Railway | Shanghai Railway Bureau | Canadian National Railway | Midland Railway | Grand Trunk Railway | London and North Western Railway | Northern Pacific Railway | London, Midland and Scottish Railway | Great Central Railway | Riccarton Junction railway station | Border Union Railway | Border Counties Railway | London King's Cross railway station | Great Eastern Railway | Southern Railway | BNSF Railway | London and North Eastern Railway | Central railway station, Sydney | Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | Euston railway station | St Pancras railway station | Amsterdam Centraal railway station | Luxembourg railway station | heritage railway | Trans-Siberian Railway | Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway | Edinburgh Waverley railway station | Perth railway station | Liverpool and Manchester Railway |
The community came to prominence during the 1880s after the Intercolonial Railway built its line from the Strait of Canso to Sydney, crossing the Barra Strait between Iona and Grand Narrows with the Grand Narrows Bridge, still in use, which is the longest railway bridge in Nova Scotia.
The Maritimes joined largely because of promises to build the Intercolonial Railway, and British Columbia only because of a promise to build a transcontinental railroad.
During the 1880s Sir Sandford Fleming, famous for introducing standard time to North America, established a summer retreat on property fronting Halifax's Northwest Arm, after he finished constructing the Intercolonial Railway.