2005 in rail transport

Events

January events

February events

March events
  • March 2 – Citing disputes in paid leave policies, around 200 BNSF Railway dispatchers walk off the job for nearly three hours, causing traffic delays over the entire system from Chicago to the Pacific coast.[4]
  • March 14 – Canadian Pacific Railway purchases 35 new Green Goat hybrid locomotives, becoming the first railroad to order this type of locomotive.[5]

April events

May events
  • May 3 – The Iranian president Mohammad Khatami leads the ceremony inaugurating passenger rail service between Mashhad and Bafq, Iran.[11]
  • May 26 – Genesee and Wyoming (G&W) announce that they have agreed to purchase the railroad operations of Rail Management Corporation (RMC). G&W will pay US$243 million in cash and assume $1.7 million in company debt to gain control of 14 short line railroads from RMC across the southeastern United States, as of June 1, 2005. G&W already controls 24 other railroads in North America, South America and Australia.[12][13]

June events
  • June 1 – Joseph H. Boardman, former Commissioner of New York State Department of Transportation, begins his duties as Administrator for the United States Federal Railroad Administration (a division of the USDOT).[14]
  • June 2 – Railroad workers across France go on strike to demand better wages and jobs. The strike, which began at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday, is expected to last through 6:00 GMT Friday. Nearly 40% of all TGV schedules are dropped for the duration of the strike.[15]
  • June 4 – Lalu Prasad, India's Railway Minister, presents his Rs.532 billion (US$12 billion) budget for Indian Railways for 2005–06. The network of more than 9,000 passenger trains will not increase passenger fares, will add 46 new trains, increase frequencies on 10 others and plans to inaugurate new high speed train service between New Delhi and Kolkata and another between New Delhi and Chennai.[16]
  • June 22 – The entire network of the Swiss Federal Railways shuts down due to a power failure in its overhead wire system. The power failure is also affecting international transit through Switzerland as such intercity trains use the same system. Initial reports indicate that the power failure started with a voltage drop in Ticino (in the St. Gotthard region) that then spread to the entire system.[17][18]

July events

August events
  • August 4 – Argentinian railroad workers across the country (except for the subway operators in Buenos Aires) go on strike for 24 hours demanding higher wages. The strike comes after 100 days of failed negotiations between the railroads and the engine driver unions; if an agreement cannot be reached within a week, the unions have threatened a subsequent 36-hour strike. The railroad employees strike coincides with a 72-hour health care workers strike that is still occurring.[19]
  • August 15 – All America Latina Logistica SA (ALL) of Brazil announces that it has formed a partnership with Besco Engineering and Services Private Limited of India to build new railroad cars in Brazil. The new enterprise, to be named Santa Fe Vagoes SA, will be located in Brazil and 40% owned by ALL.[20]
  • August 24 – Chinese railroad workers in Tibet laid rails on the Tanggula Mountain Pass in Tibet at 5,072 m (16,640 ft) above sea level, surpassing the altitude of the highest Peruvian railway by 255 m (837 ft). This section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is now the highest railway in the world. The railway also includes the highest railway station in the world at Lhasa, 5,068 m (16,627 ft) above sea level. The railway is expected to open later in 2005.[21]
  • August 27 – The first section of the Asker Line, from Asker to Sandvika, is opened.[22]

September events
  • September 2 – In a letter to the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, BNSF Railway (headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas) pledges a contribution of US$1 million, and offers rail transportation to aid in relief efforts for the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. The monetary contribution would come from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation as a donation to the American Red Cross relief efforts, while the transportation assistance is currently being organized by the Association of American Railroads, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Railroad Administration and the other railroads that serve the area. The letter also states that repairs to the Bayou Boeuf bridge are now complete and BNSF's mainline was reopened as originally planned at 6:00 PM Central Time on September 1.[23]
  • September 4 – The Girard Avenue Trolley in Philadelphia recommences service after thirteen years of bus substitution.[24]
  • September 6 – Indonesian transport officials at a meeting in Bandar Lampung announce plans to build a trans-Sumatran railway to connect Banda Aceh to Bakauheni, a distance of 2,151 km (1,337 mi). A Feasibility Study performed after the 2004 tsunami by SNCF, the national rail carrier of France, showed that such a line could be built. Construction is expected to commence in seven stages; the first stage would connect Banda Aceh to Besitang (484 km / 301 miles). (Indonesia Relief)
  • September 13 – The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the national rail carrier of Nigeria, announces that it has laid off 5,980 of its nearly 12,000 employees, answering a call from the Nigerian government to downsize. The government first asked NRC for a 50% reduction in the last quarter of 2003; NRC waited until there was sufficient funds from the government for severance packages for the affected employees. In all, the government released nearly N2.1 billion (US$16 million) to NRC for severance pay. Some of NRC's layoff criteria included fraud, excessive absenteeism, employees who had worked for more than 33 years, or who were aged 50–60, and employees with a history of disciplinary actions. (AllAfrica)
  • September 20 – Japanese officials announce the government's intentions to pay former World War II prisoners of war involved in the construction of the Death Railway between Thailand and Burma. Compensation amounts have not been announced; some estimates place the number of construction survivors at 1,800, most now aged in their 80s and 90s. The compensation for laborers who have died either during construction or afterward would be sent to their next of kin.[25]
  • September 29 – Sixty years after World War II, Nederlandse Spoorwegen issues a statement formally apologizing for transporting Jewish people to Nazi concentration camps in Germany and Poland during the war. Aad Veenman, the railway's chief executive stated "On behalf of the company and from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologise for what happened during the war." The railway made the decision to issue the formal apology after the largest Dutch Jewish organization, Centraal Joods Overleg, proposed an awareness campaign to take place at the railway's stations nationwide. Reaction among the survivors is mixed.[26]

October events
  • October 6 – Amtrak announces that the City of New Orleans and Crescent passenger trains will again serve New Orleans Union Station beginning on Sunday October 9. Before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Amtrak suspended City of New Orleans service south of Memphis, Tennessee, and suspended Crescent service south of Atlanta, Georgia, in anticipation of damage to the tracks and signal systems surrounding New Orleans. The first departure from New Orleans will be the northbound Crescent at 7:20 AM, followed by the northbound City of New Orleans at 1:45 PM; the first corresponding southbound trains are scheduled to arrive in New Orleans later that afternoon. Amtrak's announcement did not mention service restoration on the transcontinental Sunset Limited.[27]
  • October 14 – The concession for operation of the Kenya-Uganda Railways is awarded to Rift Valley Railways Consortium (RVRC), headquartered in South Africa. In announcing the bid, officials state that Rift Valley was selected over RITES Ltd. of India, the only other bidder, by a factor of two to one. The new operator is expected to begin management of the combined railway on March 30, 2006. RVRC will not be expected to take up the railways 20.9 billion shilling (US$282 million) debt, but will repay the Kenyan government 3 billion shillings ($40.5 million) that was spent to subsidize the railway for the last three years.[28]
  • October 15 – Chinese officials announce the completion of the Qingzang railway connecting Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. The line's construction, which has been criticized by some who say the new railway will dilute Tibetan culture, had to overcome technical challenges that included building a railway on top of permafrost and boring tunnels through solid ice while construction workers breathed bottled oxygen.[29]
  • October 17 – British railway ministers announce that Scottish Ministers will soon take control of railway administration within Scotland. The powers will include decisions over operations and infrastructure (such as tracks and stations) as well as oversight of the First ScotRail franchise. The British government will also supply a multi-million pound grant to fund the Scottish rail operations, money that is needed in order to move the Edinburgh station improvement project forward, for example. British ministers will retain train driver licensing as well as other safety obligations.[30]
  • October 24 – World's first biogas train makes maiden voyage.
  • October 31 – Rapid transit workers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, go on strike. SEPTA, the fifth largest transit agency in the United States, is forced to temporarily close several lines due to a lack of trained employees. Union negotiators walked out of contract negotiations minutes before the midnight deadline when they failed to come to a conclusion; disputes were centered around employee pay and benefits agreements. All operators on the City, Victory, and Frontier Divisions walked off the job. SEPTA services on the regional rail division continue according to contingency plans, and all bus, trolley, and subway lines are suspended until the conclusion of the work stoppage.[31]

November events
  • November 1 – Government officials in China announce plans to privatise the nation's rail network into separate corporations that could be listed on international stock markets. The strategy is to raise money for improvements and expansions to the network, which would increase the amount of track by about 27,000 km (17,000 mi). The plan could lead to partial or complete foreign ownership of some railway lines, but some investors have already raised concerns over the network's regulatory system, especially in regard to the newly independent railways' abilities to raise prices to cover costs. (BBC News)
  • November 4 – The United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announces a requirement for increased and more detailed inspections of around 90,000 miles (140,000 km) of track that use continuous welded rail. The inspections are to detect and repair potential problems that involve loose or missing bolts, detectable problems in the rail and other potential hazards. In making the announcement, the FRA and NTSB cite inadequate track inspections as the cause of three major derailments since 2002, including a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) derailment in January 2002 near Minot, North Dakota, that released a cloud of anhydrous ammonia, and an Amtrak derailment in 2004 near Flora, Mississippi, in which a passenger died. CP disputes inadequate inspections as the cause of the 2002 accident. (AP/Newsday) (FRA)
  • November 23 – Railroad workers across France return to work from a strike action. The labour unions involved in the strike report that they are pleased with concessions agreed to during negotiations on Tuesday and French President Jacques Chirac offered his personal guarantee that SNCF would not be privatised. The strike, the sixth by French rail workers in 2005, suspended one third of all TGV trains across the country. (IHT)

December events
The 45th Street R station closed during the 2005 New York City transit strike

Accidents and attacks
Aerial view of the Graniteville accident's aftermath.
Investigation at the scene of the Amagasaki rail crash.
Smoke and confusion in the London Underground after the bomb blast.
  • July 7 – Three bombs explode in the London Underground killing at least 35 people. Explosions occurred between the Aldgate East and Liverpool Street stations, between King's Cross St Pancras and Russell Square, and at Edgware Road. A further bomb on a bus in Tavistock Square killed 13 people. A statement claiming responsibility was posted to a website known to be operated by associates of Al Qaeda.
  • July 13 – A passenger train stopped at the Ghotki, Pakistan, railway station was hit from behind by a train that missed a signal. The derailed cars were subsequently hit by a third train, resulting in a total of seventeen wrecked train cars, which carried over 3,000 passengers. More than 100 people are dead from the Ghotki rail crash. Pakistani railroad officials have called this the worst railroad accident there in 15 years.[47][48]
  • October 29 – Veligonda rail disaster near the town of Veligonda, south of Hyderabad in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. A flash flood swept away a small rail bridge, and a "Delta Express" train travelling on it derailed at the broken section of the line, killing at least 114 people and injuring over 200.
  • November 29 – In the Kindu rail accident at least 60 people were killed when they were swept off the roof of a train into the river below as the train crossed a bridge in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Deaths

January deaths
  • January 23 – John H. Kuehl, editor of Private Varnish magazine, passenger car historian and photographer (b. 1938).

February deaths

March deaths
  • March 28 – Paul H. Stringham, central Illinois railroad photographer and historian (b. 1913).[50]

April deaths

May deaths

August deaths

November deaths

Industry awards

Japan
Awards presented by Japan Railfan Club

North America
2005 E. H. Harriman Awards
GroupGold medalSilver medalBronze medal
ANorfolk Southern RailwayBNSF RailwayCSX Transportation
BCanadian Pacific's U.S. subsidiary (formerly Soo Line Railroad)Kansas City Southern RailwayMetra
CFlorida East Coast RailwayPan Am RailwaysElgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad
S&TTerminal Railroad Association of St. LouisConrailBelt Railway of Chicago
Awards presented by Railway Age magazine

United Kingdom
Train Operator of the Year

References
  1. General Motors (January 12, 2005), GM Agrees To Sell Electro-Motive Division. Retrieved January 12, 2005.
  2. Trains NewsWire (February 28, 2005), Bombardier awarded Chinese passenger car contract. Retrieved March 10, 2005.
  3. "Magdalena Álvarez presenta los nuevos trenes AVE S-102]," (PDF). Spanish Transport Ministry. February 23, 2005.
  4. Trains NewsWire (March 3, 2005), Dispatcher walkout snarls BNSF. Retrieved March 10, 2005.
  5. Canadian Pacific Railway (March 14, 2005), Canadian Pacific Railway to acquire first hybrid locomotives. Retrieved March 17, 2005.
  6. "404 Error - cn.ca". cn.ca.
  7. Kansas City Southern Industries (April 1, 2005), Kansas City Southern Announces Closing of TFM Transaction; Naming of TFM Interim CEO. Retrieved May 26, 2005.
  8. "Railways Act 2005". www.legislation.gov.uk.
  9. Bulgarian News Network (April 13, 2005), Bulgaria Licenses Private Railroad Carrier Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 13, 2005.
  10. Trains NewsWire (April 29, 2005), Swiss complete digging Alpine tunnel. Retrieved May 4, 2005.
  11. Payvand's Iran News (May 3, 2005), Iranian President inaugurates Mashhad-Bafq railroad. Retrieved May 3, 2005.
  12. Trains NewsWire (May 26, 2005), G&W to acquire Rail Management Corp. rail operations. Retrieved May 27, 2005.
  13. Genesee and Wyoming, Inc. (May 26, 2005), Genesee & Wyoming Announces Agreement to Acquire Short Line and Port Railroads from Rail Management Corporation Archived October 17, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 27, 2005.
  14. Federal Railroad Administration, US DOT (June 1, 2005), Joseph H. Boardman Begins Role as New Administrator for Federal Railroad Administration With Focus on Rail Safety and Intercity Passenger Rail Reform Archived October 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 6, 2005.
  15. Associated Press (June 2, 2005), Railroad strike upsets train service around France, causing rush-hour havoc Archived November 11, 2005, at the Wayback Machine (newsfromrussia.com). Retrieved June 2, 2005.
  16. MoneyPlans.net (June 4, 2005), World-class railroad service promised for India Archived November 26, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 4, 2005.
  17. SwissInfo (June 22, 2005), Swiss train network shuts down. Retrieved June 22, 2005.
  18. BBC News (June 22, 2005), Swiss rail network grinds to halt. Retrieved June 22, 2005.
  19. Prensa Latina (August 4, 2005), Argentinian Railroad Workers Join Health Sector in Strike Archived March 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 4, 2005.
  20. Nicaretta, Romina, Bloomberg.com (August 16, 2005), ALL, India's Besco Form Joint Venture to Build Railroad Wagons. Retrieved August 16, 2005.
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  25. New Straits Times (September 20, 2005), Hope for survivors of ‘Death Railway'. Retrieved September 20, 2005.
  26. Mudeva, Anna; Reuters (September 29, 2005), Dutch railway firm apologises for deporting Jews. Retrieved September 29, 2005.
  27. Amtrak (October 6, 2005), Amtrak Trains to Roll Out of New Orleans on October 9. Retrieved October 6, 2005.
  28. Capital FM (October 14, 2005), SA firm wins railway deal. Retrieved October 16, 2005.
  29. The Telegraph (October 15, 2005), World's highest railway. Retrieved October 16, 2005.
  30. Scotsman.com (October 17, 2005), Scotland assumes new railway powers. Retrieved October 18, 2005.
  31. Podsana, Janice; Associated Press (reprinted in The Guardian, October 31, 2005), Philadelphia Transit Workers Go on Strike. Retrieved October 31, 2005.
  32. Duluth Seaway Port Authority (November 23, 2005), Record setting cargo loading update Archived March 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 6, 2005.
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  41. Associated Press (reprinted by Sydney Morning Herald January 17, 2005), 200 hurt in Bangkok subway crash (smh.com.au). Retrieved January 19, 2005.
  42. Nguyen, Daisy; Associated Press (January 26, 2005), 9 killed as suburban L.A. trains derail Archived February 22, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 26, 2005.
  43. CBS/AP (January 26, 2005), Parked car caused train wreck. Retrieved January 26, 2005.
  44. Molloy, Tim; Associated Press (January 26, 2005), Suicide try triggers California commuter rail tragedy, police say Archived September 16, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 26, 2005.
  45. RIA Novosti (June 13, 2005), Railroad traffic restored. Retrieved June 13, 2005. Details bomb on Russian railroad, June 12.
  46. CBS, (June 21, 2005), Deadly Train-Truck Crash In Israel. Retrieved August 13, 2005.
  47. Bloomberg.com: Asia (July 13, 2005), Pakistan Triple-Train Crash Leaves 109 People Dead. Retrieved July 13, 2005.
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  49. Trains NewsWire (March 9, 2005), Vernon L. Smith, retired railroader and author, dies. Retrieved March 10, 2005.
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  51. Trains NewsWire (April 27, 2005), ‘Miss Southern Belle' dies . Retrieved May 4, 2005.
  52. Loy, Wesley, Anchorage Daily News (April 30, 2005), Frank Turpin, railroad, oil leader, dies Archived April 30, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 4, 2005.
  53. Trains NewsWire (June 2, 2005), Benjamin Biaggini, SP president from 1964 to 1983, dies. Retrieved June 3, 2005.
  54. Associated Press (reprinted by boston.com, September 1, 2005), Longtime president of Maine Central Railroad dies. Retrieved September 2, 2005.
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