2007 in rail transport

__TOC__

Events

January events

* January 5 - The first public trains of Taiwan High Speed Rail operate between Taipei and Kaohsiung, a mi to km|216 journey, in 90 minutes. [cite news| url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/05/ap/business/mainD8MF21000.shtml| title=Taiwan's High-Speed Train Debuts| publisher=Associated Press (reprinted by CBS)| author=Grauwels, Stephan| date=2007-01-05| accessdate=2007-01-05| ]
* January 7 - A Washington Metro train derails near downtown Washington, D.C., sending 16 people to the hospital and prompting the rescue of 60 people from a tunnel. [cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010800195.html |title=Green Line Metro Train Derails; at Least 18 Hurt |author=Klein, Allison and Martin Weil |publisher=The Washington Post |date=January 8, 2007]
* January 12 - Railway Age Magazine selects Bill Wimmer, Vice President Engineering for Union Pacific Railroad to receive the 2007 award for Railroader of the Year.cite press release| publisher=Union Pacific Railroad| url=http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/releases/human_resources/2007/0112_wimmer.shtml| date=2007-01-12| title=Union Pacific Vice President-Engineering Bill Wimmer Named Railway Age Railroader Of The Year| accessdate=2007-01-12| ]
* January 30 - The suburban rail network of Melbourne, Australia is thrown into chaos as much of the fleet of new Siemens Electric Multiple Unit trains are withdrawn from service after a number of incidents of brake failure. [cite news| url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/soapy-suds-too-much-for-trains-in-makeorbrake-tests/2007/01/29/1169919275235.html| title= Soapy suds too much for trains in make-or-brake tests| publisher=The Age| date=2007-01-30| accessdate=2007-02-02 ]

February events

* February 7 - At a meeting in Tbilisi, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sign an agreement authorizing construction of the new Kars-Tiblisi-Baku railway linking the three nations. [cite news| publisher=UNA-Georgia| url=http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=14586| title=Saakashvili Speaks of Regional Railway, as Deal Signed| date=2007-02-07| accessdate=2007-02-07 ] [cite news| publisher=ITAR-TASS| url=http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11230181&PageNum=0| title=Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey sign agreement on new railroad| date=2007-02-07| accessdate=2007-02-07 ]
* February 9 - About 2,800 train crew employees of Canadian National Railway (CN) wage a strike action against the railway; the striking workers are members of UTU Canada, the Canadian affiliate of the United Transportation Union. [cite news| url=http://money.canoe.ca/News/TopPhoto/2007/02/07/3550042-cp.html| title=CN strike likely to continue over weekend| date=2007-02-13| accessdate=2007-02-14| author=Marowtis, Ross ] [cite news| url=http://www.cfra.com/headlines/index.asp?cat=2&nid=47069| publisher=CFRA| title=CN Rail Strike Won't Disrupt Service: Officials| author=Pringle, Josh| date=2007-02-11| accessdate=2007-02-14 ] [cite news| url=http://winnipegsun.com/News/Canada/2007/02/11/3586848-sun.html| title=CN strike challenged: Railway files beef with labour board| date=2007-02-11| accessdate=2007-02-14| publisher=Winnipeg Sun ]
* February 13 - During a test run a TGV train reaches 553 km/h (343.75 mph) under test conditions with a shortened train on the LGV Est near Passavant-en-Argonne (Marne), 190 km east of Paris. [cite press release| publisher=Alstom| date=18 December 2006| url=http://www.transport.alstom.com/home/news/Hot_news/27681.EN.php?languageId=EN&dir=/home/news/Hot_news/| title=Alstom commits itself to the French very high speed rail programme| accessdate=2007-02-04 ] [cite news| url=http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1263596.php/French_high-speed_TGV_breaks_world_conventional_rail-speed_record| title=French high-speed TGV breaks world conventional rail-speed record| publisher=Deutsche Presse-Agentur (reprinted by Monsters and Critics)| date=2007-02-14|accessdate=2007-02-14]
* February 23 - Grayrigg derailment: A Virgin Trains services travelling from London Euston to Glasgow Central derails in Cumbria in North-West England. One elderly woman dies in hospital as a result of her injuries.
* February 26 - The United States Federal Railroad Administration delivers its decision to deny a $2.3 billion loan request made by Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DME). [cite press release| publisher=United States Federal Railroad Administration| date=2007-02-26| url=http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/press-releases/138| title=FRA Administrator Denies DM&E Powder River Basin Loan Application Citing Unacceptable Risk to Federal Taxpayers| accessdate=2007-02-28 ] [cite press release| publisher=L.B. Foster| date=2007-02-27| url=http://sev.prnewswire.com/construction-building/20070227/CLTU23827022007-1.html| title=FRA Rejects Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad's Loan Application| accessdate=2007-02-28 ] [cite news| url=http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=285765| publisher=Post-Bulletin| date=2007-02-28| title=DM&E loan denial's effect is uncertain| accessdate=2007-02-28 ]

March events

April events

* April 3 – The French TGV sets a new train speed record. The train reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph).
* April 7 – Weekday service begins on T Third Street light-rail line in San Francisco, leading to massive delays in the city's Muni Railway system. [" [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/12/MUNI.TMP Passengers left in lurch by T-Third's rough start] " Accessed 12 Apr. 2007 ]
* April 23 - Trial runs on 250 km long Eskişehir-Ankara part of 533 km long High-speed train line from İstanbul (Turkey's largest metropolis) to Ankara (capital of Turkey) began.
* April 23 – Construction resumes on the Second Avenue Subway in New York City, between 92nd and 95th streets.
* April 28 – The Orange Line of Montreal Metro is extended 5.2 km to Montmorency in Laval.

May events

June events

*flagicon|Austria June 8 - Last Orient Express through overnight service from Paris to Vienna runs. [cite web| url=http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/barticle_info.php?articles_id=366|title='Hidden Europe' magazine e-news Issue 2007/15| date=2007-06-07|accessdate=2007-06-07]
* June 10 – The first section of LGV Est, a high-speed rail line, opens in France. This coincides with improvements to the German rail network to cut travel times from Paris to Eastern France and Germany.
* June 15 - Revenue freight traffic starts to use the Lötschberg Base Tunnel in the Swiss Alps. [cite journal|author=Meillasson, Sylvain|title=Lötschberg Base Tunnel opens|journal=Today's Railways Europe|volume=140|month=August | year=2007|pages=19–26]
* June – $20m allocated for planning and land acquisition for the proposed Australian Inland Railway.

July events

* July 1 – Kampac Oil of Dubai, as consortium leader, is awarded a construction and operation contract for a new railway line in Ghana connecting Takoradi km to mi|800 to Hamile. The contract, valued at $1.6 billion, also includes the rehabilitation of a line between Takoradi and Kumasi as part of the Ghanaian government's plans to connect to northern Ghana. [cite news| url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/business/2007/July/business_July15.xml&section=business&col=|title=Kampac wins Ghana railway contract|publisher=Khaleej Times|date=2007-07-01|accessdate=2007-07-05]
* July 15 – In Shanghai, platform-edge doors caused a fatal accident. A man tried to force his way onto a crowded train at the station for the Shanghai Indoor Stadium, but failed. When the doors closed, he was trapped between the platform doors and the train, leading to his death. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/16/asia/AS-GEN-China-Subway-Accident.php Man caught between subway train and safety doors dies in Shanghai - International Herald Tribune ] ]
* July 18 – Metronet, holder of the maintenance contract for a majority of the London Underground lines, seeks authority of the Mayor of London to go into Administration following a dispute about responsibility for cost overruns on its contract. [cite web|author=BBC News|date=18 July 2007|title=Metronet calls in administrators|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6903977.stm|accessdate=2007-07-18]

August events

* 30 August – Trubnaya station opened on Moscow Metro.

September events

October events

* October 31 – MBTA Commuter Rail Greenbush Line opens in Massachusetts.
* – Last publication of the monthly "OAG Rail Guide", successor to the "ABC Railway Guide" timetable of 1853. [cite journal|author=Knowlman, Brian|title=What time's the next timetable?|journal=National Railway Museum Review|volume=120|date=Summer 2007|pages=31–3]

November events

*flagicon|Belarus November 7 – Minsk Metro Moskovskaya Line gets extended to Uruchye.
*flagicon|United Kingdom November 11 – West Midlands train operating company franchise is taken over from Silverlink and Central Trains by London Midland (a Govia company) and the East Midlands franchise from Midland Mainline and Central Trains by East Midlands Trains. National Express Group is the principal loser in these changes. Arriva Trains Cross Country Limited (Arriva Group) takes over a revised Cross-Country franchise from Virgin CrossCountry, branding services as CrossCountry. [cite web|title=Virgin loses Cross Country rail|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6286904.stm] [cite journal|author=Haigh, Philip|title=HSTs to CrossCountry as Arriva wins £1.1bn deal|journal=Rail|volume=570|date=July 18-31 2007|pages=6–7] The London Overground rail franchise commences operation, effectively returning the lines involved to state control. [cite press release|title=Introducing London Overground - a new era for London Rail|publisher=Transport for London|date=2006-09-05 |url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/3489.aspx|accessdate=2007-06-19]
*flagicon|France November 13 – Strikes in France begin to disrupt SNCF and Paris Metro service.
*flagicon|United Kingdom November 14 – High Speed 1 is completed.
*flagicon|United States November 26 – LYNX light-rail service begins in Charlotte, North Carolina.

December events

* December 2 – Two railway companies, the Mass Transit Railway Corporation and the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation merged together. [ [http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/corporate/file_rep/PR-07-078-E.pdf Rail Merger All Set For 2 December 2007] ]
* December 8 – Sretensky Bulvar station opened on the Lyublinskaya Line of Moscow Metro.
* December 9 – National Express East Coast (NXEC Trains Ltd) takes over the British East Coast Main Line train operating franchise from GNER. [cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/franchises/icecf1/nxecawardedcontract|title=National Express awarded contract for growth on InterCity East Coast|publisher=Department for Transport|accessdate=2008-01-21]
* flagicon|North Korea December 11 – freight service to resume between South Korea and North Korea.
* December 18 – Grand Central Railway, a new rail operator in England, inaugurates passenger services from Sunderland to London King's Cross. [cite web|url=http://www.grandcentralrail.co.uk/news.html?id=news056|title=Passenger services begin Tuesday 18th December|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Grand Central]
* December 24 – Moscow Metro Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line gets extended from Park Pobedy to Strogino.
* December 28 – SPRINTER light-rail service begins in San Diego County, California.
* – Regular passenger-train service begins in the Lötschberg Base Tunnel in the Swiss Alps. [cite web|author=Trains News Wire| date=April 29 2005| url=http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/883laawr.asp|title=Swiss complete digging Alpine tunnel| accessmonthday=4 May|accessyear=2005]
* – High-speed train service is expected to be extended from the current Madrid-Tarragona route to Barcelona.

Unknown date events

* - The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad expects to complete construction on the railroad's expansion into Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
* - High speed train service, using newly built ICE trainsets from Siemens, is expected to open between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia.
* - SNCF is expected to open new high speed train service between Paris and Frankfurt; annual ridership estimates at the time of the service announcement in 2005 are as high as 1.5 million per year. [cite web|author=Trains News Wire|date=May 24 2005| url=http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/941lbkzt.asp| title=New high-speed line to link France and Germany|accessmonthday=25 May|accessyear=2005]
* - SNCF is expected to launch a new TGV Est service from Paris through Luxembourg, southwest Germany and Switzerland using new TGV Duplex (double-decker) equipment built by Alstom. [cite web| author=Alstom| date=July 26 2005| url=http://www.alstom.com/pr_corp/2005/corp/28098.EN.php?languageId=EN&dir=/pr_corp/2005/corp/&idRubriqueCourante=15445|title=ALSTOM to supply 28 TGV trainsets and 8 TGV power cars to SNCF worth 550 million euros| accessmonthday=27 July | accessyear=2005 ] [cite web| author=Trains NewsWire|date=July 26 2005| url=http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/006/061pskqq.asp| title=Alstom to supply TGV trainsets and power cars to SNCF| accessmonthday=27 July|accessyear=2005 ]
* - The Vossloh locomotive plant in Valencia, Spain, is expected to begin assembly of the new EMD Euro 4000 model locomotive designed by Electro-Motive Diesels for sales to European railroads. [cite web|author=Electro-Motive Diesel| url=http://www.emdiesels.com/en/locomotive/international/euro4000/index.htm|title=Euro 4000| accessmonthday=1 December|accessyear=2005]
* flagicon|Bhutan - Construction is expected to begin on a new rail link between India and Bhutan. [cite web| author=Kolkata Newsline|date=March 6 2006| url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=172647|title=India, Bhutan to start work for railway linkage by 2007|accessmonthday=7 March|accessyear=2006]
* flagicon|Hong Kong - The Lok Ma Chau Spur Line of the KCRC East Rail Line in Hong Kong to connect the existing KCRC East Rail to the Lok Ma Chau border crossing between Hong Kong and China is expected to be completed and opened in 2007. [cite web|author=KCRC| url=http://www.kcrc.com.hk/eng/corporate/project/index.asp|title=KCRC New Projects| accessmonthday=20 March|accessyear=2006]
* - Optimistic opinions on the Donetsk Metro construction estimate the first line of the system will open.
* - The Eskişehir-Ankara part of 533 km long High-speed train line from İstanbul (Turkey's largest metropolis) via Eskişehir to Ankara (capital of Turkey), is expected to be opened in 2007 reducing the traveling time from 6–7 hours to 3 hours 10 minutes.
* flagicon|Georgia flagicon|Azerbaijan - The construction of a railway linking Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan will start in the second half of 2007. [cite web| author=turkishdailynews|date=January 16 2007| url=http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=64053|title=Railway construction to start in second half of 2007|accessmonthday=16 January|accessyear=2007]

Deaths

August deaths

* August 9 – Walter Rich, Chairman of Delaware Otsego Corporation, New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and Central New York Railroad (b. 1946). [cite news| url=http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2007/08/10/tgrichobit2.html| title=Railroad chairman Rich dies| publisher=The Daily Star| author=Grace, Tom| date=2007-08-10| accessdate=2007-08-10| ]

Industry awards

North America

;2007 E. H. Harriman Awards [cite press release| url=http://www.aar.org/Index.asp?NCID=4002| title=Railroad Employees Post Safest Year Ever in 2006| publisher=Association of American Railroads| date=2007-05-17| accessdate=2007-05-18| ]

;Awards presented by Railway Age magazine
* 2007 Railroader of the Year: Bill Wimmer (UP)
* 2007 Regional Railroad of the Year: South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) [cite news| url=http://www.pratttribune.com/articles/2008/03/21/news/01.txt| title=Watco earns accolades for rails| date=2008-03-21| publisher=Pratt Tribune| author=Bronson, Carol| accessdate=2008-03-25| ]
* 2007 Short Line Railroad of the Year: RJ Corman West Virginia Lines [cite web| url=http://www.aslrra.org/images/news_file/Railway_Age_2007_RR_of_the_Year.pdf| title=Railway Age 2007 RR of the Year| format=PDF |year=2007| publisher=American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association| accessdate=2008-07-09]

United Kingdom

;Train Operator of the Year:
* 2007: (not yet announced)

References