1994 in rail transport

Years in rail transport

1993 in rail transport 1994 in rail transport 1995 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1994.

Events

January events

• January 1 - Rail Management Corporation takes over operations of the Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad.
• January 1 - Railroad Services, Inc. takes over operations of the now 5 year old Abbeville-Grimes Railway, renaming it to A&G Railroad.
• January 1 - Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn are merged to form Deutsche Bahn AG.
• January 9 - The Chicago Transit Authority closes its Green Line rail service on the West and South Sides of Chicago for a massive $400 million, 2½ year rehabilitation and modernization program.

April events

• April 1 - Management of the British Rail infrastructure is taken over by Railtrack.^[1]

May events

• May 6 - The Channel Tunnel linking England and France officially opens.

June events

• June 25 - Vandals place concrete blocks on a railway line at Greenock, Scotland, causing the Greenock rail crash. The train driver is killed along with one passenger.

July events

• July 3 - Gare de Satolas (designed by Santiago Calatrava) opens at Lyon on LGV Rhône-Alpes.
• July 15 - JR Kansai Airport Line and Nankai Airport Line open, for the access route of Kansai International Airport, before their formal opening on September 4.

August events

• August 3 - Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited passenger train derails near Batavia, New York, while traveling at 75 mph (120.7 km/h), injuring 125 of the train's passengers and crew members.
• August 8 - Astram Line open between Hondori and Koiki-koen-mae in new transit system of Hiroshima, Japan.
• August 22 - Indian Railways orders the first WDC-2 locomotives.
• August 26 - The Dominion Atlantic Railway operates its last train, just a month short of its centenary.

September events

• September 22 - New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority begins construction on the 63rd Street Connector which connects the 63rd Street Tunnel to the Queens Boulevard Line.

October events

• October 7 – The Regional Transportation District in Denver, Colorado opens the first line of its light rail system.^[2]
• October 13 – Inauguration of Eurostar service between Brussels and London by King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium.

November events

• November 14 - First commercial Eurostar services Brussels<>London and Paris<>London.
• November 30 - Alaska Railroad, which lacks a direct rail connection with the rest of the North American rail network, brings a 700 foot (213 m) long railgrinder to Alaska by ship at a cost of $1.2 million to service the company's tracks.

December events

• December 3 - In Japan, Chizu Express, Chizu and Kamigori route open, with Kyoto to Tottori of direct Super Hakuto Express train to start.
• December 13 - The Interstate Commerce Commission grants Union Pacific Railroad authority to exercise management control over the Chicago and North Western Railway.
• December 16 - Last run of Via Rail Atlantic Limited passenger service through Maine between Montreal and the Maritimes.
• December 31 - Burlington Northern Railroad operates the last freight train on the former Oregon Electric Railway mainline in Portland, Oregon; the mainline is to become part of the new TriMet light rail system.

Nepalese diesel

Unknown date events

• Amtrak's new EMD F59PHI diesel locomotives enter service.
• Southern Pacific Railroad single-tracks the Donner Pass mainline.
• Norfolk Southern ends railroad-sponsored steam excursions.
• Towards the end of the year, regular use of steam locomotives on the Janakpur Railway, Nepal, is abandoned following the transfer of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge diesel locomotives from Indian Railways.^[3][4]
• The Southern Fuegian Railway (500 mm (19 ³⁄₄ in) gauge) reopens as a tourist operation in Argentina.

Accidents

Deaths

May deaths

• May 14 - W. Graham Claytor Jr., president of Amtrak 1982–1993 (b. 1912).

September deaths

• September 21 - O. S. Nock, English railway author and signalling engineer (b. 1905).^[5]

References

• Alaska Railroad, Alaska Railroad History. Retrieved July 20, 2006.
• Blaszak, Michael W. (June 1995), "Chicago & North Western: A survivor no more", Trains magazine, p. 17-20.
• (May 1995), "Freight out, light rail in", Trains magazine, p. 24.
• (March 29, 2005), History of railway companies in Nova Scotia. Retrieved August 26, 2005.
• Indian Railways Fan Club, IR History: Part - V (1970–1995). Retrieved August 22, 2005.
• New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit – History and Chronology. Retrieved September 22, 2005.
• (May 1995), "Scanner - Rail at fault?", Trains magazine, p. 21.

1. Left, Sarah (2002-01-15). "Key dates in Britain's railway history". The Guardian Unlimited.
2. Pacific RailNews (ISSN 8750-8486), November 1994, p. 14. Pentrex.
3. "Janakpur Railway". FarRail Tours. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
4. Saxena, R. P. (2008). "Indian Railway History Time Line". Retrieved 2010-01-28.
5. Vanns, M. A. (May 2006). "Nock, Oswald Stevens (1905–1994)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press Online Edition. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55169. Retrieved 2010-01-28.