2009 in rail transport

Years in rail transport

2008 in rail transport 2009 in rail transport 2010 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2009.

Events

By month

January events

• January 12 – official opening of Docklands Light Railway London City Airport branch extension under the River Thames to Woolwich Arsenal.^[1][2]
• January 23 – Canadian National Railway closes on purchase of Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway.^[3][4][5]

February events

• February 2 – opening of WES Commuter Rail line from Wilsonville, Oregon, to Beaverton; see http://trimet.org for more information.
• February 28 – opening of East West MRT Line extension of additional two stations from Boon Lay. Trains by this date no longer terminate at Boon Lay Station.

March events

• March – first section of Istanbul-Ankara High Speed Rail Line, between Ankara and Eskişehir (245-kilometre (152 mi)), opens.
• – the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge is officially opened to rail traffic.^[6]
• March 16 – reopening of New York City's South Ferry Station after four years of renovation.^[7]
• March 20 – Hanshin Namba Line, Amagasaki-Namba route to open, with Hanshin Sannomiya-Kintetsu Nara direct commuter express train starting.
• March 31 – the deadline for securing financing for the Amman-Zarqa Light Rail System by the Kuwaiti-led consortium passed, effectively voiding the projects after more than 10 years in planning. The deadline had already been extended twice before.^[8]

April events

May events

• May 1 – Pan Am Southern, a joint venture between Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Railway, begins operation.
• May 28 – Singapore Circle MRT Line Stage 3 ready for service using three-car Alstom trains.

June events

July events

• July 18 – Sound Transit Central Link light rail line in Seattle, Washington opens.
• – link between Kerman and Zahedan joins Europe and the Middle East to subcontinent for the first time, albeit with break-of-gauge.

August events

• August 16 – Kowloon Southern Link, an extension of the KCRC West Rail Line in Hong Kong, completed and opened.^[9]
• August 17 – opening of Canada Line rapid transit line in Vancouver, British Columbia.
• August 30 – new Portland Transit Mall light-rail alignment opens for service, initially (until September 12) used only by the MAX Yellow Line.^[10]

September events

Dubai Metro on opening day

• September 9 – partial opening of Dubai Metro.
• September 12 – MAX Green Line light rail line in Portland, Oregon, opens, transporting riders from Portland State University to Clackamas Town Center Transit Center.^[11][12]
• September 20 – the Powerhouse Museum's 3265 is recommissioned with a ceremony at Sydney Central Station and shuttle rides with the locomotive to Bankstown.

October events

November events

• November 13 – as announced on July 1, the British InterCity East Coast Main Line passenger rail franchise is transferred at 23:59 from National Express East Coast to the Department for Transport-owned company Directly Operated Railways Ltd for operation by its subsidiary East Coast Main Line Company Ltd, trading as East Coast, prior to retendering from late 2010.^[13][14][15]
• November 16 – the section from Stavanger to Sandnes on the Sørland Line opens with double track.^[16]
• November 30 – Metro Trains Melbourne (subsidiary of MTR Corporation of Hong Kong) takes over operation of suburban rail network in Melbourne, Australia, from Connex.^[17][18]

December events

• December – construction to restore the mainline of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad from Gold Hill to Carson City, Nevada completed.^[19]
• December 1 – Tasmanian government-owned Tasmanian Railway Company takes over operations on the island from Pacific National.^[20]
• December 9 – services on the London Underground Circle line cease to run continuous complete circuits, for the first time since 1884.^[21]
• December 13 – start of domestic services on High Speed 1, the UK's first high speed services run by Southeastern, from Dover Priory to London St Pancras, via Ashford International. The British Rail Class 395 trains are part of the "Javelin" service provided during the London 2012 Olympics
• December 28 – Zhengxi Passenger Railway high speed line between Zhengzhou and Xi'an, China, opens.^[22]
• December 28 – Guangzhou Metro's Line 4 extension connecting Wanshengwei to Chebeinan opens.
• December 31 – Chicago Transit Authority's Brown Line capacity expansion project completed.^[23]

Unknown date events

• – High speed railway service between Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina, to open.^[24]
• – Indian Railways to complete construction of the Chenab Bridge, the highest bridge in the world, crossing the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir.^[25]
• – Construction begins in the Republic of the Congo on a planned 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) of new railway lines connecting Brazzaville to Ouésso and Djambala to Pointe-Noire.^[26]

Accidents

• June 22 – Washington Metro accident occurs when two afternoon southbound Metrorail trains on the Red Line are in a rear-end collision between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations in Northeast Washington, D.C., United States, killing eight passengers and the operator of the rear train, trapping several occupants, and injuring up to 100 more. The most serious accident in the Metro’s history.^{[27][28][29][30]}
• August 21 – span of Iarnród Éireann's Broadmeadow viaduct, carrying the main line to Belfast about 13 km north of Dublin and just north of Malahide, collapses due to scour.^[31]

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2009 Blue Ribbon Award: Odakyu Electric Railway 60000 series MSE EMU
• 2009 Laurel Prize: Toyohashi Railroad T1000 series tramcar and Keihan Electric Railway 3000 series "Comfort Saloon" EMU

North America

2009 E. H. Harriman Awards

Group	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
A
B
C
S&T

Awards presented by Railway Age magazine

• 2009 Railroader of the Year:
• 2009 Regional Railroad of the Year: Wisconsin and Southern Railroad^[32]
• 2009 Short Line Railroad of the Year:

United Kingdom

Train Operator of the Year

• 2009:

Deaths

• January 10 – Jean Pelletier, chairman of VIA Rail 2001-2004, dies (b. 1935).^[33]
• February 20 – James I. C. Boyd, British railway historian, dies (b. 1921).

References

1. "Mayor launches tunnelling of DLR Woolwich Arsenal Extension". Retrieved April 3, 2006.
2. "Docklands Light Railway opens to Woolwich Arsenal". Railway Gazette International. January 12, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
3. "CN Railway to buy EJ&E line for $300 million". Reuters. September 26, 2007. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
4. "CN to acquire key operations of Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway for US$300 million" (Press release). Canadian National Railway. September 26, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
5. "Washington clears CN takeover of EJ&E Railway". Globe and Mail (Canada). December 24, 2008. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
6. "Thai-Lao train service launched". Bangkok Post. March 5, 2009.
7. "South Ferry Station To Open Next Week". NY1. March 9, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
8. Amman – Zarqa light rail project derailed: Global Financial Crisis Failed project reveals challenges of public-private partnerships for urban rail development, Metro Report International, June 2009, pp. 34–36.
9. KCRC New Projects, KCRC New Projects – Kowloon Southern Link. Retrieved March 20, 2006.
10. "New MAX line opens downtown". Portland Tribune. August 28, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
11. Redden, Jim (September 13, 2009). "Leaders heap praise on new MAX Green Line". Portland Tribune. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
12. Rivera, Dylan (September 12, 2009). "Riders pack MAX Green Line on first day of service". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
13. BBC News (July 1, 2009). "National Express loses rail route". Archived from the original on July 22, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
14. Department for Transport (November 2009). "Directly Operated Railways". Archived from the original on November 15, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
15. Clinnick, Richard (November 18 – December 1, 2009). "NXEC axed as DfR takes control of East Coast Main Line". Rail 631: 6–7.
16. "Første heilskaplege bane sidan Gardermobanen" (in Norwegian). Norwegian National Rail Administration. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
17. Cooper, Mex (June 25, 2009). "New train, tram operators for Melbourne". The Age (Australia). Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
18. "Metro Trains Melbourne to operate City’s rail network". Premier of Victoria. June 25, 2009. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
19. Anderson, Tim; Reno Gazette-Journal (January 4, 2006), V&T Railroad project marks milestone. Retrieved January 6, 2006.
20. McKay, Rob (December 9, 2009). "Tasmanian Railway succeeds Pacific National". RailExpress.com.au. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
21. "Circle Line extended to the west". BBC News. March 5, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
22. People's Daily Online (September 26, 2005), China builds 200-kph passenger railway. Retrieved September 27, 2005.
23. "Southport Brown Line Station to Temporarily Close on April 2 for Renovation" (Press release). Chicago Transit Authority. March 5, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
24. Frew, Iain (2008). "High speed plans for Argentina". Electric Railway 53: 15.
25. UNI (reprinted by DaijiWorld) (June 5, 2006). "World's Highest Railway Bridge to Come in Jammu and Kashmir". Retrieved June 6, 2006.
26. "Congo signs railway deal with Korean-led group". Reuters UK. October 11, 2007. Retrieved October 11, 2007.
27. "Red Line Trains Collide, Six Dead". Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. June 22, 2009. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
28. "9 dead after Metro train derailment, collision". WTOP. June 22, 2009. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
29. Lena H. Sun; Lyndsey Layton (June 22, 2009). "At Least 6 Dead in Metro Crash On Rail System's Deadliest Day". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
30. Stout, David (June 22, 2009). "Washington Commuter Train Crash Kills Four". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
31. "Company warned on bridge erosion". BBC. August 26, 2009. Retrieved Oct 16, 2009.
32. "Wisconsin & Southern Named Regional Railroad of the Year by Railway Age Magazine" (Press release). Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. March 10, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
33. "Former Chretien chief of staff Jean Pelletier dies". CTV News. January 10, 2009.