2011 in rail transport

Years in rail transport

2010 in rail transport 2011 in rail transport 2012 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2011.

Events

By month

January events

• January 10 – Regular through passenger service from Wuhan to Wanzhou over the complete new Yiwan Railway in China starts. The line features 288 km (179 mi) of bridges on a total length of 377 km (234 mi).^[1]

February events

• February 19– First public passenger train operates throughout between Caernarfon and Porthmadog Harbour over the restored Welsh Highland Railway.
• February 28 – Wabtec announces that it has acquired Brush Traction, the English-based locomotive builder and maintainer, for US$31 million.^[2]

March events

• March 13 – Kyushu Shinkansen opens between Hakata of Fukuoka and Shin-Yatsushiro, with Osaka and Kagoshima direct bullet train starting.
• – Sassenheim railway station opens in the Netherlands.

May events

• May 1 – Veendam railway station opens in the Netherlands.
• May 1 – Tide Light Rail begins service in Norfolk, Virginia.

June events

• June 16 – An NSB Class 73 burns up after catching fire in a burning show shed at Hallingskeid Station on Norway's Bergen Line.^[3]
• June 22 – Shenzhen Metro's Line 5 opens.
• June 28 – Phase 2 of Shenzhen Metro Line 2 connecting Window of the World Station to Xinxiu Station opens for trial runs.
• – A-Train commuter rail service begins in northern Texas.^[4]
• – Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway opens in China.

July events

• July 23 – Wenzhou train collision: At least 39 people are killed when a China Railway High-speed train collides in rear with a preceding stationary train halted by a lightning strike, throwing two coaches off a viaduct close to Wenzhou in Zhejiang province.^[5]

August events

• August 7 – West Valley and Mid-Jordan extensions of TRAX open in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area.
• August 15 – The Gevingåsen Tunnel on Norway's Nordland Line opens.^[6]
• August 19 – The first line of the Jerusalem Light Rail opens to passengers. It runs from Pisgat Ze'ev in the northeast, south along Road 60 to Jaffa Road (Rehov Yaffo). From there, it runs along Jaffa Road westward to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, and continues to the southwest, crossing the Chords Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava, along Herzl Boulevard to Beit HaKerem and terminates near Mount Herzl.
• August 26 – The Bærum Tunnel and section of track between Lysaker and Sandvika on Norway's Asker Line is takne into use.^[7]
• August 31 – Opening of Docklands Light Railway extension from Canning Town to the new Stratford International station, taking over the North London Line infrastructure (which closed on 9 December 2006) and linking the Docklands area with domestic and international high-speed services on High Speed 1 and with the 2012 Olympic Games site.^[8][9][10]

September events

• September 27 – Brookhaven Rail Terminal opened on Long Island, New York, a 28-acre facility for bulk commodities

October events

• October 8 – The Circle MRT Line becomes fully operational.
• – Banihal-Qazigund railway tunnel (Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel) a part of its Udhampur – Srinagar – Baramulla rail link project, opened in October 2011, India's longest and Asia's second longest railway tunnel and reduced the distance between Quazigund and Banihal to only 11 km. The 10.96 km long railway tunnel, passes through the Pir Panjal Range of middle Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir.^[11][12][13]

November events

• November 7 – A new 7.8-kilometer (4.8 mi) segment of the Vestfold Line with double track between Barkåker and Tønsberg, including the Jarlsberg Tunnel, is taken into use.^[14]
• November 8 - The new 5000-Series rail cars (5001-5706), built by Bombardier Transportation of Plattsburg, New York are placed in revenue service on the Chicago Transit Authority elevated-subway rail system. These new rail cars (the first since the 1992-94 built Morrison-Knudsen 3200-Series) represent the next generation of high-tech transport on the Chicago 'L'-Subway. They feature smooth stainless steel car bodies with fluted sidewalls, sculptured face ends, color-coded digital LED destination signs, ADA accessibility with longitudinal seating arrangements and two wheelchair locations. The 5000-Series cars are also equipped with AC traction motors.

December events

• December 11 – SNCF opens LGV Rhin-Rhône.
• December 28 – Hangzhou Metro opens in China
• – Hangyong Passenger Railway opens in China.
• – Utrecht Leidsche Rijn railway station opens in the Netherlands.

Unknown date events

• – Zhengzhou East Railway Station opens in Zhengzhou, China.
• – Rail service begins to Warsaw Chopin Airport.
• – Revenue service on JR East's new mainline between Hachinohe and Shin-Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, begins.^[15][16]
• – The 594 km (369 mi) long high speed railway between Ankara and Izmir opens.
• – The 455 km (283 mi) long high speed railway between Ankara and Sivas opens.
• – The aging Hitachi trains in Melbourne are completely phased out.

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2011 Blue Ribbon Award: Keisei Electric Railway AE series Skyliner EMU
• 2011 Laurel Prize: Tokyo Metro 16000 series EMU

North America

2011 E. H. Harriman Awards

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

Awards presented by Railway Age magazine

• 2011 Railroader of the Year: Wick Moorman (NS)^[17]
• 2011 Regional Railroad of the Year:
• 2011 Short Line Railroad of the Year:

United Kingdom

Train Operator of the Year

• 2011:

Deaths

• January 15 – Francesco di Majo, designer of the Pendolino (born 1910).^[18]
• May 4 – Richard Steinheimer, American railroad photographer, dies (b. 1929).
• July 29 – Richard Marsh, Baron Marsh, chairman of British Rail 1971–1976, dies (b. 1928).
• October 20 – Roger Tallon, designer of the TGV (born 1929).^[19]

References

1. "最难修铁路”宜万铁路通车 ("World's most difficult to build railway" opens for service) (Chinese)
2. "Wabtec buys Brush Traction". Railway Gazette International. February 28, 2011. Archived from the original on February 28, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
3. Eidsvik, Øyvind Lefdal (July 8, 2011). "Sveising kostet 250 mill.". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
4. Peterson, Matt (June 20, 2011). "A-train railway begins rolling, carrying commuters from Denton to Carrollton". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
5. "China: Dozens die as bullet trains collide in Zhejiang". BBC News. July 24, 2011. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
6. Svingheim, Njål (August 15, 2011). "Første tog gjennom Gevingåsen" (in Norwegian). Norwegian National Rail Administration. Archived from the original on February 1, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
7. Strande, Mona (August 24, 2011). "Snart kjører toget her". Teknisk Ukeblad (in Norwegian). Retrieved September 11, 2011.
8. "DLR on track for Stratford International as £67m contract awarded".
9. Docklands Light Railway. "Stratford International extension approved". Archived from the original on November 26, 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
10. "Major contract award signals start of work on DLR Stratford International Extension".
11. "India's longest railway tunnel unveiled in Jammu & Kashmir". The Times of India (India). October 14, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
12. http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2011/Mar/31/banihal-qazigund-railway-tunnel-to-be-complete-by-december-42.asp
13. "India's longest railway tunnel unveiled in Jammu & Kashmir". The Times Of India (India). October 14, 2011.
14. Tørrestad, Yngve (November 7, 2011). "Vestfoldbanen åpnet etter seks uker, men ikke uten problemer". Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
15. "Shinkansen prototype unveiled". The Yomiuri Shimbun. 2005. Retrieved June 28, 2005.
16. "New bullet train could be world's fastest". The Japan Times Online. June 25, 2005. Retrieved June 28, 2005.
17. "Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman named Railway Age Railroader of the Year". Railway Age. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
18. "Francesco di Majo". The Times (UK). 23 February 2011. p. 47.
19. "L'homme du TGV et pionnier du design industriel, Roger Tallon, est mort". Le Monde. October 20, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2011.