2008 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
February events
- February 27
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– Official opening of Santo Domingo MetroSanto Domingo MetroThe Santo Domingo Metro is a rapid transit system in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The Santo Domingo Metro is part of a major "National Master Plan" to improve transportation in Santo Domingo as well as the rest of the nation. The first line was planned to relieve traffic...
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– National Express GroupNational Express GroupNational Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
changes the name of the railway operating company one to National Express East Anglia as part of a company-wide rebranding exercise.
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March events
March 15 – The Osaka Higashi Line is scheduled to open in OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan; the opening was originally scheduled for 2006, but delayed due to problems acquiring land. March 27 – Heathrow Terminal 5 station
Heathrow Terminal 5 station
Heathrow Terminal 5 station is a shared railway station at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 which was opened on 27 March 2008. It was designed by architects HOK International in conjunction with Rogers, Stirk, Harbour & Partners....
opens in London. – Kolkata Metro
Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata and the districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. The network consists of one operational line and five lines currently under construction...
is extended from Tollygunge
Tollygunge
Tollygunge is a locality of South Kolkata. It is flanked by the Eastern Railway south suburban line to the north, Lake Gardens and Golf Green in the east, the Pashchim & Purba Putiaries in the south, and Behala in the west.-History:...
station to Pranabnagar station.
April events
April 26 – FrontRunnerFrontRunner
FrontRunner is a commuter rail system operated by the Utah Transit Authority , serving the northern portion of the Wasatch Front from Salt Lake Central Station to Ogden Union Station. The system opened 26 April 2008...
, a new commuter rail service, begins running in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
- April 28
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Mainland China – 2008 Shandong train collision: Sixty-six people are killed and almost 250 injured when a passenger train from BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
careers off the rails and slams into another train in eastern China. The rail accident, the worst in China in more than a decade, happens near the city of ZiboZiboZibo is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.Located in the middle part...
in Shandong province. - – Wrexham & Shropshire begin to run passenger services between London Marylebone stationMarylebone stationMarylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
, the West MidlandsWest Midlands (region)The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
, ShropshireShropshireShropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
and north-east Wales.
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May events
June events
- June 2–June 6 AfricaRail 2008 Conference.
July events
July 5 – Meeting between Venezuela, ColombiaTransport in Colombia
Transport in Colombia is regulated by the Ministry of Transport.Road travel is the main means of transport; almost 70 percent of cargo is transported by road, as compared with 27 percent by railroad, 3 percent by internal waterways, and 1 percent by air. Nevertheless, Colombia has one of the lowest...
and Ecuador regarding a proposed rail link for freight and passengers between the three countries, also connecting the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
with the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
August events
- August 1
- – China officially opens the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway line, the first in the world regularly to host trains traveling up to 350 km/h (217.5 mph).
- – LNER-design Peppercorn Class A1 60163 TornadoLNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado60163 Tornado is a main-line steam locomotive built in Darlington, England. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom since Evening Star, the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, in 1960...
makes first official move under its own steam, the first main line steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
built in BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
since 1960.
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September events
September 12 – 2008 Chatsworth train collision2008 Chatsworth train collision
The Chatsworth train collision occurred at 16:22 PDT on Friday September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on in the Chatsworth district of Los Angeles, California, in the United States...
. Twenty-six people died when a Metrolink
Metrolink (Southern California)
Metrolink is a commuter rail system serving Los Angeles and the surrounding area of Southern California; it currently consists of six lines and 55 stations using of track....
train hits a Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
freight train head-on.
December events
- December – The first section of the new METRO Light RailMETRO Light Rail (Phoenix)Metro Light Rail is a 32 km light rail line operating in the U.S. state of Arizona. Part of the Valley Metro public transit system, it serves the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa. Construction began in March 2005; operation started December 27, 2008...
system, part of Valley MetroValley Metro (Phoenix)Valley Metro is the unified public brand of the regional transit system in and around the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area, responsible for public transit.-About Valley Metro:...
in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, is scheduled to open.
Summer events
– The project to rebuild and upgrade Guiyang Southern StationGuiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
to more than double its capacity is expected to be completed.
Unknown date events
– Indian RailwaysIndian Railways
Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....
expects to complete the conversion of its electrified section in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
from a 1,500 volt
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
DC
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
system to 25,000 volts AC
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
; this will make the Mumbai section's electrification consistent with the rest of Indian Railways' network. – Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
expects to complete construction on the Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
-Lao Cai
Lao Cai
Lào Cai is a city in northeastern Vietnam. It is the capital of Lao Cai province. The city borders the city of Hekou, in the Yunnan province of Southwest China. It lies at the junction of the Red River and the Nam Ti River approximately 160 miles northwest of Hanoi...
railway line upgrade. – The first line of Jerusalem's light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
system is scheduled to begin operations. – The city of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia, will begin construction of a new intercity light railway beginning with a 26.5 km (16.5 mi) section between Baltiyskaya Zhemchuzhina and the Obukhovo
Obukhovo
Obukhovo is an urban locality in Noginsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east from Moscow. Population: -Overview:The settlement is divided into two parts by the M7 auto route....
metro station.
– Pakistan will begin construction of a major railway line in Afghanistan. An initial 10.5 km stretch of track will be laid from Pakistan border town of ChamanChaman
Chaman is the capital of Qilla Abdullah District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is situated just south of the border with Afghanistan. Across the border in Afghanistan is the neighbouring town of Spin Boldak, in Kandahar Province...
to Spin Boldak
Spin Boldak
Spin Boldak or Spin Buldak is a border town in the southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, right next to the Durand Line border with Pakistan. It is linked by a highway with the city of Kandahar to the north, and with Chaman and Quetta in Pakistan to the south. Spin Boldak has the second major...
in Afghanistan at cost of USD 11.5m. A second phase envisages extending line to Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
for eventual connection via the western city of Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
to Khushka in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
. The final phase would link 1676mm gauge with Central Asian 1524mm gauge. It is not clear where the break of gauge station(s) will be. – Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
expects to close on the purchase of Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad
The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States...
.
March deaths
- March 16 – John Shedd ReedJohn Shedd ReedJohn Shedd Reed was president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from 1967 until 1986. The rail transport industry journal Modern Railways named Reed its Man of the Year for 1970....
, president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayThe Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
1967-1986 (b. 1917).