1996 in rail transport
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| 1995, 1996, 1997 |
| Years in rail transport |
| 1995 in rail transport 1996 in rail transport 1997 in rail transport |
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1996.
Contents |
[edit] Events
[edit] January events
- January 6 - A computer-controlled Washington Metro train overruns the platform at the Shady Grove station, colliding with a parked train and fatally injuring the operator. (See 1996 Gaithersburg Metrorail Accident).
[edit] March events
- March 4 - A Wisconsin Central freight train derails on a broken switch in Weyauwega, Wisconsin. The derailment forces the evacuation of the entire town until March 20 while fire crews work to control the resulting blaze.
- March 28 - Mucha line of Taipei Mass Rapid Transit, the first subway line of Taiwan, opens.
[edit] May events
- May 17 - Canadian National Railway's Beachburg Subdivision between Pembroke and Nipissing, 126 miles (203 km) of track which traversed Algonquin Provincial Park, is officially abandoned.<ref name="Churcher - Ottawa">Significant dates in Ottawa railway history. Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (2006-04-28). Retrieved on 2006-05-17.</ref>
[edit] June events
- June 26 - The Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad and the A&G Railroad merge to form the Bay Line Railroad.
[edit] July events
- July 27 - Ron Burns becomes president of Union Pacific Railroad.
- July 28 - The Talleyrand Terminal Railroad (a subsidiary of Genesee and Wyoming, Inc.) begins operations in Jacksonville, Florida.
- July 31 - Canadian Pacific Railway makes the last run of a grain load in a 40 ft boxcar with the final deliveries of grain to Thunder Bay, Ontario.<ref name="Trains-199704p17>McDonnell, Greg (April 1997). "In Canada, finis for 40-footers". Trains Magazine 57 (4): 17.</ref>
[edit] September events
- September 14 - The York-Durham Heritage Railway begins operations on CN's former branch between Uxbridge and Stouffville, Ontario.
[edit] October events
- October - The first stage of Cairo Metro's Line Two (the Yellow line) opens.
[edit] November events
- November 18 - Fire erupts in the Channel Tunnel seriously damaging 200 m of the tunnel's lining.
- November 21 - Limited freight service in the Channel Tunnel resumes while construction crews make repairs at the location of the fire three days earlier.
[edit] December events
- December 1 - Norges Statsbaner, the national railway of Norway, is created by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.
- December 4 - Passenger service resumes through the Channel Tunnel.
- December 5
- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway reopens Stampede Pass in Washington and resumes operating freight trains over the line.<ref name="HistoryLink-StampedePass">Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad reopens Stampede Pass line on December 5, 1996. HistoryLink.org. Retrieved on December 5, 2005.</ref>
- Canadian National Railway (CN) operates its last train of grain to be hauled in 40 ft (12 m) boxcars; CN SD40s numbered 5256 and 5051 depart Canora, Saskatchewan, with a train of 114 such boxcars bound for Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Thunder Bay, Ontario.<ref name="Trains-199704p18>McDonnell, Greg (April 1997). "In Canada, finis for 40-footers". Trains Magazine 57 (4): 17-18.</ref>
- December 30
- Dallas Area Rapid Transit opens the first line of Trinity Railway Express between Dallas and Irving, Texas.<ref name="TRE history">Trinity Railway Express, Significant dates in Trinity Railway Express history. Retrieved December 27 2005.</ref><ref name="DART history">DART, DART history. Retrieved December 27 2005.</ref>
- A bomb explodes a train travelling in Lower Assam in Eastern India, totally destroying three carriages of the train and derailing six more, killing at least 33 people. See: Brahmaputra Mail train bombing.
- December 31 - The Burlington Northern Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway merge to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
[edit] Unknown date events
- The Union Pacific Railroad finishes the acquisition that was effectively begun almost a century before with the purchase of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The merged company retains the name "Union Pacific" for all railroad operations.
- The Hell Gate Bridge, built in 1916, is overhauled, including its first paint job in 80 years.
- A coal train in Beresfield, New South Wales, Australia passes a red signal (SPAD) and collides with the rear of a second coal train on the same track in the Beresfield rail disaster; due to the accident, a somewhat random factor has been added to the vigilance control signals' intervals.
- Construction begins on San Juan, Puerto Rico's Tren Urbano mass transit system.
[edit] Deaths
[edit] May deaths
- May - Carl Fallberg, cartoonist who created Fiddletown & Copperopolis (b. 1915).<ref name="Trains-199702-18A"> (February 1997) "Obituary". Trains Magazine 57 (2): 18A.</ref>
[edit] References
- Significant dates in Canadian railway history. Colin Churcher's Railway Pages. Retrieved on September 13, 2005.
- "Setbacks for Puerto Rico's system", Trains Magazine, May 2002, p. 31.
- Union Pacific Railroad Chronological History: The 1800s. Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved on July 22, 2005.
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