Events

January events

* January 17 –

Groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...

ceremonies are held for the Hiawatha Line in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota.

February events

* February 8 – Section of the

Rinkai Line The is a railway line in Tokyo, Japan. It is the only line operated by the third-sector company Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit. It connects central Tokyo to the artificial islands of Aomi and Odaiba. The line is served by some trains on ...

between Tennozu Isle and Tokyo Teleport stations in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

opens for service. * February 12 – Construction begins on KCR Ma On Shan Rail in Hong Kong.

March events

* March 21 – An EMD JT42CWR (Series 66) becomes the first American-built

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

to cross the Germany-Switzerland border as it leads a

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

train from

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

to Mutenz. * March 28 –

Saitama Rapid Railway Line The is a mostly underground rapid transit line in Japan operated by the third sector operating company Saitama Railway Corporation. Funded by Saitama Prefecture, local municipal governments, and Tokyo Metro, it forms a continuation of the Toky ...

, Akabane-Iwabuchi to Urawa-Misono route officially completed, with Urawa-Misono via Tokyo Metro Nanboku Line to

Tokyu Meguro Line The is a railway line operated by Japanese private railway company Tokyu Corporation. As a railway line, the name is for the section between and in southwest Tokyo, but nearly all trains run to on a quad-tracked section of the Tōyoko Line ...

Musashi-Kosugi route direct commuter train service to start in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

April events

* April 3 – The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

approves Bombardier's acquisition of

Adtranz Adtranz was a multi-national rail transportation equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the US. The company, legally known as ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation, was created in 1996 as a joint venture between ABB and Daim ...

May events

* May – Varshavsky railway station in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia, is closed and facilities transferred elsewhere. * May 16 – The stretch of railway between

Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; ;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. ) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Murska Sob ...

, Slovenia, and

Zalalövő Zalalövő () is a town in Zala County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the e ...

, Hungary, is opened, in part following the route originally opened in 1907 and dismantled in 1968. * May 26 –

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

sets a new speed record in France when

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

train number 531 travels the between

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in 3 hours and 29 minutes at an average speed of 317.46 km/h (197.26 mph).

June events

* June 7 –

opens the

LGV Méditerranée The LGV Méditerranée (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse''; English: Mediterranean high-speed line) is a French high-speed rail line running from north to south between Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence, Drôme and Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, also fe ...

in France, including the new

Avignon TGV station Avignon TGV (IATA: XZN) is a railway station located in Avignon, France. It was opened on 10 June 2001 and is located on the LGV Méditerranée high-speed line and Avignon-Centre–Avignon TGV railway. The train services are operated by the SNC ...

July events

* July 1 –

Elipsos ''Elipsos Internacional S.A.'' was a Spanish company which was set up in 2001 by Spanish RENFE and French SNCF with a 50% share each. It was created to handle the logistics of Trenhotel night railway services between Spain and France, Switzerlan ...

– a

joint-venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

company established by the Spanish and French rail companies

and

Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

to run night-time passenger connections from Spain to France, Switzerland, and Italy – begins operations. * July 7 –

Kobe Municipal Subway The is a rapid transit system in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Like other large Japanese cities, Kobe's subway system is heavily complemented by suburban rail. In addition, two people mover lines also serve the Kobe area: the Port Island Line ...

Kaigan Line The , also known as the "Yumekamome" (), is one of two lines of the Kobe Municipal Subway. Trains of the line are propelled by linear motors. This is the third linear motor rapid transit line to be built in Japan. History Construction of the ...

, Sannomiya-Hanadokeimae Station, via Wadamisaki Station to Shin-Nagata Station route, officially completed in Hyogo Prefecture,

. * July 12 – The Maitry Express

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

begins regular revenue service between India and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. * July 20 – The

Portland Streetcar The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. Th ...

, a new modern tram system, is opened.

August events

* August 16 – After a complete restoration, Canadian Pacific 2816, a

4-6-4 , under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

, operates under its own power for the first time in nearly 40 years. * August 25 – The

El Reno Heritage Express The El Reno Heritage Express is a heritage streetcar line in El Reno, Oklahoma. It opened in 2001 as the only operating streetcar in the state (since joined by the Oklahoma City Streetcar). A single J.G. Brill Strafford Car runs a excursion s ...

heritage trolley commences service in

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and the county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after ...

. * August 31 – 66% interest in

Eesti Raudtee AS Eesti Raudtee (') known as Eesti Raudtee or EVR is the national railway infrastructure company of Estonia. It owns a network of of broad gauge () railway throughout the country, including the used by the Elron commuter trains around Tallin ...

, the state railway of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, is sold to a private holding company with international investors "Baltic Rail Services".

September events

* September 5 – The extension of

Minsk Metro The Minsk Metro (; ) is a rapid transit system that serves Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Opened 29 June 1984, it presently consists of 3 lines and 33 stations, totaling . In 2013, the system carried 328.3 million passengers, which averages to a ...

's Avtozavodskaya Line connecting Avtozavodskaya to Mogilevskaya opens. * September 10 – The Red Line of

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

MAX Light Rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five lines connecting the Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, six sectio ...

system, serving the airport, opens. * September – Remaining rail traffic in

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

suspended.

October events

* October –

Ferrocarriles de Cuba Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FCC) or Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Cuba (English: National Railway Company of Cuba), provides passenger and freight services for Cuba. Route network Ferrocarriles de Cuba uses that extends from Guane, Pinar del Río pr ...

purchases its first six-axle GE diesel locomotives (mostly GE C30-7 models) secondhand from Mexican railroads. * October 3 – Canadian Pacific Corporation divests itself of its five major subsidiaries, spinning off

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

as an independent company. * October 7 –

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the railroad, track, railway signalling, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the railway station, stations of the Transport in England#Rail, British railway syste ...

, in England, is placed under legal administration by

Stephen Byers Stephen John Byers (born 13 April 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallsend between 1992 and 1997, and North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010. He served in the Cabinet from 1998 to 2002, and w ...

Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...

, effectively renationalizing the system. * October 9 –

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

(CN) purchases Wisconsin Central for US$1.2 billion, giving CN a direct rail link to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

November events

* November 19 – The

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and absorbed regula ...

releases the final Environmental Impact Statement on Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad's plan to expand into

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Powder River Basin The Powder River Basin is a geologic structural basin in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its extensive coal reserves. The former hunting grounds of the Oglala Lakota, the area is very ...

December events

* December 11 – Seven members of the Communauté des chemins de fer européens leave to form European Rail Infrastructure Managers. * December 15 – The '' Downeaster'', a passenger train operated by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, begins regularly scheduled passenger service between

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. * December 17 – MARC extends passenger service to

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

Accidents

* January 27 – The Gerogery level crossing accident occurred in Gerogery, Australia and killed five people in a car. * February 28 –

Selby rail crash The Selby rail crash (also known as the Great Heck rail crash) was a railway accident that occurred on 28 February 2001 near Great Heck, Selby, North Yorkshire when a passenger train collided with a car which had crashed down a motorway embank ...

– A rail accident in

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...

, England, leaves 10 dead and 82 injured. * March 27 – The Pécrot rail crash was a rail accident in the village of Pécrot, Belgium, that killed 8 people. * July 18 – Howard Street Tunnel fire in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland in the United States * July 21 – Four

passenger cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

on the ''Mangalore Mail'' commuter train heading for

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

derail A derail or derailer is a device used to prevent fouling (blocking or compromising) of a rail track (or collision with anything present on the track, such as a person, or a train) by unauthorized movements of trains or unattended rolling stock ...

while crossing the

Kadalundi River Kadalundi River (Kadalundipuzha) is one of the four major rivers flowing through Malappuram district and kozhikode district in the Indian state of Kerala. The other three are the Chaliyar, the Bharathappuzha and the Tirur River. This rain-fed ...

near

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

, India, killing 57 people. See: Kadalundi River rail disaster. * August 10 – The 2001 Angola train attack killed 252 when

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Liberat ...

rebels derailed a train in

Dondo, Angola Dondo is a town, with a population of 64,643 (2014),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & urban localities i ...

. * August 19 – The ''Udarata Menike'' express passenger service from

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

to Alawwa, Sri Lanka, derails on newly installed track, killing 15 passengers in what has come to be known as the Kurunegala train crash. * October 31 – A broken rail on the

in France derails a

train travelling at 130 km/h (80.8 mph), but only six minor injuries result. * November 15 – Two

trains collide head-on in Andersonville, Michigan (northwest of Detroit). * December 23 – An incorrect brake application on a

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

local train that had stopped to perform switching at Kodak Park (

Charlotte, New York Charlotte is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,521. Charlotte is centrally located in the county, north of Jamestown and south of Dunkirk. History The area was first sett ...

) causes the train to run away and derail five miles (8 km) later, destroying homes and businesses in the area.

Deaths

January deaths

* January 30 – O Winston Link, American photographer who documented the end of

use on the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

in the 1950s (b. 1914).

Industry awards

Japan

; Awards presented by Japan Railfan Club * 2001 Blue Ribbon Award:

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

885 series The is a tilting AC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated on limited express services by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) in Japan. The type is part of Hitachi's ''A-train'' family of multiple units. Operations The 885 series is ...

'' Shiroi Kamome'' EMU * 2001

Laurel Prize The is an award presented annually in Japan since 1961 by the Japan Railfan Club. It is awarded for railway vehicles that entered service in the previous year and voted by the selection committee as having the most outstanding functional and des ...

: **

Nagoya Railroad , publicly trading as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the ''Panorama Car'' and the ''Panorama Car Super'', both of whic ...

Mo 800 tramcar ** Kintetsu 3220/5820/9020 series "Series-21" EMU

North America

;2001 E. H. Harriman Awards ;Awards presented by

Railway Age ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine ...

magazine * 2001

Railroader of the Year Railroader of the Year is an annual award presented to a North American railroad industry worker by trade journal ''Railway Age''. The award was first presented in 1964 by trade journal ''Modern Railroads'' and has continued through the magazine ac ...

: Mike Haverty (

ATSF The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

, KCS) * 2001

Regional Railroad of the Year ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine' ...

: Wisconsin & Southern Railroad * 2001 Short Line Railroad of the Year: South Buffalo Railway

United Kingdom

; Train Operator of the Year * 2001:

References

* Some of the events listed here were translated from 2001 dans les chemins de fer, the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article. * Canadian Pacific Railway (2005),
Canadian Pacific Railway – A Brief History
'. Retrieved September 30, 2005. * (May 2002), CSX recognizes human error, ''

Trains A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

'', p. 22. * (May 2002), Familiar faces in unfamiliar places, ''Trains'', p. 26. * (February 2002), Fatigue, or human error? ''Trains'', p. 24. * General Motors Electro-Motive Division (March 21, 2001),
First GM CLASS 66 Locomotive Crosses German-Swiss Border
'. Retrieved April 13, 2005. * Indian Railways Fan Club (2005),

'. Retrieved July 10, 2005. * (April 3, 2005),

'. Retrieved August 15, 2005. * (February 2002), MARC adds line; tower fixed up, ''Trains'', p. 24. * O. Winston Link Museum,

'. Retrieved February 4, 2005. {{reflist