2005 in rail transport

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Sidebar This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2005.

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Events

January events

February events

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March events

April events

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May events

June events

July events

August events

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September events

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  • Template:Flagicon September 6 – Indonesian transport officials at a meeting in Bandar Lampung announce plans to build a trans-Sumatran railway to connect Banda Aceh to Bakauheni, a distance of Template:Convert. A Feasibility Study performed after the 2004 tsunami by SNCF, the national rail carrier of France, showed that such a line could be built. Construction is expected to commence in seven stages; the first stage would connect Banda Aceh to Besitang (484 km / 301 miles). (Indonesia Relief)
  • Template:Flagicon September 13 – The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the national rail carrier of Nigeria, announces that it has laid off 5,980 of its nearly 12,000 employees, answering a call from the Nigerian government to downsize. The government first asked NRC for a 50% reduction in the last quarter of 2003; NRC waited until there was sufficient funds from the government for severance packages for the affected employees. In all, the government released nearly N2.1 billion (US$16 million) to NRC for severance pay. Some of NRC's layoff criteria included fraud, excessive absenteeism, employees who had worked for more than 33 years, or who were aged 50–60, and employees with a history of disciplinary actions. (AllAfrica)
  • Template:Flagicon September 20 – Japanese officials announce the government's intentions to pay former World War II prisoners of war involved in the construction of the Death Railway between Thailand and Burma. Compensation amounts have not been announced; some estimates place the number of construction survivors at 1,800, most now aged in their 80s and 90s. The compensation for laborers who have died either during construction or afterward would be sent to their next of kin.<ref name="NST - Death Railway">New Straits Times (September 20, 2005), Hope for survivors of ‘Death Railway'Template:Dead link. Retrieved September 20, 2005.</ref>
  • Template:Flagicon September 29 – Sixty years after World War II, Nederlandse Spoorwegen issues a statement formally apologizing for transporting Jewish people to Nazi concentration camps in Germany and Poland during the war. Template:Interlanguage link, the railway's chief executive stated "On behalf of the company and from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologise for what happened during the war." The railway made the decision to issue the formal apology after the largest Dutch Jewish organization, Centraal Joods Overleg, proposed an awareness campaign to take place at the railway's stations nationwide. Reaction among the survivors is mixed.<ref name="Reuters - NS apology">Mudeva, Anna; Reuters (September 29, 2005), Dutch railway firm apologises for deporting Jews. Retrieved September 29, 2005.</ref>

October events

  • Template:Flagicon October 6 – Amtrak announces that the City of New Orleans and Crescent passenger trains will again serve New Orleans Union Station beginning on Sunday October 9. Before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Amtrak suspended City of New Orleans service south of Memphis, Tennessee, and suspended Crescent service south of Atlanta, Georgia, in anticipation of damage to the tracks and signal systems surrounding New Orleans. The first departure from New Orleans will be the northbound Crescent at 7:20 AM, followed by the northbound City of New Orleans at 1:45 PM; the first corresponding southbound trains are scheduled to arrive in New Orleans later that afternoon. Amtrak's announcement did not mention service restoration on the transcontinental Sunset Limited.<ref name="Amtrak - New Orleans">Amtrak (October 6, 2005), Amtrak Trains to Roll Out of New Orleans on October 9. Retrieved October 6, 2005.</ref>
  • Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon October 14 – The concession for operation of the Kenya-Uganda Railways is awarded to Rift Valley Railways Consortium (RVRC), headquartered in South Africa. In announcing the bid, officials state that Rift Valley was selected over RITES Ltd. of India, the only other bidder, by a factor of two to one. The new operator is expected to begin management of the combined railway on March 30, 2006. RVRC will not be expected to take up the railways KSh.20.9 billion/= (US$282 million) debt, but will repay the Kenyan government KSh.3 billion/= ($40.5 million) that was spent to subsidize the railway for the last three years.<ref name="CapitalFM - SA firm">Capital FM (October 14, 2005), SA firm wins railway deal. Retrieved October 16, 2005.</ref>
  • Template:Flagicon October 15 – Chinese officials announce the completion of the Qingzang railway connecting Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. The line's construction, which has been criticized by some who say the new railway will dilute Tibetan culture, had to overcome technical challenges that included building a railway on top of permafrost and boring tunnels through solid ice while construction workers breathed bottled oxygen.<ref name="Tepegraph - Qingzang Railway">The Telegraph (October 15, 2005), World's highest railway. Retrieved October 16, 2005.</ref>
  • Template:Flagicon October 17 – British railway ministers announce that Scottish Ministers will soon take control of railway administration within Scotland. The powers will include decisions over operations and infrastructure (such as tracks and stations) as well as oversight of the First ScotRail franchise. The British government will also supply a multi-million pound grant to fund the Scottish rail operations, money that is needed in order to move the Edinburgh station improvement project forward, for example. British ministers will retain train driver licensing as well as other safety obligations.<ref name="Scotsman - First ScotRail">Scotsman.com (October 17, 2005), Scotland assumes new railway powers. Retrieved October 18, 2005.</ref>
  • Template:Flagicon October 24 – World's first biogas train makes maiden voyage.
  • Template:Flagicon October 31 – Rapid transit workers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, go on strike. SEPTA, the fifth largest transit agency in the United States, is forced to temporarily close several lines due to a lack of trained employees. Union negotiators walked out of contract negotiations minutes before the midnight deadline when they failed to come to a conclusion; disputes were centered around employee pay and benefits agreements. All operators on the City, Victory, and Frontier Divisions walked off the job. SEPTA services on the regional rail division continue according to contingency plans, and all bus, trolley, and subway lines are suspended until the conclusion of the work stoppage.<ref name="AP - SEPTA strike">Podsana, Janice; Associated Press (reprinted in The Guardian, October 31, 2005), Philadelphia Transit Workers Go on Strike. Retrieved October 31, 2005.</ref>

November events

  • Template:Flagicon November 1 – Government officials in China announce plans to privatise the nation's rail network into separate corporations that could be listed on international stock markets. The strategy is to raise money for improvements and expansions to the network, which would increase the amount of track by about Template:Convert. The plan could lead to partial or complete foreign ownership of some railway lines, but some investors have already raised concerns over the network's regulatory system, especially in regard to the newly independent railways' abilities to raise prices to cover costs. (BBC News)
  • Template:Flagicon November 4 – The United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announces a requirement for increased and more detailed inspections of around Template:Convert of track that use continuous welded rail. The inspections are to detect and repair potential problems that involve loose or missing bolts, detectable problems in the rail and other potential hazards. In making the announcement, the FRA and National Transportation Safety Board cite inadequate track inspections as the cause of three major derailments since 2002, including a Canadian Pacific (CP) derailment in January 2002 near Minot, North Dakota, that released a cloud of anhydrous ammonia, and an Amtrak derailment in 2004 near Flora, Mississippi, in which a passenger died. CP disputes inadequate inspections as the cause of the 2002 accident. (AP/Newsday) (FRA)
  • Template:Flagicon November 23 – Railroad workers across France return to work from a strike action. The labour unions involved in the strike report that they are pleased with concessions agreed to during negotiations on Tuesday and French President Jacques Chirac offered his personal guarantee that SNCF would not be privatised. The strike, the sixth by French rail workers in 2005, suspended one third of all TGV trains across the country. (IHT)

December events

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The 45th Street R station closed during the 2005 New York City transit strike

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Accidents and attacks

File:Graniteville derailment, aerial view closeup.jpg
Aerial view of the Graniteville accident's aftermath.
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Investigation at the scene of the Amagasaki rail crash.
File:London-07.07.2005-trapped underground.jpg
Smoke and confusion in the London Underground after the bomb blast.

Template:2005 railway accidents

Deaths

January deaths

February deaths

March deaths

April deaths

May deaths

August deaths

November deaths

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by Japan Railfan Club

North America

2005 E. H. Harriman Awards
Group Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
A Norfolk Southern Railway BNSF CSX Transportation
B Canadian Pacific's U.S. subsidiary (formerly Soo Line Railroad) Kansas City Southern Railway Metra
C Florida East Coast Railway Pan Am Railways Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad
S&T Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Conrail Belt Railway of Chicago
Awards presented by Railway Age magazine

United Kingdom

Train Operator of the Year

References

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