2008 in rail transport

Template:Short description Template:Update Template:Sidebar This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2008.

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Events

By month

January events

• Template:Flagicon January 16 – The Tozai Line in Kyoto is extended Template:Convert from Nijo to Uzumasa-Tenjingawa.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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February events

• February 27
  • Template:Flagicon – Official opening of Santo Domingo Metro.
  • Template:Flagicon – National Express changes the name of the railway operating company one to National Express East Anglia as part of a company-wide rebranding exercise.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

March events

• Template:Flagicon March 9 – Sprinter starts service between Oceanside and Escondido, California,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> reinstating passenger service on the Escondido branch line.
• Template:Flagicon March 15 – The Osaka Higashi Line is scheduled to open in Osaka, Japan;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> the opening was originally scheduled for 2006, but delayed due to problems acquiring land.

• Template:Flagicon March 27 – Heathrow Terminal 5 station opens in London.
• Template:Flagicon March 30 – Yokohama Municipal Subway's Green Line is opened for regular operations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Template:Flagicon – Kolkata Metro is extended from Tollygunge station to Pranabnagar station.Template:Citation needed

April events

• Template:Flagicon April 1 – The Miki Railway Miki Line in Japan, which connected Yakujin Station in Kakogawa and Miki Station in Miki, is closed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Template:Flagicon April 26 – FrontRunner, a new commuter rail service, begins running in Utah.
• Template:Flagicon April 28 – Wrexham & Shropshire begin to run passenger services between London Marylebone station, the West Midlands, Shropshire and north-east Wales.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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CRH3 unit for Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway

June events

• Template:Flagicon June 2 – An unexploded bomb from World War II is found near where the District and Hammersmith & City lines cross the Prescott Channel, not far from Bromley-by-Bow tube station, causing disruption to trains.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• June 2–6 – AfricaRail 2008 Conference.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Template:Flagicon June 14 – Opening of the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Subway Line between Shibuya and Ikebukuro (Template:Convert).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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July events

• Template:FlagiconTemplate:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon July 5 – Meeting between Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador regarding a proposed rail link for freight and passengers between the three countries, also connecting the Pacific with the Atlantic.

August events

• August 1
  • Template:Flagicon – China officially opens the Beijing–Tianjin intercity railway line, the first in the world regularly to host trains traveling up to Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
  • Template:Flagicon – LNER-design Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado makes first official move under its own steam, the first main line steam locomotive built in Britain since 1960.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Tornado, August 2008

October events

• Template:Flagicon October 9 – The Green Line of the Baku Metro is extended from Memar Ajami to Nasimi.
• Template:Flagicon October 19 – The Nakanoshima Line operated by Keihan Railway opens for service between Nakanoshima and Temmabashi in Osaka, Japan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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November events

• Template:Flagicon November – Voter approval of Measure M in Los Angeles County, California, commits additional tax dollars to transit projects.

December events

• Template:Flagicon December 27 – The first section of the new Valley Metro Rail system, part of Valley Metro in Phoenix, Arizona, opened.<ref>Associated Press (reprinted by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, February 16, 2005), Phoenix begins work on light rail Template:Webarchive. Retrieved February 16, 2005.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

By season

Summer events

• Template:Flagicon – The project to rebuild and upgrade Guiyang Southern Station to more than double its capacity is expected to be completed.<ref>CRI Online (December 28, 2005), Building of Railway Hub in SW China Started. Retrieved December 29, 2005. Template:Webarchive</ref>

Unknown date events

• Template:Flagicon – Indian Railways expects to complete the conversion of its electrified section in Mumbai from a 1,500 volt DC system to 25,000 volts AC; this will make the Mumbai section's electrification consistent with the rest of Indian Railways' network.
• Template:Flagicon – Vietnam expects to complete construction on the Hanoi–Lào Cai railway line upgrade.<ref>Xinhua (September 25, 2005), France to fund Vietnam in upgrading busiest railway route. Retrieved September 27, 2005.</ref>
• Template:Flagicon – The city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, will begin construction of a new intercity light railway beginning with a Template:Convert section between Baltiyskaya Zhemchuzhina and the ObukhovoTemplate:Ambiguous metro station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Accidents

• Template:Flagicon April 28 – 2008 Shandong train collision: Sixty-six people are killed and almost 250 injured when a passenger train from Beijing 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 Zibo in Shandong province.
• Template:Flagicon August 8 – 2008 Studénka train wreck: A EuroCity train en route to Prague strikes a part of a motorway bridge that has fallen onto the track near Studénka station and derails, killing 8 people and injuring 64 others.
• Template:Flagicon September 12 – 2008 Chatsworth train collision: A Metrolink commuter train, having passed a signal at danger, collides head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles, killing 25 and injuring 130.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Deaths

March deaths

• March 16 – John Shedd Reed, president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1967-1986 (born 1917).<ref name="Reed AP obit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Reed Trib obit">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2008 Blue Ribbon Award: JR Central & JR West N700 Series Shinkansen
• 2008 Laurel Prize: JR East/Sendai Airport Transit E721 series/SAT721 EMU and JR East KiHa E200 DMU