1997 in rail transport.html



This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1997.

Events

January events

• January 5 - Further British train operating companies begin operation of their passenger service franchises as part of the privatisation of British Rail: Anglia Railways (GB Railways); Great Eastern (First Group); Virgin CrossCountry; and WAGN (Prism Rail).¹
• January 6 - Full freight and passenger service is restored through the Channel Tunnel, just short of two months after a devastating fire.
• January 19 - British regional rail train operating company Merseyrail Electrics (acquired by MTL) begins operation of its passenger service franchise in England as part of the privatisation of British Rail.¹

March events

• March 2 - Further British train operating companies begin operation of their passenger service franchises in England as part of the privatisation of British Rail: Central Trains and North London Railways (both National Express Group); North Western Trains (acquired by the Great Western Trains organisation); Regional Railways North East; and Thameslink (Govia).¹
• March 3 - Union Pacific Railroad reopens the former Western Pacific Railroad Feather River Canyon line in California after repairs are made from flooding that occurred in January.²
• March 9 - British main line train operating company Virgin West Coast begins operation of its passenger service franchise as part of the privatisation of British Rail.¹
• March 22 - Japan's Akita Shinkansen begins operating over the Morioka-Akita section using Tazawako Line and Ōu Main Line tracks.
• March 31 - Train operating company ScotRail (acquired by National Express Group) begins operation of its passenger service franchise in Scotland as part of the privatisation of British Rail, the last company to be sold.

April events

• April 25 - Construction begins on Phase II of Manchester Metrolink in England.
• April 27 - Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong, China is officially opened. The lower deck of this suspension bridge carries rail lines as part of MTR's Tung Chung Line and Airport Express. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres (4,518 ft), the largest of any bridge carrying rail traffic.³

May events

• May 10 - Amtrak ceases operations of the Chicago-Los Angeles Desert Wind passenger train.
• May 11 - The New York and Atlantic Railway takes over operations of the Long Island Rail Road's freight services.⁴
• May - Kansas City Southern acquires the Gateway Western Railway and begins operating it as a subsidiary railroad.

June events

• June 28 - Guangzhou Metro Line 1 begins partial operation.

August events

• August 27 - Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and the United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) form a team composed of UP managers, union employees and FRA representatives to review safety policies and procedures across the UP system.⁵

September events

• September 3 - Union Pacific Railroad and the United States Federal Railroad Administration introduce the Safety Assurance Compliance Process. (UP)
• September 19 - In the Southall rail crash, the 10:32 Great Western Intercity passenger train from Swansea to London Paddington, operating with a defective Automatic Warning System indicator passes a red signal (SPAD) and collides with a freight train leaving its depot, shortly before 13:20 local time.
• September 20 - RaiLink Southern Ontario begins operations on the former Canadian National Railway Hagersville subdivision between Nanticoke and Brantford.

October events

• October 13 - First section of the restored Welsh Highland Railway (60 cm (2 ft) gauge) officially opened over 5 km (3 mi) of abandoned standard gauge trackbed between Caernarfon and Dinas, Gwynedd, North Wales.⁶
• October 23 - 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 random factor has been added to the vigilance control signals' intervals.⁷

November events

• November 11 - The extension of Minsk Metro's Avtozavodskaya Line connecting Traktornyi Zavod to Avtozavodskaya opens.
• November 22 - The British freight company Railfreight Distribution is acquired by EWS as part of the privatisation of British Rail.

December events

• December - Illinois RailNet is formed.
• December 10 - Inauguration of the 2nd and last part of the Belgian High Speed Line 1 (HSL 1 - Antoing<>Lembeek) by King Albert II.
• December 14 - Belgian High Speed Line 1 (HSL 1) put into service, reducing the travel time Brussels<>Paris to 1h25 and Brussels<>London to 2h36.

Unknown date events

• The Ballard Terminal Railroad is formed to handle freight traffic around Ballard, Seattle, Washington.
• The Beijing-Kowloon Through Train and the Shanghai-Kowloon Through Train start services.
• The Australian National Railways Commission is privatised with freight operations sold to Pacific National, Tasmanian operations and infrastructure sold to Australian Transport Network Limited, South Australian branch lines sold to the Australian Railroad Group and passenger service to Great Southern Railway.

Deaths

Awards

North America

1997 E. H. Harriman Awards

Awards presented by Railway Age magazine

• 1997 Railroader of the Year: Paul M. Tellier (CN)
• 1997 Regional Railroad of the Year: Red River Valley and Western Railroad
• 1997 Short Line Railroad of the Year: Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad

References

• Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (August 16, 2005), Significant dates in Canadian railway history. Retrieved September 19, 2005.
• (February 2002), Flags fall in corporate shuffles, Trains Magazine, p. 17.