October 2006 in rail transport

2005, 2006, 2007

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in October 2006.

[edit] Events

- Japanese railroad company group of Hankyu and Hanshin are merged with stockholding, replaced Hankyu Hanshin Holdings start.

- Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister signs a set of contracts, estimated at $480 million in value, to begin construction on a north-south railway link through the Kingdom. These contracts authorize the initial grading of the line between Jubail and the northern cities of Al-Jalamid and Al-Zubairah, a distance of about 2,500 km (1,550 mi). Officials are optimistic that this railway link will help the country's mineral industry.^[1]

- The European Commission threatens thirteen European Union member states with lawsuits in the European Court of Justice for not enacting laws based on railway safety measures enacted by the commission in 2004. The measures include issuing common safety certificates for rail companies to operate within the member states and methods to ensure interoperability among the various high-speed rail systems within Europe. The thirteen nations threatened with legal action are: Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.^[2]
- It is announced that the Western Rail Corridor, line connecting the cities of Limerick, Galway and Sligo would reopen. The line, which was built in the 19th Century, was closed in 1976 due to falling passenger numbers. ^[3]

- Vasilie V. Magdei, Chairman of Ulaanbaatar Railway, and N. Surenjav, Mongolian Deputy Chairman of Logistics, are both found dead from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Preliminary investigations point to the space heater aboard a truck where the two had sleeping quarters during a vacation. Forensic analysis also indicates that both men were inebriated at the time of death. The seven other people with them on the trip all had other sleeping arrangements and were not affected by the CO release.^[4]

Wikinews has related news:

Trains collide in Northern France

- A regional express and a goods train collide head-on at Zoufftgen, in Moselle (France), killing at least 12 people. The drivers of both trains are reported to have died in the accident. Prime minister Dominique de Villepin postponed his trip to the Caraibes to be able to view the accident scene. The French Transport Minister Dominique Perben also viewed the accident scene.^[5] See also: 2006 Zoufftgen rail crash

- SNCF, the national railway of France, announces that it has received around 1,200 claims for compensation for the railway's part in transporting Jewish prisoners during World War II. SNCF is appealing a court ruling from June 2006 that ordered the railway to pay €60,000 ($75,370) in fines related to the transportation. SNCF is claiming that it cannot be held liable because the railway was acting under the orders of the German military force occupying the country at the time.^[6]

- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez presides over opening ceremonies for Ezequiel Zamora Rail System, a new railroad line between Caracas and Tuy Medio, 93 km (58 miles) away. The line is the first new railroad in the country in about 30 years. The new line is expected to help relieve highway traffic by providing commuters with an alternative in the nation's capital.^[7]

- Two metro trains collide at Rome's Vittorio Emanuele metro station, killing at least one person and injuring around 60 people.^[8]

- Estonia's Economy Minister Edgar Savisaar officially signs the agreement to renationalize Eesti Raudtee, the country's national freight railroad operator. The transaction, valued at 2.4 billion kroons ($192.4 million), consists of the purchase of the 66% of outstanding shares in the railway by the national government. It is expected to be finalized by the Estonian Parliament at the end of October or soon into November. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip mentioned that one of the first tasks planned for the railroad after the purchase will be to increase the rates it charges shippers so the railroad can raise funds to repair and rehabilitate the existing infrastructure.^[9]

- The first train of produce in a new joint venture between Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and CSX Transportation leaves Wallula, Washington, bound for Albany, New York. The new service consists solely of newly built refrigerator cars assembled into unit trains to ship produce between the two coasts without intermediate sorting at classification yards. Trains operated as part of the new service are scheduled 124 hours of transit time between the two terminals and are interchanged from UP to CSX in Chicago.^[10]

- Twenty three cars of an 89-car Norfolk Southern Railway train, which included tank cars loaded with ethanol, derails on a bridge crossing the Beaver River at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. The resulting fire burns for days and forces the evacuations of at least fifty nearby residents. Preliminary investigations of the train's data recorders by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) show that the train was travelling in the range of 36 to 39 mph (58–63 km/h) at the time of the accident, which is below the track's speed limit of 45 mph (72 km/h).^[11]

- Transport for London awards a construction contract valued at £363 million to a consortium consisting of Balfour Beatty and Carillion to extend the East London Line. The extension is planned to connect West Croydon, Crystal Palace and Dalston Junction as part of a larger plan of preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games. Service is expected to begin in June 2010 as part of the London Overground system, at which time it is expected to revert to the line's historic East London Railway name. Plans have already been made to extend the line to Clapham Junction from Surrey Quays after the initial opening.^[12]

- Officials in Russia announce that thirty two new local railway companies will be formed to operate suburban commuter rail networks across the country. These new companies will join ten other companies already formed by eleven administrative regions that the national government hopes will increase efficiency and the systems' attractiveness to potential investors. A new Association of Suburban Passenger Companies has been formed, which already includes four of the established companies, to aid in the development of the new systems.^[13]