April 2005 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in April 2005.

Events

April 1: All former BC Rail systems and operations are fully integrated into those of the purchasing railroad, Canadian National Railway.^[1]; Kansas City Southern Railway completes its controlling interest purchase of TFM.; OmniTRAX purchases Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado RailNet, Georgia and Florida RailNet and Illinois RailNet from North American RailNet.
April 4: East Japan Railway Company and Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit introduce women-only passenger cars in trains on the Saikyo and Rinkai Lines to deter groping.^[2]; The sale of General Motors Electro-Motive Division to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners is completed; the new company is known as Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. (EMD).^[3]
April 11: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signs into law a bonding bill for the Northstar Corridor Development Authority in Minneapolis worth US$866 million.
April 13: The transport ministry of Bulgaria issues the first freight transport license to a private company, Bulgarian Railroad Company, to operate on the nation's rail network.^[4]
April 14: Nineteen cars of a southbound Union Pacific train operating on Canadian National Railway tracks south of Superior, Wisconsin, derail and cause a forest fire near Solon Springs, Wisconsin.^[5]
April 15: Amtrak cancels all Acela Express trains between Washington, DC, New York City and Boston as cracks are found in the brakes on a majority of the trainsets' coaches.^[6]; SEPTA begins construction on an US$85 million project to replace and upgrade signal, communications and track switch equipment between its Wayne Junction and Glenside stations
April 16: Alaska Railroad opens its new headquarters building and operations center in Anchorage, Alaska.^[7]
April 20: UTA TRAX, in Salt Lake City, Utah, begins construction of its 900 South Station, the railroad's first new station in six years; this is the first station for the railroad that is to be built in a mainly residential area.
April 21: Vadodara rail collision occurred at the village of Samlaya near Vadodara in Gujarat, Western India, when the Sabarmati Express passenger train crashed at high speed into a stationary goods train carrying cement, killing at least 17.
April 23: Los Angeles Metrolink opens a new station in Palmdale on the system's Antelope Valley line.^[8]

April 25: Amagasaki rail crash: a JR West commuter train derails and strikes an apartment building in Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan, killing 106 and injuring more than 460 others.
April 26: Polgahawela level crossing collision: bus collides with Sri Lanka Railways train at a level crossing near Polgahawela; 37 bus passengers die.
April 28: The English, Welsh and Scottish Railway acquires the assets of Probotec Limited, the leading manufacturer of railroad freight car suspension systems in Europe.^[9]; Swiss engineers blast through the last section of rock on the first bore of the Loetschberg base tunnel project under the Alps.^[10] See also Swiss finish drilling world's longest overland tunnel
April 30: The English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) was expected to close a deal that will allow the railway to operate freight trains through the Channel Tunnel; such operations would make EWS one of the first non-governmental companies to operate trains on France's national rail network.

Deaths

April 22 – Margaret Landry Moore, "Miss Southern Belle" spokesmodel for Kansas City Southern's Southern Belle passenger trains (born 1923).^[8]
April 28 – Frank Turpin, CEO of Alaska Railroad, 1985–1993 (born 1923).^[11]

References

(July 2005), "Abandonments and Acquisitions", Trains Magazine, p. 19.
Amtrak (April 15, 2005), Service Alert: Acela Express – Amtrak Cancels All Friday and Saturday Acela Express Service Due to Brake Problem. Retrieved April 15, 2005.
Associated Press (April 14, 2005), Freight train derails, burns in northwestern Wisconsin. Retrieved April 14, 2005.
Canadian National Railway (March 21, 2005),.^[12] Retrieved March 21, 2005.
(July 2005), "City Rail briefs", Trains Magazine, p. 29.
EWS Railway (April 28, 2005), EWS acquires the assets of Probotec Limited. Retrieved April 30, 2005.
General Motors Electro-Motive Division (April 4, 2005),.^[13] Retrieved April 13, 2005.
Hauser, Kristine, New York Times (April 15, 2005),.^[14] Retrieved April 15, 2005.
Kansas City Southern Industries (April 1, 2005),.^[15] Retrieved May 26, 2005.
Mapaye, John, KTUU (April 16, 2005),.^[16] Retrieved April 18, 2005.

Trains News Wire references

(April 8, 2005),.^[17] Retrieved April 12, 2005.
(April 27, 2005),.^[18] Retrieved May 4, 2005.
(April 29, 2005),.^[19] Retrieved May 4, 2005.
(April 5, 2005),.^[20] Retrieved April 7, 2005.

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