April 2008 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in April 2008.

Events

April 4

• – Fyodor Pekhterev, head of the Giprotrans Institute, the organization that is involved in developing rail transport operations in Moscow, announces plans to build two new stations at Moscow's main airports. A new station will also be built in Moscow's city center that will serve as the endpoints for lines to each of the new airport stations; this will bring the number of major stations in Moscow's city center to four. These construction projects are estimated at 60 billion rubles.^[1]
• – Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico announces an agreement between Slovakia and Russia to construct a 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in) gauge railway between the Trans-Siberian Railway and Continental Europe. The new line, which is expected to begin construction in 2010, is planned for a route from Slovakia to Vienna and the Danube valley. Costs are estimated at €4.3 billion.^[2]

April 7

• – Attorneys representing Avondale Mills in Graniteville, South Carolina, announce that they have reached a settlement in their suit against Norfolk Southern Railway. The settlement agreement stipulated that the terms would not be released to the public. The suit alleged that the 2005 derailment caused $420 million in damages and that the machinery and buildings were too damaged to repair and reopen and that the derailment was caused by one of the Norfolk Southern train crews working beyond their legal hours of service limits.^[3]
• – Following allegations by shippers of service level deterioration, the federal government of Canada launches a review of railway freight service within the country. Transport Canada, which is managing the review, plans to investigate the relationships between Canadian shippers and the rail industry, especially with regards to the two largest railroad companies in the country, Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway. The review period is expected to last more than a year and could lead to new regulations for carriers.^[4]

April 14

• – Indian Railways operates the first passenger train to Bangladesh in over 43 years as the Kolkata-Dhaka Moitree Express. Ceremonies for the initial departure from Kolkata were attended by national officials including Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The new biweekly service is scheduled to travel the 538 km (334 mi) route in 15 hours.^[5]

April 18

• – The construction work of the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway begins with groundbreaking ceremonies in Beijing. The 1,318 km (819 mi) long railway with designed speed of 350 km/h (220 mph) is estimated to cost about 220.9 billion RMB (US$31.6 billion). This will exceed the Three Gorges Dam, to be the most expensive construction project since the establishment of the People's Republic of China.^[6]
• – The Hening railway in the People's Republic of China connecting Hefei, Anhui to Nanjing, Jiangsu opens for service. The new line, using CRH2 trainsets, reduces travel time between Shanghai and Hefei to three hours and reduces travel time between Nanjing and Hefei to under an hour.^[7]

April 21

• – Officials with Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) agree to sell up to 24.9% of Deutsche Bahn (DB) stock to private investors. Of the 103 SPD executives voting on the decision, 76 voted in favor of the sale proposal that could be valued as high as €6 billion. After such a sale, the German government would retain 75.1% ownership and control of the railway company. The Christian Democratic Union, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, has indicated that it supports this plan as well.^[8]
• – PNR RailWorks, based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, announces the acquisition of Entretien de Voies Ferrees Coyle Inc. (also known as E.V.F. Coyle Inc.). EVF Coyle, the largest railway contractor in Quebec, will retain its staff and management team and operate as a subsidiary company under the name PNR Coyle.^[9][10]

April 23

• – Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) announces that it has been awarded a €580 million grant from the European Union's Operative Program "Transport" to improve railway lines in the country. The amount of the grant to NRIC is the second largest portion of the funds, with the largest amount going to Bulgaria's Republic Road Infrastructure Fund. The funds will be used to improve railway lines connecting Sofia with the Danube valley region and to the border with Turkey, which is hoped to allow train speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph).^[11]

April 24

• – Lena Guerrero, the first woman and the first hispanic person to serve on the Texas Railroad Commission dies. She was appointed to the commission by Texas Governor Ann Richards, but lost a subsequent election after it became known that she had lied about holding a degree from the University of Texas. Her death followed a long bout with cancer that was diagnosed in 2000.^[12]

April 25

• – In a meeting between Chinese and Nepalese officials, the Chinese delegation announces that country's intention to extend the Qingzang railway from Lhasa to Khasha on the Nepalese border. Nepal had requested that the railway be extended to enable trade and tourism between the two nations. Construction of the extension is planned to be completed by 2013.^[13]

April 26

• – FrontRunner, the commuter rail system along the Wasatch Front opens.^[14]

April 28

Wikinews has related news: Two trains collide in China killing dozens and injuring hundreds

• – 2008 Shandong train collision Sixty-six people were killed and almost 250 injured today when a passenger train from Beijing careered off the rails and slammed into another train in eastern China. Ruling out terrorism, the official Xinhua news agency said preliminary investigations found human error was to blame, without elaborating. The train was travelling to Qingdao - the coastal city that will host the Olympic sailing competition in August - when it derailed, causing the other train to leave the tracks too. The rail accident, the worst in China in more than a decade, happened near the city of Zibo in Shandong province, Xinhua said.^[15]
• – Wrexham & Shropshire begin to run passenger services between London Marylebone station, the West Midlands, Shropshire and east Wales, serving one of the only counties in England without a long-distance rail service, initially using Class 67 locomotives.^{[16][17][18][19]}
• – Derailed by a dilapidated public railway system, East African governments meeting in Nairobi will today unveil plans to expand and revamp the region's rail network. By revamping, linking and expanding the rail network, players are moving towards establishing a standardised network throughout the region. Analysts say existing East African railways, built at the dawn of the last century, have fallen into near total neglect and need overhaul.^[20]

April 29

• – Germany's proposed plan to sell 24.9% of shares in Deutsche Bahn (DB) to private investors moves closer to adoption when the Grand Coalition of stakeholders reaches an agreement. The plan has been criticized by some economists as a potential danger to minimum wages and pensions. The latest agreement limits the shares to be sold to business units that involve train operations, while station and infrastructure management will remain controlled by the state. The sale's estimated value is between €6 billion and €8 billion.^[21]
• – Victorian Railways H class locomotive H 220, nicknamed "Heavy Harry", has been added to the Victorian Heritage Register. Heritage Council chairman Chris Gallagher said "Harry", the largest locomotive ever built in Australia, warranted the state's highest level of heritage protection. Australian Railway Historical Society (Vic) president Malcolm Davidson said he hoped the state acknowledgement of H 220's historical and cultural significance would fuel moves to further preserve the locomotive, which currently sits in the open exposed to sea air.^[22]

April 30

• – US railroad company Genesee and Wyoming Inc announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire CAGY Industries, Inc. for approximately USD$78.4 million in cash. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Columbus, MS, CAGY is the parent company of three short-line railroads, Columbus and Greenville Railway, Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway and Luxapalila Valley Railroad.^[23]

References