July 2008 in rail transport

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

Events

July 1 - July 5

July 1

• – The government-owned New Zealand Railways Corporation,^[1] chaired by former Prime Minister Jim Bolger, buys rail and shipping operations of Toll New Zealand Ltd from Toll Holdings and begins to trade as KiwiRail.^[2]
• – Construction work for the Shanghai–Nanjing high-speed railway officially begins in China. The 300-kilometre (190 mi) long railway will cost 39.45 billion yuan (about 5.7 billion US dollars) and is to be completed in four years.^[3]

July 3

• – Construction work for the Kahe railway from Kashgar to Hotan begins south of Kyrgyzstan in Xinjiang, China. The 484.55-kilometre (301.09 mi) long railway, an extension of the Nanjing line that connects to the Lanxin line at Turpan, will cost 4.639 billion yuan and is expected to be completed in 2010. Railway officials hope the new line will help bolster trade and tourism to the area when it is completed.^[4]

July 4

• – The first test trains traverse the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River.^[5]

July 5

• – meeting between Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador regarding a railway for freight and passengers to link the three countries, and linking the Pacific with the Atlantic also.

July 6 - July 12

July 7

• – Meeting in Quebec, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee adds two additional railways to the list of World Heritage Sites: the Kalka-Shimla Railway, as one of the Mountain railways of India, and the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes of Switzerland and Italy.^[6]

July 13 - July 19

July 19

• – Beijing Subway in China opens three new lines, Line 10, Airport Line and the Olympic Branch Line at 14:00, three weeks before the Olympics. It extends the total length of Beijing's subway system from 140 km (87 mi) to 200 km (120 mi).^[7]

July 27 - July 31

July 31

• – A group of five Representatives from northeast Illinois and 16 co-sponsors introduce a bill in Congress titled Taking Responsible Action for Community Safety (TRACS) that would force the Surface Transportation Board to take residents' concerns into account when considering the proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad by Canadian National Railway. Residents have voiced concerns over a potential increase in noise, pollution and the number of trains traveling through the area as well as potentially increasing traffic issues and reducing property values in the area.^[8][9]

References