1994 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1994.

Events[edit]

January 1 - Rail Management Corporation takes over operations of the Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad.
January 1 - Railroad Services takes over operations of the now 5 year old Abbeville-Grimes Railway, renaming it to A&G Railroad.
January 1 - Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn are merged to form Deutsche Bahn.
January 9 - The Chicago Transit Authority closes its Green Line rail service on the west and south sides of Chicago, for a 2 year rehabilitation project.
January 24 – Following the Northridge earthquake one week prior, an extension of the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line opens to Lancaster to provide traffic relief, as several local freeways had collapsed. New stations were constructed in three days,^[1] with further infill stations built in the following weeks.^[2]

April 1 - Management of the British Rail infrastructure is taken over by Railtrack.^[3]

June 25 - Vandals place concrete blocks on a railway line at Greenock, Scotland, causing the Greenock rail crash. The train driver is killed along with one passenger.

July 3 - Gare de Satolas (designed by Santiago Calatrava) opens at Lyon on LGV Rhône-Alpes.
July 15 - Kansai Airport Line and Nankai Airport Line open, for the access route of Kansai International Airport, before their formal opening on September 4.^{[citation needed]}

August 3 - Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited passenger train derails near Batavia, New York, while traveling at 75 mph (120.7 km/h), injuring 125 of the train's passengers and crew members.
August 8 - Astram Line open between Hondori and Koiki-koen-mae in new transit system of Hiroshima, Japan. ^{[citation needed]}
August 22 - Indian Railways orders the first WDC-2 locomotives.
August 26 - The Dominion Atlantic Railway operates its last train, just a month short of its centenary.

September 22 - New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority begins construction on the 63rd Street Connector which connects the 63rd Street Tunnel to the Queens Boulevard Line.
September 30 - The last trains run on the London Underground's Holborn to Aldwych shuttle branch (Piccadilly line) and Epping to Ongar via North Weald shuttle branch (Central line).

October 14 – The Toho Subway Line in Sapporo, Japan, is extended from Hōsui-Susukino to Fukuzumi Station.^[4]
October 7 – The Regional Transportation District in Denver, Colorado opens the first line of its light rail system.^[5]
October 13 – Inauguration of Eurostar service between Brussels and London by King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium.

November 14 - First commercial Eurostar services Brussels<>London and Paris<>London.
November 30 - Alaska Railroad, which lacks a direct rail connection with the rest of the North American rail network, brings a 700-foot (213 m) long railgrinder to Alaska by ship at a cost of $1.2 million to service the company's tracks.

December 3 - In Japan, Chizu Express, Chizu and Kamigori route open, with Kyoto to Tottori of direct Super Hakuto Express train to start. ^{[citation needed]}
December 13 - The Interstate Commerce Commission grants Union Pacific Railroad authority to exercise management control over the Chicago and North Western Railway.
December 16 - Last run of Via Rail Atlantic Limited passenger service through Maine between Montreal and the Maritimes.
December 31 - Burlington Northern Railroad operates the last freight train on the former Oregon Electric Railway mainline in Portland, Oregon; the mainline is to become part of the new TriMet light rail system.

Norfolk Southern ends railroad-sponsored steam excursions.
Towards the end of the year, regular use of steam locomotives on the Janakpur Railway, Nepal, is abandoned following the transfer of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge diesel locomotives from Indian Railways.^[6]^[7]

September 21 - Oswald Nock, English railway author and signalling engineer (b. 1905).^[8]

Alaska Railroad, Alaska Railroad History. Retrieved July 20, 2006.
Blaszak, Michael W. (June 1995), "Chicago & North Western: A survivor no more", Trains magazine, p. 17-20.
(May 1995), "Freight out, light rail in", Trains magazine, p. 24.
(March 29, 2005), History of railway companies in Nova Scotia. Retrieved August 26, 2005.
Indian Railways Fan Club, IR History: Part - V (1970–1995). Retrieved August 22, 2005.
New York City Transit (2015). "New York City Transit – History and Chronology". Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
(May 1995), "Scanner - Rail at fault?", Trains magazine, p. 21.

^ Brooks, Carole A. (January 25, 1994). "Local Metrolink Line Sets System Record Monday With 16,000 Riders". The Signal. Santa Clarita, California. p. 10. Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Moeser, Sharon (5 February 1994). "Metrolink site on Via Princessa will open Monday. It is the latest addition in two weeks since emergency service was extended northward". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
^ Left, Sarah (2002-01-15). "Key dates in Britain's railway history". The Guardian.
^ "地下鉄（高速電車）の概要" [Overview of the subway (high-speed train)]. city.sapporo.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
^ Pacific RailNews (ISSN 8750-8486), November 1994, p. 14. Pentrex.
^ "Janakpur Railway". FarRail Tours. Retrieved 2010-01-28.^{[dead link]}
^ Saxena, R. P. (2008). "Indian Railway History Time Line". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
^ Vanns, M. A. (May 2006). "Nock, Oswald Stevens (1905–1994)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press Online Edition. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55169. Retrieved 2010-01-28.

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