1998 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
February events
- February 14 – Yaounde train explosionYaoundé train explosionThe Yaoundé train explosion was the catastrophic fire following the derailment and collision of two tanker trains hauling fuel oil through the capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé...
– A freight train passing through YaoundeYaoundé-Transportation:Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport is a major civilian hub, while nearby Yaoundé Airport is used by the military. Railway lines run west to the port city of Douala and north to N'Gaoundéré. Many bus companies operate from the city; particularly in the Nsam and Mvan neighborhoods...
, Cameroon, collides with another freight; some tank carTank carA tank car is a type of railroad rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.-Timeline:...
s carrying fuel oil are ruptured in the derailment. The oil is ignited by a lit cigarette causing a flash fireFlash fireA flash fire is a sudden, intense fire caused by ignition of a mixture of air and a dispersed flammable substance such as a solid , flammable or combustible liquid , or a flammable gas...
and an explosion when the flames reach the tank cars, killing 120 people. - February 20 – The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern RailroadDakota, Minnesota and Eastern RailroadThe Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States...
files an application with the Surface Transportation BoardSurface Transportation BoardThe Surface Transportation Board of the United States is a bipartisan, decisionally-independent adjudicatory body organizationally housed within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The STB was established in 1996 to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the...
to build new railroad track to haul coal from the Powder River BasinPowder River BasinThe Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
in WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
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March events
- March 6 – The Jyväskylä rail accident occurred in JyväskyläJyväskyläJyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded...
, Finland, when an express train from TurkuTurkuTurku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
bound for JoensuuJoensuuJoensuu is a city and municipality in North Karelia in eastern Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of North Karelia region. It was founded in 1848...
via PieksämäkiPieksämäkiPieksämäki is a town and municipality of Finland. Its original name was Haukivuori .It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region.The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
derailed. Of the 300 on board, the driver and nine passengers were killed, and 94 were injured.
April events
- April 1 – British trainload freight operator EWSEWSDB Schenker Rail , before 2009 known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway is a British rail freight company. EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation in 1996 by acquisition of five of the six freight companies created by the privatisation of British...
takes over rail operations of National PowerNational Power- History :National Power was formed following the privatisation of the UK electricity market in 1990. In England and Wales the Central Electricity Generating Board, which was responsible for the generation and transmission of electricity was split into three generating companies Powergen, National...
. - April 4 – The Fatuha train crashFatuha train crashThe Fatuha train crash was a rail transport accident that occurred on April 4, 1998, in India. Removal of fishplates led to the packed Howrah-Danapur Express jumping tracks, killing at least 11 passengers and injuring more than 50 others near Fatuha station on the Eastern Railway's Danapur division...
in India was caused by the removal of fishplateFishplateIn rail terminology, a fishplate, splice bar or joint bar is a metal bar that is bolted to the ends of two rails to join them together in a track. The name is derived from fish, a wooden bar with a curved profile used to strengthen a ship's mast...
s leading to the packed Howrah–DanapurDanapurDanapur , sometimes known as Dinapur or Dinapore is a satellite town of Patna in Bihar state of India. It is located on the bank of the River Sone which merges with River Ganges at Digha a few kilometers from Danapur...
express jumping tracks, killing at least 11 people. - April 27 – Spain's Madrid MetroMadrid MetroThe Madrid Metro is a metro system serving the city of Madrid, capital of Spain. The system is the sixth longest metro in the world though Madrid is approximately the fiftieth most populous metropolitan area in the world...
opens the section between Esperanza and Mar de Cristal on Line 4Line 4 (Madrid Metro)Line 4 of the Madrid Metro was opened on 23 March 1944 between Goya and Argüelles. In 1958, the line took up a branch of line 2 from Goya to Diego de León, which originally opened on 17 September 1932. In the 1970s, the line was extended in two stages: from Diego de León to Alfonso XII and from...
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June events
- June 3 – The Eschede train disasterEschede train disasterThe Eschede train disaster was the world's deadliest high-speed train accident. It occurred on 3 June 1998, near the village of Eschede in the Celle district of Lower Saxony, Germany. The toll of 101 people dead and 88 injured surpassed the 1971 Dahlerau train disaster as the deadliest accident in...
, the worst railroad accident in German history, occurs when a wheel on the high speed InterCityExpressInterCityExpressThe Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
breaks; the derailed train's forward momentum caused it to slam into a bridge pier which increased the damage to the train and caused a higher injury toll than would otherwise have occurred. - June 6 – The majority of Conrail's railroad assets are split between CSX TransportationCSX TransportationCSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
and Norfolk Southern. - June 19 – The government of PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
relinquishes control of the Panama RailwayPanama RailwayThe Panama Canal Railway Company is a railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama in Central America. It is jointly owned by the Kansas City Southern Railway and Mi-Jack Products...
to the Panama Canal Railway Company, a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern. - June 23 – Road-rail (dual gaugeRail gaugeTrack gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
) Jamuna BridgeJamuna BridgeBangabandhu Bridge, also called the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge , is a bridge opened in Bangladesh in June 1998. It connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east bank to Sirajganj on its west bank. It was the 11th longest bridge in the world when constructed in 1998 and currently the 6th longest...
opened, connecting the previously isolated east and west networks of Bangladesh RailwayBangladesh RailwayBangladesh Railway is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains the entire railway network of the country...
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September events
- September 12 – The Westside LineMAX Blue LineThe MAX Blue Line is a 33 mile light rail line in the MAX Light Rail system in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Operated by TriMet, the line runs between Hillsboro and Gresham, via downtown Portland...
of Portland'sPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
MAX light rail system, running west to Hillsboro, Oregon, opens. - September – Construction begins to convert the Anton Anderson Memorial TunnelAnton Anderson Memorial TunnelThe Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is a tunnel through Maynard Mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska. It links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage at the former town of Portage with the relatively isolated community of Whittier, a port for the Alaska Marine Highway...
in Alaska from rail traffic only to combined rail and highway traffic.
October events
- October 8 – NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
's first high-speed railway, GardermobanenGardermobanenThe Gardermoen Line is a high-speed railway line between Oslo and Eidsvoll, Norway, running past Lillestrøm and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. The line is long and replaced the older Hoved Line as the main line north-east of Oslo...
between Oslo SOslo SentralstasjonOslo Central Station is the main railway station in Oslo and the largest railway station on the entire Norwegian railway system. It is the terminus of Drammen Line, Gardermoen Line, Gjøvik Line, Hoved Line and Østfold Line. It serves express, regional and local train services by four companies...
via Oslo Airport, GardermoenOslo Airport, GardermoenOslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
to EidsvollEidsvoll StationEidsvoll is a railway station located at Eidsvoll in Akershus, Norway. The station is the terminus of both the Trunk Line, the Gardermoen Line and the Dovre Line. Though the Dovre Line and the Trunk Line/Gardermoen Line practically are the same continual railway, there is a naming change at the...
, opens. - October 15 – Paris MétroParis MétroThe Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
opens first section of new Line 14Paris Metro Line 14Line 14 of the Paris Métro system connects the stations Saint Lazare and Olympiades on a north-west south-east diagonal across the centre of Paris. It is the twelfth busiest of sixteen lines on the network, and as of 2011, the only one to be operated completely automatically; the second such line...
from MadeleineMadeleine (Paris Metro)Madeleine is a station on lines 8, 12 and 14 of the Paris Métro in central Paris and the 8th arrondissement.The station was opened on 5 November 1910 as part of the original section of the Nord-Sud Company's line A between Porte de Versailles and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. On 27 March 1931 line A...
to Bibliothèque François MitterrandBibliothèque François Mitterrand (Paris Metro and RER)Bibliothèque François Mitterrand is a station of the Paris Métro and RER, named after former French president François Mitterrand and serving the area surrounding the new building of the Bibliothèque nationale de France , whose site near the station is also named after Mitterrand, and the Paris...
, Paris, France, its first fully automated line. - October 18 – The Altamont Commuter ExpressAltamont Commuter ExpressThe Altamont Commuter Express is a regional rail service in California connecting Stockton with San Jose....
begins regional commuter railCommuter rail in North AmericaCommuter rail services in the United States, Canada, and Mexico provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis primarily for short-distance travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and...
service between StocktonStockton, CaliforniaStockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
in California's Central Valley and San JoseSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
in the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
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November events
- November 9 – The St. Thomas and Eastern RailwaySt. Thomas and Eastern RailwayThe St. Thomas and Eastern Railway is a shortline railway division of the Trillium Railway, operating near St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. The main commodities transported on the railway are grain, salt, and chemicals. St. Thomas and Eastern connects to CN in St. Thomas and CPR in Tillsonburg. Total...
begins operations on a former Canadian National RailwayCanadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
branch lineBranch lineA branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
between St. ThomasSt. Thomas, OntarioSt. Thomas is a city in southern , Ontario, Canada. It is the seat for Elgin County and gained its city charter on March 4, 1881.-History:...
and Delhi, Ontario. - November 20 – The Okanagan Valley RailwayOkanagan Valley RailwayOkanagan Valley Railway is the railway division of Omnitrax, a transportation services company. Tracks run from Vernon to Sicamous and serve five towns en-route. Among the businesses served are forestry, farming, chemicals and cement...
begins operations on the former Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
branchBranch lineA branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
between SicamousSicamous, British ColumbiaSicamous, British Columbia is a town in British Columbia located adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway at the Highway 97A junction of Mara Lake and the Shuswap Lake system. It is known as a popular all season tourist destination attracting visitors from throughout Canada and around the world...
and KelownaKelowna, British ColumbiaKelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, British Columbia. - November 26 – The Khanna rail disasterKhanna rail disasterThe Khanna rail disaster occurred on November 26, 1998 near Khanna on the Khanna-Ludhiana section of India's Northern Railway in Punjab, at 03:15 when the Calcutta-bound Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express collided with six derailed coaches of the Amritsar-bound "Frontier Mail" which were lying in its path...
in India kills 212 people.
December events
- December – Railways in Germany are attacked by the extortionist Klaus-Peter SabottaKlaus-Peter SabottaKlaus-Peter Sabotta was an extortionist who sabotaged German railways in December 1998, only six months after the Eschede disaster. He claimed to represent former employees of the German railway operator Deutsche Bahn who had been made redundant, and demanded a ransom of DM10 million...
. An InterCity Express line is sabotaged (but the train does not derail), while a freight train is derailed near AnklamAnklamAnklam is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the Kleines Haff, the western part of the Stettin Lagoon. Anklam has a population of 14,603 and was the capital of the former...
. - December 5 – Trinity Railway ExpressTrinity Railway ExpressThe Trinity Railway Express is a commuter rail line in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex. It was established by an interlocal agreement between Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority . Each transit authority owns a 50% stake in the joint rail project and...
in Texas adds Saturday train schedules to its timetables and begins operating the first regular Saturday trains. - December 10 – The Surface Transportation BoardSurface Transportation BoardThe Surface Transportation Board of the United States is a bipartisan, decisionally-independent adjudicatory body organizationally housed within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The STB was established in 1996 to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the...
gives preliminary approval to Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern RailroadDakota, Minnesota and Eastern RailroadThe Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States...
's application to build into the Powder River BasinPowder River BasinThe Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
, pending completion of an Environmental Impact Statement.
Unknown date events
- Canadian National RailwayCanadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
acquires the Illinois Central, giving the CN direct access to the Gulf of MexicoGulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
port of New Orleans, Louisiana. - Australian railway infrastructure owned by the National Rail CorporationNational Rail CorporationThe National Rail Corporation was a rail operator in Australia. The Australian Government, New South Wales and Victoria established the National Rail Corporation in 1992...
's "Track Access" is transferred to the Federal Government-owned Australian Rail Track CorporationAustralian Rail Track CorporationAustralian Rail Track Corporation is a federal government owned corporation established in 1997 that owns, leases, maintains and controls the majority of main line standard gauge railway lines on the mainland of Australia, known as the Defined Interstate Rail Network .-History:The Interstate...
. - The former Lima Locomotive WorksLima Locomotive WorksLima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...
erecting shed and heavy Shay locomotiveShay locomotiveThe Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive...
shops are razed.
September deaths
- September 9 – James B. McCahey, Jr., president of Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (b. 1920).
North America
1998 E. H. Harriman Awards| Group | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Norfolk Southern Railway Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada... |
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| B | |||
| C | |||
| S&T |
Awards presented by Railway Age
Railway Age
Railway Age is an American trade journal for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. The magazine's original title was the Western Railroad Gazette, and was renamed the Railroad Gazette in 1870...
magazine
- 1998 Railroader of the YearRailroader of the YearRailroader of the Year is an annual award presented to a North American railroad industry worker by trade journal Railway Age. The award was first presented in 1964 by trade journal Modern Railroads and has continued through the magazine acquisition in 1992 to the present.Past recipients of this...
: David R. GoodeDavid R. GoodeDavid R. Goode is the retired Chairman, President, and CEO of Norfolk Southern Corporation . Other directorships: Caterpillar Inc.; Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Georgia-Pacific Corporation; Norfolk Southern Railway, and Texas Instruments Incorporated. Goode has been a director of Caterpillar since 1993...
(NSNorfolk Southern RailwayThe Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
) - 1998 Regional Railroad of the YearRegional Railroad of the YearThe Regional Railroad of the Year is an annual award given to exemplary North American regional railroads by rail transport industry publication Railway Age...
: Texas Mexican RailwayTexas Mexican RailwayThe Texas Mexican Railway is a class 1 railroad that operates as a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern Railway in Texas. It is often referred to as the Tex-Mex, or TexMex Railway.... - 1998 Short Line Railroad of the YearShort Line Railroad of the YearThe Short Line Railroad of the Year is an annual award presented to North American short line railroads by rail transport industry publication Railway Age.Past recipients of this award are:* 1992 - RailTex...
: St. Lawrence and Atlantic RailroadSt. Lawrence and Atlantic RailroadThe St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short line railroad operating between Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean and Montreal, Quebec on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Canada-U.S...