March 1–5

• March 2 – Citing disputes in paid leave policies, around 200 BNSF Railway
  BNSF Railway
  The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
  
   dispatchers walk off the job for nearly three hours, causing traffic delays over the entire system from Chicago to the Pacific coast. http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/774kmryp.asp

March 6–12,

• March 7 – Amtrak
  Amtrak
  The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
  
  's Three Rivers
  Three Rivers (Amtrak)
  The Three Rivers was a daily Amtrak train running between New York, New York and Chicago, Illinois. It operated via Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Akron, Ohio. The Three Rivers replaced the Broadway Limited in 1995...
  
  line is discontinued west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
  
  .
• March 11 – A rail grinder working westbound on the Union Pacific mainline sideswipes an eastbound BNSF Railway
  BNSF Railway
  The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
  
   intermodal
  Intermodal freight transport
  Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
  
   train at Rochelle, Illinois
  Rochelle, Illinois
  Rochelle is a city in Ogle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,574 at the 2010 census, up from 9,424 at the 2000 census. Rochelle is about west of Chicago and south of Rockford...
  
  ; the trains do not derail but a few containers
  Containerization
  Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
  
   are destroyed. The entire event is recorded on the Trains Magazine Rochelle webcam. http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/789jguzp.asp

March 13–19

• March 14
  • Paul Côté
    Paul Côté
    Paul Côté is a Canadian sailor. He won a bronze medal in the Soling Class at the 1972 Summer Olympics.-References:* at sports-reference.com...
    
     becomes president and CEO of Via Rail Canada. http://www.viarail.ca/cgi-bin/AffichageWebComm?Commande=select&langue=en&IDX=2&pk_webcomm=468
  • Canadian Pacific Railway
    Canadian Pacific Railway
    The 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...
    
     purchases 35 new Green Goat hybrid locomotives, becoming the first railroad to order this type of locomotive. http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/Media/News/General/2005/Hybrid+locomotives.htm
• March 18 – Joseph H. Boardman
  Joseph H. Boardman
  Joseph H. Boardman is the president of Amtrak and formerly Administrator of the United States Federal Railroad Administration.He was nominated by President George W. Bush on March 17, 2005 and confirmed by the United States Senate on April 28, 2005. He was the eleventh Federal Railroad...
  
  , head of the New York State Department of Transportation, is nominated to lead the United States Federal Railroad Administration
  Federal Railroad Administration
  The Federal Railroad Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation. The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966...
  
  . http://www.ble.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=13066

March 20–26

• March 22 – Texas Pacifico Transportation
  Texas Pacifico Transportation
  Texas Pacifico Transportation Ltd. is a railroad operating company in West Texas that is owned by Grupo México. The company operates over the South Orient Rail Line under a lease and operating agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation and the South Orient Rural Rail Transportation...
  
   operates the first test train over former Santa Fe Railroad tracks between Presidio
  Presidio, Texas
  Presidio is a city in Presidio County, Texas, United States. It stands on the Rio Grande , on the opposite side of the U.S.-Mexico border from Ojinaga, Chihuahua. The population was 4,167 at the 2000 census....
  
   and San Angelo Junction
  San Angelo, Texas
  San Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...
  
  , Texas.
• March 23 – Spokespeople for JR Central in Japan announce that Series 300
  300 Series Shinkansen
  The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen train type introduced in 1992 on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen lines, initially for use on the fastest Nozomi services, being capable of...
  
   Shinkansen
  Shinkansen
  The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
  
   trains have been operating with faulty speed control equipment; the problem is detected after an engineer reports that he needed to manually reduce a train's speed after the Automatic Train Control
  Automatic Train Control
  Automatic Train Control is a train protection system for railways, ensuring the safe and smooth operation of trains on ATC-enabled lines. Its main advantages include making possible the use of cab signalling instead of track-side signals and the use of smooth deceleration patterns in lieu of the...
  
   (ATC) device installed on the train failed to operate. The trains are pulled from service until repairs can be made. http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/810qdwwt.asp
• March 26 – Fire destroys the 75-year-old Deval Tower in Des Plaines, Illinois
  Des Plaines, Illinois
  Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It has adopted the official nickname of "City of Destiny." As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 58,720. It is a suburb of Chicago, and is next to O'Hare International Airport...
  
  ; the tower housed one of the few remaining manual interlocking mechanisms still in use on American railroads. The tower's current owner, Union Pacific Railroad
  Union Pacific Railroad
  The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
  
  , does not plan to rebuild it.

March 27–31

• March 29 – BNSF Railway
  BNSF Railway
  The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
  
   announces that it will add a fuel surcharge based on mileage to all shipments made as of January 1, 2006, making BNSF the first railway to do so. http://www.bnsf.com/news/articles/2005/03/2005_03_29a.html?index=/news/index.html
• March 30
  • Kansas City Southern Railway
    Kansas City Southern Railway
    The Kansas City Southern Railway , owned by Kansas City Southern Industries, is the smallest and second-oldest Class I railroad company still in operation. KCS was founded in 1887 and is currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states...
    
     leases its Bay Springs branch line
    Branch line
    A 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 Newton
    Newton, Mississippi
    Newton is a city in Newton County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,699 at the 2000 census. Country singer/songwriter Paul Overstreet was born in Newton.-Geography:Newton is located at ....
    
     and Bay Springs
    Bay Springs, Mississippi
    Bay Springs is a city in Jasper County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,097 at the 2000 census. It is located at the intersection of state highways 15 and 18. The area was settled in the 1880s by Joe Blankenship, who built the saw mill that became the town's industrial base...
    
    , Mississippi to Watco; the line will be the basis of the new Mississippi Southern Railroad.
  • Bombardier
    Bombardier Transportation
    Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
    
     is awarded a contract to build 10 new bilevel commuter coaches for GO Transit
    GO Transit
    GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...
    
    ; the contract is valued at $
    Canadian dollar
    The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
    
    21 million.
• March 31 – Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. is awarded a US$499 million order to build 340 new commuter coaches and power cars for PATH
  Port Authority Trans-Hudson
  PATH, derived from Port Authority Trans-Hudson, is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York City with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in metropolitan northern New Jersey...
  
   in New York and New Jersey
  New Jersey
  New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
  
  ; the order is part of a plan to completely replace PATH's entire fleet of cars.

Deaths