2013 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2013.

Events

By month

January events

• January 18 - Brand new V250-high speed EMU's taken out of Fyra-service definitely due to poor quality.
• January 28 - New Orleans Regional Transit Authority Loyola Avenue Streetcar Line opened.^[1]

February events

• February 11 - Manchester Metrolink light rail system East Manchester Line opened to Droylsden.^[2]
• February 24 – The platforms at Togoshi-kōen Station, on the Tokyu Oimachi Line in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan, are extended from three car lengths to five.^[3]

March events

• March 16 - Shibuya Station of Tokyu Toyoko Line move on underground station from ground station, with direct commuter express train start on Motomachi-Chūkagai of Yokohama to Hanno of Seibu Ikebukuro Line, Kawagoeshi of Tobu Tojo Line, via Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line.

April events

• April 14 - Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Green Line extends service west from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake City International Airport.^[4]
• April 26 - RTD's W-Line light rail corridor extends service west from Denver Union Station to Golden. This is the first FasTracks corridor to be completed.^[5]

May events

• May 10 – Norfolk Southern Railway announces the appointment of James A. Squires to become the railroad's new president effective 1 June.^[6]
• May 26 - National Express Group's LTS Rail franchise, c2c expires.
• May 27 - CapeFLYER summer weekend service from Boston, Massachusetts to Cape Cod begun.^[7]

July events

• July 1 – Opening of Hangzhou–Ningbo High-Speed Railway and Nanjing–Hangzhou Passenger Railway.^[8]
• July 6 – 47 people are killed in explosions and fire after an unattended train carrying Bakken formation crude oil runs away and derails in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. It becomes the deadliest rail accident in Canadian history since 1864.

August events

• August 18 - Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Blue Line extends service further south from Sandy to Draper.^[9]

September events

• September 15 – Xi'an Metro Line 1 opens in China.^[10]

October events

• October 29 - Completion of Marmaray suburban rail project in Istanbul with official opening of its tunnel under the Bosphorus, the first standard gauge rail connection between Europe and Asia.

December events

• December 8 - Utah Transit Authority's S Line (formerly known as Sugar House Streetcar) opens with service from South Salt Lake to the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City.^[11]
• – Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metro Project, also known as the Silver Line, is expected to open as far as Reston, Virginia, connecting Fairfax County suburbs to the Washington Metro system.^[12]
• December 22 – Downtown MRT Line Phase 1 scheduled to open.
• December 28 – Opening of high speed Xiamen–Shenzhen Railway in southern China, fully completing the Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen High-Speed Railway.^[13]
• December 28 - Wuhan Metro Line 4 and Suzhou Metro Line 2, including Zhengzhou Metro has been opened.
• December 29 - Shanghai Metro Lines 12 and 16 opened.

Unknown date events

• – A new line for passenger trains only connecting Harbin, Dalian, Changchun and Shenyang, is scheduled to open.^[14]
• – The first segment of a new high-speed rail line in Morocco between Tangier and Kenitra, a line that will eventually extend to Marrakech, is scheduled to open.^[15]
• – Completion of suburban rail network electrification in Auckland, New Zealand, sponsored by the regional council.^[16]
• – Completion of the first phase of Rail Baltica connecting Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas and Warsaw.^[17]

Deaths

• 28 May – Isabel Benham, American railroad financial expert, dies (b. 1909).
• 23 August – Richard J. Corman, founder and owner of R.J. Corman Railroad Group, dies (b. 1955).

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2013 Blue Ribbon Award: Tokyo Metro 1000 series EMU
• 2013 Laurel Prize:

References