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This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1980.

Events

January events

• January 23 – Western Pacific Railroad president R. G. "Mike" Flannery announces that an agreement has been reached for the railroad to be controlled by Union Pacific Railroad.^[1]
• January – Amtrak re-equips the Empire Builder, making it the first train to use all Superliner equipment.

February events

• February 20 – Canadian Pacific Railway officially abandons its Eganville subdivision, including tracks between Payne and Douglas, Ontario.^[2]

March events

• March 1 – The Milwaukee Road ends operations on all points west of Miles City, Montana, shutting down nearly half of the railroad.
• March 31 – The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (the Rock Island) ceases operations.

April events

Glasgow Subway as rebuilt

• April 16 – After a complete system overhaul, the Glasgow Subway is reopened.

May events

• May – Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority extends passenger service to Concord, New Hampshire.
• May – The Interstate Commerce Commission approves the liquidation of the Rock Island Railroad; at 7,073 track miles covering 13 states, it is the largest such action in United States history.

June events

• June 1
  • The Oslo Tunnel opens, connecting the eastern and western rail networks of Norway.
  • A new rail link opens between the city of Zürich and Zürich International Airport

July events

• July 25 – Two trains collide on a single track between Groningen and Roodeschool, near Winsum, The Netherlands, resulting in 9 deaths and 21 injured.
• July 31 – Boston and Maine Railroad, 2 men struck on track 16 inbound to Wakefield. Conductor Damian Soto, suspended 30 days without pay and forced to retake conductor license.

August events

• August 1 – In Ireland, a train derails en route from Dublin to Cork, killing 17 passengers.
• August 2 – Bologna bombing: a terrorist bomb explodes at Bologna Central Station in Italy, killing 85.^[3]
• August 11 – In England, the Tyne and Wear Metro opens for full public service with the first section from Haymarket to Tynemouth via South Gosforth and Four Lane Ends, the first British conversion from heavy to light rail.^[4]

October events

• October 14 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the Staggers Rail Act into law, significantly deregulating the American railroad industry.

November events

• November 21 – The Burlington Northern Railroad acquires the St. Louis - San Francisco Railway.
• November – The first test runs of the Joetsu Shinkansen between Tokyo and Niigata are operated.

December events

• December – The Northwestern Steel and Wire mill in Sterling, Illinois, operates a steam locomotive for the last time, the final commercial use in the United States.^[5]

Unknown date events

• The Chessie System and Seaboard System Railroad merge to form CSX Transportation.
• Now owning a 98.34% control of the Cotton Belt Railroad, the Southern Pacific Railroad extends the Cotton Belt to Chicago, Illinois, through acquisition of the former Rock Island Railroad.
• The last train operates over the elevated freight "High Line" in New York City.
• Guilford Transportation Industries is formed to become a holding company for several smaller railroads of New England.
• L. Stanley Crane is succeeded by Harold H. Hall as president of the Southern Railway.

Births

Deaths

References

• Norfolk Southern Railway. Retrieved February 22, 2005.
• (May 2005), Trains Timetable, Trains Magazine, p. 14.
• George C. Werner: "BURLINGTON SYSTEM" from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved December 23, 2008.