From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1987.

Events

January events

• January 4 - Amtrak and Conrail trains collide in Maryland.

February events

• February 2 - The Irish national transport operator Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) is split up into subsidiaries, with Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) taking responsibility for the Irish railway network in the Republic of Ireland.

Oslo Central Station

• February 12 - Oslo Central Station in Oslo, Norway is officially opened, and the western station Oslo Vestbanestasjon closes.

April events

• April 1 - The Japanese National Railways (JNR) are divided and privatized. The seven companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group) succeed the former JNR.
• April 1 Sacramento, California opens the first line of their new regional light rail systems.
• April 4 - The Soo Line railroad announces the sale of its Lake States Transportation Division to private investors, forming the new Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation.
• April 27 - Construction begins in Germany on the Berlin U-Bahn's U8 line extension to Paracelsus-Bad.

July events

• July 13 - Union Pacific Railroad files with the Interstate Commerce Commission to acquire the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.
• July 13 - Nanboku Line open, for first time of Sendai Subway, northern Japan.
• July 19 - New short line railroad Red River Valley and Western Railroad begins operations over 667 miles (1,073.4 km) of former BN tracks in North Dakota.
• July 25 - Indian Railways installs its first solid state interlocking at Srirangam, India.

Docklands Light Railway crossing West India Dock

• July 31 - Queen Elizabeth II presides over the opening ceremonies of the Docklands Light Railway in London, England.

September events

• September 22 - Richmond Vale railway line, New South Wales, runs last coal train to Hexham, becoming last non-tourist railway in Australia to use steam locomotives.^[1]

October events

• October 11 - Soo Line Railroad sells 2,002 miles (3,222 km) of track to the newly formed Wisconsin Central.
• October 31 - Montana Rail Link begins operations on 907 miles (1,460 km) of former Burlington Northern Railroad (originally Northern Pacific Railroad) tracks.

Aftermath of King's Cross fire

November events

• November 7 - The first 6 kilometres of the MRT line in Singapore opened.
• November 18 - King's Cross fire: 31 killed in a fire on an escalator at King's Cross tube station on the London Underground.^[2]

December events

• December 10 - Santa Clara County Transit begins revenue service on the first line of its new light rail system in San Jose, California.

Unknown date events

• The United States Congress divests government ownership of Conrail in the largest initial public stock offering (IPO) to date.
• The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway are merged into CSX Transportation.
• Line One (the Red line) of Cairo Metro opens.
• A passenger express from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore derails at high speed near Johor Bahru, Malaysia, after bolts holding the underframe-mounted air conditioning generator come off causing it to fall off and catapult the particular coach and the ones behind it off the rails. 12 people are killed in the worst accident in KTM's history.

Deaths

References

• Indian Railways Fan Club, IR History: Part - V (1970-1995). Retrieved July 22, 2005.
• Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), This Month in Railroad History: July. Retrieved July 18, 2005.
• Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), This Month in Railroad History - October. Retrieved October 11, 2005.
• Strack, Don (October 14, 2004), Union Pacific Corporate History. Retrieved July 12, 2005.

1. ^ "Richmond Vale Railway Museum - History". Maitland, Hunter Valley. http://www.maitlandhuntervalley.com.au/webpages.asp?code=842&style=True. Retrieved 2010-01-14.  
2. ^ Left, Sarah (2002-01-15). "Key dates in Britain's railway history". The Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,2763,633951,00.html.