1975 in rail transport explained

Events

January events

• January 2 – A bomb blast at Samastipur in India fatally injures Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways, who is visiting in order to declare the broad gauge line to Darbhanga open.^[1]
• January 20 – The 1974 Anglo-French Channel Tunnel scheme is abandoned.

February events

• February 22 – Tretten train disaster: A head-on collision near Tretten station in Norway kills 27.
• February 28 – Moorgate tube crash on the London Underground: A train accelerates into a dead-end tunnel at Moorgate station killing 43.^[2]

March events

• March 10 – In Japan:
  • Second phase of the San'yō Shinkansen high-speed rail line opens between Okayama and Fukuoka, bringing the system to the country's second island, Kyushu.^[3] Travel time between the two cities is reduced to 2 hours 45 minutes, and from Fukuoka to Tokyo to 6 hours.
  • The Kosei Line, a commuter route between Yamashina Station in Kyoto and Tsuruga opens, with Osaka-Kanazawa and Niigata express trains, changed from the route via Hikone and Nagahama.

April events

• April 1 – The second American Freedom Train tour begins, powered by newly restored Southern Pacific 4449, in Wilmington, Delaware. See also American Freedom Train - 1975-76 station stops.
• April 16 – In Portugal, Decree-Law 205-B/175 is published, nationalising the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses.^[4]
• April 26 – In Japan, Keikyu extends from Miurakaigan to Misakiguchi, enabling rail service from central Tokyo further into the Miura Peninsula.^[5]

June events

• June 6 – An overnight northbound passenger train from London, England, bound for Glasgow, Scotland, does not receive warning of a temporary speed restriction resulting in the Nuneaton rail crash.
• June 8 – Two trains collide on a single-track stretch between Lenggries and Munich due to a dispatcher's error. 41 die and 122 are injured.

July events

• July 1 – Australian National Railways Commission takes over assets of Commonwealth Railways.
• July 18 – Barcelona Sants railway station opens.
• July 19 – Hatton Cross tube station opens, the first stage of the extension of London Underground's Piccadilly line to London Heathrow Airport.^[6]

August events

• August 5 – The first Amfleet passenger cars enter service on the Northeast Corridor.^[7] They are Amtrak's first new intercity passenger cars and the Budd Company's last.
• August 10 – British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train achieves 245 km/h (152.3 mph) between Goring and Uffington on the Western Region.
• August 25 – The Victoria Falls Conference between Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and the United African National Council is held in a South African Railways coach on the Victoria Falls Bridge.

September events

• September 24 – Scottish-built ex-État 140C 287 on hire to CFTA works a train from its depot at Gray, Haute-Saône, to Sainte-Colombe, the last commercial steam-hauled working on French railways.
• September 27 – Official opening of the National Railway Museum in York, England.

October events

• October 19 – US-built SNCF Class 141R 1187 of Vénissieux depot works a special return working between Lyon and Veynes, the last steam-hauled passenger train operated by SNCF.
• October 24 – The first through passenger train over the TAZARA Railway arrives in Dar es Salaam,^[8] marking completion of this Chinese-funded 1860km (1,160miles) gauge link between Tanzania and Zambia.

November events

• November – English-built SNCF Class 140C 38 works a freight train between its depot at Gray and Chalindrey, the last steam-hauled train operated by SNCF.^[9]

December events

• December 2 – A train hijacking takes place at the village of Wijster in the Netherlands by activists wanting to endorse the self-proclaimed Republic of South Maluku in the Maluku Islands. Hostages Hans Braam, Leo Bulter and Bert Bierling are shot. The activists surrender on December 14.
• December 14 – Japanese National Railways runs its last official steam-hauled passenger train, from Muroran to Iwamizawa on Hokkaido with JNR Class C57-135.^[10]

Unknown date events

• The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad files its third and final bankruptcy.
• Last steam locomotive operated by State Railways of Finland.
• As a result of the Independent Safety Board Act's passage the previous year, the United States National Transportation Safety Board becomes a completely independent agency, severing all organizational ties to the national Department of Transportation and all of its modal agencies.^[11]

Notes and References

1. Book: Limca Book of Records 1991 . 1991 . Bisleri Beverages Ltd. . Bombay . 41 . 81-900115-1-0.
2. News: Left. Sarah. Key dates in Britain's railway history. The Guardian Unlimited. January 15, 2002.
3. Taniguchi . Mamoru . 1993 . The Japanese Shinkansen . . 19 . 3/4 . 216 . JSTOR.
4. Web site: CP Timeline. 2009-11-22.
5. Web site: 発展期 . 12 July 2024 . Keikyu . ja.
6. Book: Green, Oliver. The London Underground – An Illustrated History. Ian Allan. 1988. 62. 0-7110-1720-4.
7. Web site: Digging into the Archives: Introducing Amfleet. Amtrak. 2014-06-08.
8. News: Tanzania Greets Train. The New York Times. Agence France Presse. 25 October 1975.
9. Web site: 140 C 38 Steams Again After 38 Years. The SNCF Society News. September 2013. 2015-04-09.
10. Web site: The Final Passenger Steam Train. The Last days of Japanese Steam Engines. 2015-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20160913212002/http://homepage3.nifty.com/EF57/lastday/lastday-2.htm. September 13, 2016. dead. mdy-all.
11. Web site: National Transportation Safety Board. March 15, 2005. New NTSB publication examines 30-year history of transportation safety improvements. 2005-05-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20050510102921/http://www.ntsb.gov/pressrel/2005/050315.htm. May 10, 2005. dead. mdy-all.