March 20 - An agreement between the governments of Thailand and Laos is signed to extend the railway to Thanaleng Railway Station in Laos, about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, which would become the first railway link to Laos.[1]
June – Caltrain finishes their two-year-long CTX project, which included strengthening the tracks between San Francisco and San Jose and introducing an all new CTC system. This project allowed for the start of Baby Bullet express service and the resumption of weekend service on the route.
June 7 – The high speed Gautrain between Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa is announced; it is expected to open in 2009.
July 29 – The Dublin to Rosslare Europort route becomes the first in the Irish Republic to have locomotive hauled trains completely replaced by diesel railcars.
August 15 – Fourth rail was finished in 13 km section between Helsinki, the capital of Finland and Kerava, its suburb.
August 31 – The United States Surface Transportation Board renews the authority of TTX Corporation to continue pooling and leasing railroad rolling stock for ten more years, over the protests of other rolling stock leasing companies.
September events
September – In Ireland, following the replacement of the Cahir viaduct, the Limerick junction to Waterford section of railway reopens after nearly a year after the viaduct collapsed under a cement train.
October 14 – The Canadian Transportation Safety Board issues its final report on the CN accident of May 2, 2002; the report blames the truck driver's fatigue as the cause of the accident and admonishes fire crews for less-than-optimal training in hazardous materials.
October 15 – Canadian National Railway announces that it is selling its locomotive remote control business unit (which produced the Beltpack control system) to Cattron Group, Inc., so the railroad can focus on operations.
October 18 – Rocky Mountain Railtours officially changes its name to Rocky Mountaineer Vacations.
October 22 – Canadian National Railway (CN) announces that it will open shipping offices in Shanghai and Beijing; the office will advertise CN's shipping abilities to North American destinations, especially on the Pacific coast.
November 20 - NoMa-Gallaudet University Station (formerly New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University), the first "in-fill" station to be built between two existing stations, is opened on the Washington D.C. Metro Red Line.
Siemens receives an order to build 60 new ICE trainsets for service between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia; the new equipment is expected to enter service in 2007.
April 22 – In the Ryongchon disaster, a flammable cargo explodes at the railway station in the town of Ryongchŏn, North Korea, near the border with China; the explosion occurs only a few hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il passed through the station en route back to the capital from a secret meeting in China.
May 19 – Two BNSF Railway rock trains (#6351 north and #6789 south) collide near Gunter, Texas, killing one person and seriously injuring 3 others. The cause was the southbound train not stopping at it's assigned stopping point for reasons unknown.
May 31 – A fire erupts in one of the Seattle Center Monorail trains; of the 150 passengers aboard at the time, only 5 required treatment for minor injuries and no deaths occurred.
June 17 – The Karanjadi train crash was the accidental derailment of a passenger train at Karanjadi, a village in Maharashtra, India, on June 17, 2004. 20 people were killed and well over 100 injured in the crash, which was the result of heavy monsoon rains.
October 23 – The Chūetsu earthquake, 6.8 magnitude, in Japan causes the first derailment of a Shinkansen train; the train was traveling 200 km/h (125 mph) on the Tokyo-Niigata line, but no fatalities were reported.
November 16 – The northbound high speed tilt train Spirit of Townsville from Brisbane, bound for Cairns, failed to slow down for a sharp 60 km/h curve at Berajondo, Queensland, Australia, derailing the train; although seven of the train's passenger cars and the leading power car left the tracks, remarkably there were no fatalities. See Cairns Tilt Train derailment, High-speed train derailment in central Queensland.
December 26 – Approximately 1700 are killed in the Queen of the Sea train disaster, the world's worst rail disaster as the Sri Lankan train is overwhelmed by a tsunami created by the Indian Ocean earthquake.
Web site: Gallop Government delivers northern rail extension on time and budget . Media Statements . 5 March 2022 . 4 October 2004 . 1 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211201093337/https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/Gallop/2004/10/Gallop-Government-delivers-northern-rail-extension-on-time-and-budget.aspx . live .