2011 in rail transport explained

Events

By month

January events

• 10 January – Regular through passenger service from Wuhan to Wanzhou over the complete new Yiwan Railway in China starts. The line features 288km (179miles) of bridges on a total length of 377km (234miles).^[1]

February events

• 19 February – First public passenger train operates throughout between Caernarfon and Porthmadog Harbour over the restored Welsh Highland Railway.
• 23 February – Opening of the Airport Express Line in Delhi.^[2]
• 28 February – Wabtec announces that it has acquired Brush Traction, the English-based locomotive builder and maintainer, for US$31 million.^[3]

March events

• 12 March – Kyushu Shinkansen opens between Hakata of Fukuoka and Shin-Yatsushiro, with Osaka and Kagoshima direct bullet train starting.^[4]
• 27 March – The Sakuradori Line serving Nagoya is extended 4.2km (02.6miles) from Nonami to Tokushige.^[5]
• 30 March – In Busan, Line 4 of the Busan Metro opens for service connecting Minam and Anpyeong (10.8km (06.7miles)).^[6]

April events

• March–April – Eurasian Land Bridge test run from Chongqing to Duisburg (DB) via Alashankou crossing, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and Poland, covering 10300km (6,400miles) in 16 days.^[7]
• April 17 – A BNSF Railway coal train rear-ends a maintenance-of-way train near Red Oak, Iowa, both crew members of the coal train were killed. The cause was the crew being half asleep.
• 19 April – Zaragoza tram starts its commercial operation.^[8]

May events

• 1 May – Veendam railway station opens in the Netherlands.
• 1 May – Tide Light Rail begins service in Norfolk, Virginia.
• May 24 – a CSX Transportation intermodal train rear-ended a Union Pacific Railroad manifest train near Mineral Springs, North Carolina killing both CSX crew members. The cause was the crew of the CSX train passing a dark signal

June events

• 6 June – Munich–Augsburg railway is upgraded to four-track.
• 16 June – An NSB Class 73 burns up after catching fire in a burning show shed at Hallingskeid Station on Norway's Bergen Line.^[9]
• 20 June – A-Train commuter rail service begins in northern Texas.^[10]
• 22 June  - Shenzhen Metro's Line 5 opens.
• 28 June  - Phase 2 of Shenzhen Metro Line 2 connecting Window of the World Station to Xinxiu Station opens for trial runs.
• 30 June – Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway opens in China.

July events

• 23 July – Wenzhou train collision: At least 39 people are killed when a China Railway High-speed train collides in rear with a preceding stationary train halted by a lightning strike, throwing two coaches off a viaduct close to Wenzhou in Zhejiang province.^[11]

August events

• 7 August – West Valley and Mid-Jordan extensions of TRAX open in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area.
• 15 August – The Gevingåsen Tunnel on Norway's Nordland Line opens.^[12]
• 19 August – The first line of the Jerusalem Light Rail opens to passengers.
• 26 August – The Bærum Tunnel and section of track between Lysaker and Sandvika on Norway's Asker Line is taken into use.^[13]
• 31 August – Opening of Docklands Light Railway extension from Canning Town to the new Stratford International station, taking over the North London Line infrastructure (which closed on 9 December 2006) and linking the Docklands area with domestic and international high-speed services on High Speed 1 and with the 2012 Olympic Games site.^{[14] [15] [16]}

September events

• 9 September
  • – in Busan, the Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit Line opens for service.^[17]
  • – In Dubai, the Green Line opens for service.^[18]
• 27 September – Brookhaven Rail Terminal opened on Long Island, New York, a 28-acre facility for bulk commodities

October events

• 8 October
  • – The Circle MRT line becomes fully operational.
  • – Paris Métro Line 8 is extended from to .
•  - Banihal-Qazigund railway tunnel (Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel) a part of its Udhampur – Srinagar – Baramulla rail link project, opened in October 2011, India's longest and Asia's second longest railway tunnel and reduced the distance between Quazigund and Banihal to only 11 km. The 10.96 km long railway tunnel, passes through the Pir Panjal Range of middle Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir.^{[19] [20] [21]}

November events

• 7 November – A new 7.8km (04.8miles) segment of the Vestfold Line with double track between Barkåker and Tønsberg, including the Jarlsberg Tunnel, is taken into use.^[22]
• 8 November - The new 5000-Series rail cars (5001-5706), built by Bombardier Transportation of Plattsburgh, New York are placed in revenue service on the Chicago Transit Authority elevated-subway rail system.

December events

• 11 December – SNCF opens LGV Rhin-Rhône.
• 11 December – Sassenheim railway station opens in the Netherlands.
• 28 December – Hangzhou Metro opens in China.

Unknown date events

• – The aging Hitachi trains in Melbourne are completely phased out.
• – China high-speed Rail faces with crisis after train crash. Several executions happen in governments, train speeds are reduced from 350 km/h to 300 km/h and from 250 km/h to 200 km/h. Expansion of high-speed corridors became uncertain, but will see the second boom in next few years.
• – JR East phases out 113 series.

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2011 Blue Ribbon Award: Keisei Electric Railway AE series Skyliner EMU
• 2011 Laurel Prize: Tokyo Metro 16000 series EMU

North America

2011 E. H. Harriman Awards

Group	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
A
B
C
S&T

Awards presented by Railway Age magazine

• 2011 Railroader of the Year: Wick Moorman (NS)^[23]
• 2011 Regional Railroad of the Year:
• 2011 Short Line Railroad of the Year:

United Kingdom

Train Operator of the Year

• 2011: South West Trains^[24]

Deaths

• 15 January – Francesco di Majo, designer of the Pendolino (born 1910).^[25]
• 4 May – Richard Steinheimer, American railroad photographer, dies (b. 1929).
• 10 July – William D. Middleton, well-known American rail-transport writer (b. 1928).
• 29 July – Richard Marsh, Baron Marsh, chairman of British Rail 1971–1976, dies (b. 1928).
• 20 October – Roger Tallon, designer of the TGV (born 1929).^[26]

Notes and References

1. http://news.ifeng.com/gundong/detail_2010_12/20/3595647_0.shtml "最难修铁路”宜万铁路通车"
2. News: 21 February 2011 . Airport to be 20 minutes from Connaught Place from Wednesday . The Hindu . Chennai, India.
3. Web site: Wabtec buys Brush Traction . 28 February 2011 . 28 February 2011 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20121001104830/http://www.railwaygazette.com/index.php?id=44&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12884&cHash=5f46c108eb . 1 October 2012 . dead .
4. Web site: 13 March 2011 . ja:九州新幹線全線開通 博多－鹿児島中央 計画決定から３８年 / 西日本新聞 . The entire Kyushu Shinkansen line opens Hakata-Kagoshima Chuo 38 years after the plan was decided . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110314014305/http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/item/231204 . 14 March 2011 . 31 January 2024 . nishinippon.co.jp . ja.
5. Web site: ja:2011年3月27日 桜通線野並・徳重間開通 . http://www.kotsu.city.nagoya.jp/sakuraline/index.html . 1 December 2010 . Transportation Department City of Nagoya . ja.
6. News: 30 March 2011 . '국내 첫 무인경전철' 부산도시철도 4호선 개통 . . ko.
7. Web site: A. . Samuel . DB freight train arrives from China into Duisburg after 10300km journey . Rail.co . 2011-04-06 . 2012-04-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120320215252/http://www.rail.co/2011/04/06/db-freight-train-arrives-from-china-into-duisburg-after-10300km-journey/ . 20 March 2012 .
8. Web site: Arranca el servicio comercial del tranvía. Tranvías de Zaragoza. https://web.archive.org/web/20110421081337/http://www.tranviasdezaragoza.es/noticias-descargas/noticias/arranca-el-servicio-comercial-del-tranvia. 2011-04-21. 2011-04-19. es.
9. News: Sveising kostet 250 mill. . Eidsvik . Øyvind Lefdal . 8 July 2011 . . Norwegian . 20 July 2011 . 11 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110711142027/http://www.bt.no/nyheter/okonomi/Sveising-kostet-250-mill-2534319.html . dead.
10. Web site: A-train railway begins rolling, carrying commuters from Denton to Carrollton. 20 June 2011. 20 June 2011. Matt. Peterson. The Dallas Morning News. https://web.archive.org/web/20110701183458/http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/06/a-train-railway-begins-rolling.html. 1 July 2011. dead.
11. News: China: Dozens die as bullet trains collide in Zhejiang. BBC News. 24 July 2011. 24 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110723215422/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14262276. 23 July 2011 . live.
12. Web site: Første tog gjennom Gevingåsen . Svingheim . Njål . 15 August 2011 . Norwegian . . 1 February 2012 . 2 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140202175144/http://www.jernbaneverket.no/no/Prosjekter/Prosjekter/Ferdige-prosjekter/Gevingasen-tunnel/Prosjektartikler/Forste-tog-gjennom-Gevingasen/ . dead.
13. News: Snart kjører toget her . . 24 August 2011 . Strande . Mona . Norwegian . 11 September 2011.
14. Web site: DLR on track for Stratford International as £67m contract awarded . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927185600/http://developments.dlr.co.uk/extensions/stratford/details.asp?id=38 . 27 September 2011 .
15. Web site: Docklands Light Railway. Stratford International extension approved. 25 October 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061126063618/http://developments.dlr.co.uk/extensions/stratford/details.asp?id=28. 26 November 2006. dead.
16. Web site: Major contract award signals start of work on DLR Stratford International Extension .
17. News: 최병길 . 29 August 2011 . ko:부산~김해경전철 다음달 9일 개통 . Busan-Gimhae Light Rail to begin its operation from the 9th of next month . http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2011/08/29/0302000000AKR20110829086200052.HTML . 8 September 2011 . . Korean.
18. Web site: 10 September 2011 . Dubai Metro Green Line opened on Friday . 18 May 2021 . www.emirates247.com . Emirates24/7.
19. News: India's longest railway tunnel unveiled in Jammu & Kashmir. https://web.archive.org/web/20130629075419/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-14/india/30278754_1_jawahar-tunnel-tunnel-excavation-baramulla. live. 29 June 2013. India. 14 October 2011. The Times of India. 14 October 2011.
20. Web site: Banihal Qazigund railway tunnel to be complete by December Lastupdate:- Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT GreaterKashmir.com . 2011-12-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110907034751/http://greaterkashmir.com/news/2011/Mar/31/banihal-qazigund-railway-tunnel-to-be-complete-by-december-42.asp . 7 September 2011.
21. News: India's longest railway tunnel unveiled in Jammu & Kashmir . https://web.archive.org/web/20130629075419/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-14/india/30278754_1_jawahar-tunnel-tunnel-excavation-baramulla . live . 29 June 2013 . India . . 14 October 2011.
22. News: Vestfoldbanen åpnet etter seks uker, men ikke uten problemer . Tørrestad . Yngve . . 7 November 2011 . Norwegian . https://web.archive.org/web/20120111132228/http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/vestfold/1.7865935 . 11 January 2012 . 7 March 2012 . live.
23. Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman named Railway Age Railroader of the Year . 9 December 2010 . Railway Age . 13 December 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101211140902/http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/norfolk-southern-ceo-wick-moorman-named-railway-age-railroader-of-the-year.html . 11 December 2010 .
24. News: South West Trains voted Passenger Train Operator of The Year . rail.co.uk . 28 October 2017 .
25. News: Francesco di Majo. The Times . UK. 23 February 2011. 47.
26. News: L'homme du TGV et pionnier du design industriel, Roger Tallon, est mort. Le Monde. 20 October 2011. 30 October 2011.