2013 in rail transport explained

Events

January

• 18 January  - Brand new V250-high speed EMU's taken out of Fyra-service definitely due to poor quality.
• 28 January  - New Orleans Regional Transit Authority Loyola Avenue Streetcar Line opened.^[1]

February

• 10 February  - opening of Milan Metro Line 5.
• 11 February  - Manchester Metrolink light rail system East Manchester Line opened to Droylsden.^[2]
• 24 February  - The platforms at Togoshi-kōen Station, on the Tokyu Oimachi Line in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan, are extended from three car lengths to five.^[3]

March

• 16 March  - Shibuya Station of the Tokyu Toyoko Line move to an underground station from ground station, with direct commuter express trains beginning at Motomachi-Chūkagai of Yokohama heading to Hanno of the Seibu Ikebukuro Line or Kawagoeshi of the Tobu Tojo Line, via the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line.^[4] Tokyu Toyoko Line ends serving Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line trains. However, Hibiya Line trains are still able to run more than for one trip during through-train services.^[5]
• 23 March  - Paris Métro Line 4 is extended from Porte d'Orléans to Mairie de Montrouge.^[6]

April

• 14 April  - Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Green Line extends service west from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake City International Airport.^[7]
• 26 April
  •  - The Yongin Everline driverless metro opens for service in southern Seoul.^[8]
  •  - RTD's W-Line light rail corridor extends service west from Denver Union Station to Golden. This is the first FasTracks corridor to be completed.^[9]

May

• 10 May  - Norfolk Southern Railway announces the appointment of James A. Squires to become the railroad's new president effective 1 June.^[10]
• 26 May  - National Express' Essex Thameside franchise, c2c expires; extended through 2014.
• 27 May  - CapeFLYER summer weekend service from Boston, Massachusetts to Cape Cod begun.^[11]

July

• 1 July  - Opening of Hangzhou–Ningbo High-Speed Railway and Nanjing–Hangzhou Passenger Railway.^[12]
• 6 July  - Lac-Mégantic derailment: 47 people are killed in explosions and fire after an unattended train carrying Bakken formation crude oil runs away and derails in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. It becomes the deadliest rail accident in Canadian history since 1864.
• 24 July  - Santiago de Compostela derailment: 79 people are killed when an Alvia train derails at excessive speed on a curve in Galicia (Spain).

August

• 18 August  - Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Blue Line extends service further south from Sandy to Draper.^[13]

September

• 15 September  - Xi'an Metro Line 1 opened.^[14]
• 26 September  - Harbin Metro Line 1 opened.

October

• 15 October  - The Kyushu Railway Company (Japan Railways Group) launches the 'Seven Stars in Kyushu' luxury sleeping car excursion train from Hakata Station with dedicated diesel locomotive haulage.^[15]
• 29 October  - Completion of Marmaray suburban rail project in Istanbul with official opening of its Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosphorus, the first standard gauge rail connection between Europe and Asia.^[16]

November

• 3 November  - Standseilbahn Linth-Limmern funicular opens.^[17]

December

• 8 December  - Utah Transit Authority's S Line (formerly known as Sugar House Streetcar) opens with service from South Salt Lake to the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City.^[18]
• 22 December  - Downtown MRT line Phase 1 scheduled to open.
• 28 December – Opening of high speed Xiamen–Shenzhen Railway in southern China, fully completing the Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen High-Speed Railway.^[19]
• 28 December  - Wuhan Metro Line 4 and Suzhou Metro Line 2, including Zhengzhou Metro has been opened.
• 29 December  - Shanghai Metro Lines 12 and 16 opened.

Deaths

• 28 May  - Isabel Benham, American railroad financial expert, dies (b. 1909).
• 23 August  - Richard J. Corman, founder and owner of R.J. Corman Railroad Group, dies (b. 1955).

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2013 Blue Ribbon Award: Tokyo Metro 1000 series EMU^[20]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Capital Projects. New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. 6 December 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20170429183618/http://www.norta.com/about/Capital_Projects/index.html. 29 April 2017. dead.
2. News: Kirby . Dean . Opening of Metrolink tram service to Droylsden delayed until February 2013 . 7 December 2012 . . . 4 December 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121207190859/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/transport/public_transport/s/1595302_opening-of-metrolink-tram-service-to-droylsden-delayed-until-february-2013 . 7 December 2012 .
3. Web site: http://railf.jp/news/2013/02/25/171500.html. ja:東急大井町線戸越公園駅でのドアカット解消. Selective door-opening eliminated at Togoshi-kōen Station on Tokyu Oimachi Line . 25 February 2013. Japan Railfan Magazine Online. Koyusha Co., Ltd.. Japan. Japanese. 25 February 2013.
4. News: 安井功 . 15 March 2013 . さよなら東横線渋谷駅…大改造計画が始動 . Goodbye Tōyoko Line Shibuya Station ... Major remodeling plan started . https://web.archive.org/web/20220407050652/https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK1504O_V10C13A3000000/ . 7 April 2022 . 17 March 2013 . MSN Sankei News.
5. Web site: 16 March 2013 . 東急東横線・東京メトロ日比谷線の相互直通運転が終了 . Through operation between the Tokyu Tōyoko Line and Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line ends . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210512020419/https://railf.jp/news/2013/03/16/134800.html . 12 May 2021 . 25 July 2022 . Japan Railfan Magazine Online . Koyusha Co., Ltd. . ja . Japan.
6. Web site: à 04h10 . Par Le 23 mars 2013 . 2013-03-23 . La ligne 4 du métro arrive à Montrouge . 2024-01-11 . leparisien.fr . fr-FR.
7. Web site: Airport TRAX Line to Open April 14. 14 December 2012. Utah Transit Authority.
8. Web site: April 29, 2013 . YONGIN EVERLINE LRT: 5TH FULLY AUTOMATED METRO LINE IN SOUTH KOREA . UITP.
9. News: RTD celebrates the successful grand opening of the West Rail Line. RTD. Denver. 9 April 2013. 23 September 2013. 13 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131013165140/http://www3.rtd-denver.com/content/RTDNewsRelease/RTD%20W%20Line%20Successful%20Opening%20NR%202013.pdf. dead.
10. Norfolk Southern Names Six to Senior Management Positions. Norfolk Southern Corporation. 10 May 2013. 4 March 2014.
11. News: Weekend passenger rail service to run seasonally between Cape and Boston. Patrick. Cassidy. The Standard-Times. New Bedford, Massachusetts. 13 December 2012. 13 December 2012.
12. News: New high-speed railways open to promote intercity development. Xinhua. 1 July 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131126211203/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/01/c_132502158.htm. dead. 26 November 2013. 2 July 2013.
13. News: Bus routes will change when TRAX arrives. Van Eyck. Zack. 14 March 1999. Deseret News. Deseret Digital Media. Salt Lake City. 5 April 2013.
14. Web site: 西安地铁一号线15日正式通车试运营 . 14 September 2013 . 16 September 2013.
15. ななつ星in九州"用編成. "Seven Stars in Kyushu" trainset. Japan Railfan Magazine. 53. 631. 44–45. Koyusha. Japan. ja. November 2013.
16. Web site: Marmaray tüneli resmen açıldı. Marmary Tunnel officially opened. tr. bbc.com/turkce. 2013-10-29. 2017-12-01.
17. Web site: 8783.03 Standseilbahn Kraftwerk Linth-Limmern Tierfehd - Maschinenkaverne. Seilbahndatenbank. de. 2023-05-27. 2023-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20230408085157/https://www.standseilbahnen.ch/linthal-tierfehd-limmern.html. live.
18. Web site: New streetcar S-line set to open Dec. 8 in Sugar House. Vo-Duc. Viviane. Deseret News. Deseret Digital Media. Salt Lake City. 5 September 2013. 17 September 2013.
19. News: Xiamen-Shenzhen HSR expected to open to traffic by end of 2013. 30 May 2012. What's on Xiamen. 29 October 2012. 8 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181108191714/http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/news25430.html. dead.
20. December 2013 . ja:東京地下鉄1000系「ブルーリボン賞」受賞記念式典開催 . "Blue Ribbon Award" presentation ceremony held for Tokyo Metro 1000 series . Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine . Kōtsū Shimbun . Japan . 60 . ja . 42 . 356.