1971 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
February events
- February 9 - A ZurichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
-bound TEETrans Europ ExpressThe Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express, is a former international railway service in Europe. At its maximum extent, in 1974, the network comprised 45 trains, connecting 130 different cities.-Origin:...
train derails at AitrangAitrangAitrang is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany.- Geography :Aitrang lies in the south Bavarian Region Allgäu.It encompasses districts of: Aitrang, Huttenwang, Wenglingen. Further also has responsibility for the outlying villages of Binnings, Goerwangs, Krähberg,...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, due to excess speed and is hit by a railbusRailbusA railbus is a very lightweight type passenger rail vehicle that shares many aspects of their construction with a bus, usually having a bus, or modified bus body, and having four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies...
. 28 die and 42 are injured.
March events
- March 4 - A local train collides with a mini truck at a level crossingLevel crossingA level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
on the Fujikyu line, Fujiyoshida, YamanashiYamanashi Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, killing at least 179 people and injuring 6100.
April events
- April 30 - On the eve of AmtrakAmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's assumption of AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
passenger train operations, Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
and Chicago and North Western RailwayChicago and North Western RailwayThe Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
end the City of Los AngelesCity of Los AngelesThe City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until...
and City of DenverCity of DenverThe City of Denver was a passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western and Union Pacific railroads. The train operated on both railroads' rights of way between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado...
trains, and the United States Post Office DepartmentUnited States Post Office DepartmentThe Post Office Department was the name of the United States Postal Service when it was a Cabinet department. It was headed by the Postmaster General....
cancels all but one of the eight remaining Railway Mail ServiceRailway Mail ServiceThe United States Postal Service's Railway Mail Service was a significant mail transportation service in the US during the time period from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th century. The RMS, or its successor the Postal Transportation Service , carried the vast majority of letters and...
routes; the final route served Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, to New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
May events
- May 1 - AmtrakAmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
begins operations of most intercity passenger train service in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - May 27 - Dahlerau train disasterDahlerau train disasterThe Dahlerau train disaster was a severe railway accident that took place on May 27, 1971 in Dahlerau, a small town belonging to Radevormwald in then-West Germany, in which a freight train and a passenger train crashed into each other. 46 people perished in the accident, of whom 41 were senior year...
: A special train full of schoolchildren collides with a freight train in DahlerauDahlerauDahlerau is a borough of Radevormwald, located in the Oberbergischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the valley of the river Wupper and situated about 7 km by road away from Radevormwald city centre....
, West GermanyWest GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, on the line between WuppertalWuppertalWuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
and RadevormwaldRadevormwaldRadevormwald is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the oldest towns in the Bergischen Land, formerly the County and Duchy of Berg.-Geography:Radevormwald is located about 50 km east of Cologne...
due to a misunderstanding of signals. 46 die and 25 are injured, making this the worst rail accident in West Germany during Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche BundesbahnThe Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
times.
July events
- July 21 - A fast train from BaselBaselBasel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
to CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
derails due to a technical failure in the Class 103DB Class 103The Baureihe 103 is a class of electric locomotives in Germany, originally operated by Deutsche Bundesbahn. For a long period, they were perceived as flagships of the DB rolling stock.- Development :...
engine; 23 die and 121 are injured. - July 30 - Opening of Pfaffenberg-Zwenberg Bridge on Tauern Railway Line in AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the world's longest concrete arch, with a span of 200 m (656.2 ft). - July 31 - The Monon RailroadMonon RailroadThe Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway from 1897–1956, operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana...
is merged into the Louisville and Nashville RailroadLouisville and Nashville RailroadThe Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...
.
September events
- September 10 - British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
PremierPremierPremier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
W.A.C. BennettW.A.C. BennettWilliam Andrew Cecil Bennett, PC, OC was the 25th Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett was and remains the longest-serving premier in British Columbia history. He was usually referred to as W.A.C...
leads the ceremony to open the Pacific Great Eastern Railway's Fort Nelson Subdivision between Fort St. JohnFort St. John, British ColumbiaThe City of Fort St. John is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Peace River Regional District, the city covers an area of about 22 km² with 22,000 residents . Located at Mile 47, it is one of the largest cities along the Alaska Highway. Originally...
and Fort Nelson, British ColumbiaFort Nelson, British ColumbiaFort Nelson is a town of approximately 5000 residents in British Columbia's northeastern corner. It is the administrative centre of the newly formed Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, a first for BC. The majority of Fort Nelson's economic activities have historically been concentrated in the...
. - September - Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche BundesbahnThe Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
introduces Inter-City express trainExpress trainExpress trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
network in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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October events
- October 2 - Preserved ex-Great Western RailwayGreat Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
No. 6000 King George VGWR 6000 Class 6000 King George Vthumb|right|6000 King George V at Swindon having just hauled the last King-hauled train from Wolverhampton and Birmingham Snow Hill . Note the bell which was given to the engine when it toured the U.S...
inaugurates a series of special trains on British RailBritish RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
, the first steam allowed on the main line for several years.
November events
- November - Construction begins on the Tōhoku ShinkansenTohoku ShinkansenThe is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 674 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshu. It has two spur lines, Yamagata...
line in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
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December events
- December 6 - The first Auto TrainAuto TrainAuto Train is an scheduled train service for passengers and their automobiles operated by Amtrak between Lorton, Virginia , and Sanford, Florida . Although there are similar services around the world, the Auto Train is the only one of its kind in the United States...
operates under the control of the Auto-Train CorporationAuto-Train CorporationAuto-Train Corporation was a privately owned railroad which used its own rolling stock, and traveled on rails leased from major railroads along the route of its trains, serving central Florida from points in the Mid-Atlantic region near Washington, DC, and the Mid-West near Louisville, Kentucky,...
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Unknown date events
- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Federal Railroad AdministrationFederal Railroad AdministrationThe Federal Railroad Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation. The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966...
opens High Speed Ground Test Center, Pueblo, ColoradoPueblo, ColoradoPueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
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Unknown date deaths
- W. Graham ClaytorW. Graham ClaytorWilliam Graham Claytor , of Roanoke, Virginia, was the vice president of Appalachian Power Company, an electric utility service....
, president of Southern RailwaySouthern Railway (US)The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
(b. 1886).