February 2007 in rail transport

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This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in February 2007.

Events

February 2

• – Officials with the East Siberian Railway announce the allocation of 3 billion rubles over a three-year period toward the rehabilitation and modernization of the Baikal Amur Mainline, part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The project will include the installation of 17 sidings, several new stations and new equipment for locomotive repair facilities on the line. The project follows a five-fold increase over 2005 figures in passenger ridership over the line in 2006.^[1]

February 3

• – Officials with Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) announce an agreement with Iran's Ministry of Road and Transportation on construction of a new railway near the historic Naqsh-e Rustam site. The original construction plans called for a right-of-way within 500 m of the site; ICHTO ordered that the right-of-way was to be constructed a minimum of one kilometre further away from the site than the original plan. The ICHTO also rejected a plan to build an underground right-of-way beneath the site fearing that such construction would damage the site.^[2]

February 6

• – Transportation officials in Vietnam announce a plan to build and rehabilitate a rail connection between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The US$33 billion plan is anticipated to shorten travel times by rail between the two cities from as much as 40 hours to about 10 hours. Although the railway ministry had planned for a nine-year construction timeline, the Prime Minister asked that the project be completed in six years. The governments of Japan and South Korea both have offered financial assistance in the hopes that companies in their respective countries would be awarded contracts in the project.^[3]

February 7

• – At a meeting in Tbilisi, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sign an agreement authorizing construction of the new Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway linking the three nations. The agreement included authorization of loans between the countries to pay for construction and the transportation ministers of these countries also signed an agreement stating that construction will begin later in 2007. Speaking after the meeting, Saakashvili stated "by 2010 the Georgian railway will turn into a part the European railway system."^[4][5]

February 8

• – In Thorsby, Alabama, a CSX Transportation freight train struck a van at an unguarded level crossing, killing four people and injuring four others. See also: Thorsby, Alabama grade crossing accident.^[6]

February 9

• – About 2,800 train crew employees of Canadian National Railway (CN) wage a strike action against the railway; the striking workers are members of UTU Canada, the Canadian affiliate of the United Transportation Union. Via Rail and GO Transit trains are unaffected by the strike since Via trains and facilities are operated by Via employees and the UTU and GO Transit signed an agreement to keep GO Transit trains running. CN filed a petition with the Canada Industrial Relations Board to declare the strike an illegal action and is running trains during the strike using management personnel in place of striking workers.^[7][8][9]

February 12

• – Transit officials from systems across the country and representatives of the United States Federal Railroad Administration open meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, to discuss standards and strategies to avoid problems in the gap size between trains and railway platforms. The issue has recently gained wider awareness due to the death of a Minnesota tourist after she fell through a wide gap on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in August 2006; she was killed after crawling under the platform when a train hit her as she tried to climb up away from the track on the other side. Although this has been the only reported death related to a platform gap, LIRR announced planned improvements to address the issue for almost 40% of its stations.^[10]

February 13

• – During a test run a TGV train reaches 553 km/h (343.75 mph) under test conditions with a shortened train on the LGV Est near Passavant-en-Argonne (Marne), 190 km east of Paris. This is the world's fastest conventional scheduled train. The test was part of an extensive research programme by Alstom. The previous speed record was set by another TGV on May 18, 1990, at 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).^[11][12]

February 14

• – Residents of Brighton, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, are rallying to preserve a set of manually operated level crossing gates, the last such gates in operation in the Southern Hemisphere. Train operating company Connex Melbourne has proposed to replace the manual gates with fully automatic gates which could increase train efficiency and reduce expenses at the crossing, but residents wish to preserve the manual gates citing safety issues and heritage status for the crossing.^[13][14]

The Grayrigg derailment

February 18

• – The 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings were a terrorist attack that occurred on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs were set off in two carriages, both filled with passengers, just after the train passed Diwana station near the Indian city of Panipat, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of New Delhi. Sixty-eight people were killed in the ensuing fire and dozens more were injured.

February 23

• – Grayrigg derailment: A Virgin Trains services travelling from London Euston to Glasgow Central derails in Cumbria in North-West England. One elderly woman died in hospital as a result of her injuries.

February 26

• – The United States Federal Railroad Administration delivers its decision to deny a US$2.3 billion loan request made by Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DME). The loan was requested as part of DME's plan to build new track and rehabilitate existing track to haul coal from the mines of Wyoming's Powder River Basin. In announcing the decision, Administrator Joseph H. Boardman noted that the project proposal met many federal requirements for the loan but cited concerns that the railroad might not be able to handle cost overruns during construction or to repay such a hefty amount after construction is completed.^[15][16][17]

February 27

• – The Sichuan Bureau of Commerce announces that Chuantie International Technology Corporation of the People's Republic of China has been awarded a contract to build a new railway line from Port Sudan on the Red Sea to the capital city Khartoum, Sudan. The contract, valued over US$1 billion, represents the largest railway construction agreement between the two nations and the largest foreign project attempted by a Sichuan company. The contract was signed earlier in February when China's president Hu Jintao was in Sudan to discuss greater cooperation with African nations.^[18]

February 28

• – Four people are killed, and at least 30 are injured after a strong sandstorm derails a train in China. The derailment occurred after the train left a station in Turfan Prefecture, Xinjiang, bound for Aksu from Ürümqi.^[19][20]

References

1. "Three bln rbls to be allotted for Baikal-Amur railroad modernisation". ITAR-TASS. 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
2. "Railway to Pass with Maximum Distance from Naqsh-e Rostam". Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN). 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
3. Hayton, Bill (2007-02-06). "Vietnam plans new railway link". BBC. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
4. "Saakashvili Speaks of Regional Railway, as Deal Signed". UNA-Georgia. 2007-02-07. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
5. "Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey sign agreement on new railroad". ITAR-TASS. 2007-02-07. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
6. "4 killed, 4 hurt when van hit by train". The Birmingham News. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
7. Marowtis, Ross (2007-02-13). "CN strike likely to continue over weekend". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
8. Pringle, Josh (2007-02-11). "CN Rail Strike Won't Disrupt Service: Officials". CFRA. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
9. "CN strike challenged: Railway files beef with labour board". Winnipeg Sun. 2007-02-11. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
10. "Federal panel to study passenger risks from rail platform gaps". Associated Press (reprinted by Boston Herald). 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
11. "Alstom commits itself to the French very high speed rail programme" (Press release). Alstom. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
12. "French high-speed TGV breaks world conventional rail-speed record". Deutsche Presse-Agentur (reprinted by Monsters and Critics). 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
13. Moynihan, Stephen (2007-02-15). "Collision of views on plan to axe manned crossing". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
14. Hoare, Daniel (2007-02-14). "Residents push to save historic railway gates". ABC. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
15. "FRA Administrator Denies DM&E Powder River Basin Loan Application Citing Unacceptable Risk to Federal Taxpayers" (Press release). United States Federal Railroad Administration. 2007-02-26. Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
16. "FRA Rejects Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad's Loan Application". L.B. Foster. PR Newswire. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
17. "DM&E loan denial's effect is uncertain". Post-Bulletin. 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
18. "Chinese company clinches US$1 billion railway deal in Sudan". Sudanese Media Center. 2007-02-28. Archived from the original on March 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
19. "Sandstorm derails train in China; 4 die". CNN. 2007-02-28. Archived from the original on March 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
20. "Wind blows Chinese train off tracks, 3 dead". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-02-27.