November 2009 in rail transport

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This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in November 2009.

Events

November 3

• – Berkshire Hathaway announces plans to acquire the remaining 77.4% of BNSF Railway that it did not already own in a stock purchase valued at US$26 billion. As a condition of the purchase, Berkshire Hathaway would also take on $10 billion in BNSF debts, bringing the full value of the deal to $44 billion. In a written statement discussing the deal, Warren Buffett wrote "It's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States." After discussions between Buffett and BNSF CEO Matt Rose, approval from BNSF's board of directors was reportedly gained within 15 minutes.^[1][2][3][4]

November 4

• – Construction work of the second double track of the Lanxin Railway begins in China. The 1,776-kilometre (1,104 mi) long railway will take 5 years to complete, of which, 795 km (494 mi) is in Gansu, 268 km (167 mi) in Qinghai and 713 km (443 mi) in Xinjiang. 31 stations will be built along the line. The design speed is 200 to 250 km/h (120 to 160 mph). The project costs 143.5 billion yuan.^[5]

November 5

• – Four railway lines opened on the same day in Xinjiang, China: the 286-kilometre (178 mi) long Jinghe-Yining-Horgos Railway, which connects Jinghe, Yining and Khorgas, on the border with Kazakhstan, is the first electrified railway line in Xinjiang; the 381.5 km (237.1 mi) long Second Ürümqi-Jinghe Railway between Ürümqi West and Jinghe; the 468.5 km (291.1 mi) long Kuytun-Beitun Railway between Kuitun and Beitun; and the 264 km (164 mi) long Ürümqi-Dzungaria Railway between Urumqi North and the coal industry base in the eastern Dzungaria Basin.^[6]

November 8

• – Freightliner (UK) takes delivery of first PowerHaul Class 70 diesels from General Electric, the latter's first mainline locomotives for the British market.^[7]

November 9

• – Norway Post starts a direct freight train service from Oslo to Rotterdam.^[8]

November 16

• – The Northstar Commuter Rail line opens to regular service after a weekend of celebrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and at stations heading up to the northern terminus at Big Lake. The weekend also saw the opening of the Hiawatha light rail line's newest station at Target Field.^[9]
• – The section from Stavanger to Sandnes on the Sørland Line opened with double track.^[10]

November 27

• – At least 25 people are killed after an express train derailment on the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway near Bologoye in Russia at 21:34 local time (18:34 UTC), terrorism being investigated as a possible cause.^[11]

November 28

• – Construction work of four railway lines started in China. The four railway lines are: The 140 km (87 mi) long high-speed Xi'an-Baoji Passenger Line, the 242 km (150 mi) long second track of Xikang Railway, the second track of the 952 km (592 mi) long Xi'an-Hefei section of the Ningxi Railway and the 205 km (127 mi) long Huanghanhou Railway. The investment of these four railways is 47.4 billion yuan.^[12]

November 29

• – A collision between two out-of-service Washington Metro trains caused $9 million in damages and injured three workers.

November 30

• – Construction work of the Qingdao Metro begins in China. The first phase will be 24.9 kilometres (15.5 mi) long with 22 stations on the line. The investment is 15.8 billion yuan. The metro line is expected to be opened in 2014.^[13]
• – Network Rail opens Workington North railway station, a temporary railway station in Cumbria, England, constructed in six days following the November 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods to improve access to Workington town centre from north of the River Derwent with services provided by Northern Rail and Direct Rail Services.^[14]

References

1. "Berkshire Bets on U.S. with a Railroad Purchase". New York Times. November 3, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
2. Greg Morcroft and Alistair Barr (November 3, 2009). "Berkshire Hathaway to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe". MarketWatch. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
3. Andrew Frye (November 3, 2009). "Berkshire Buys Burlington in Buffett's Biggest Deal". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
4. "Warren Buffett: Buying Near the Bottom … Again". Wall Street Journal. November 3, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
5. 兰新铁路第二双线今日在乌鲁木齐开工 (in Chinese). November 4, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
6. 新疆精伊霍、乌精二线、奎北、乌准4条铁路新线开通运营 (in Chinese). November 6, 2009.
7. "PowerHaul arrival brings GE into European loco market". Railway Gazette International. November 9, 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
8. "Nytt direktetog Oslo – Rotterdam" (in Norwegian). Norwegian National Rail Administration. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
9. Hult, Karla (November 15, 2009). "Northstar Commuter Rail service officially begins Monday". kare11 News. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
10. "Første heilskaplege bane sidan Gardermobanen" (in Norwegian). Norwegian National Rail Administration. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
11. "Scores killed or hurt in Russia train crash". London: BBC. November 28, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
12. 西宝客运专线等陕西铁路四大重点工程同时开工. CNWest (in Chinese). November 28, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
13. 山东第一个地铁建设项目青岛地铁工程奠基 (in Chinese). November 30, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
14. "Workington gets new rail station after Cumbria flood". BBC News Online. November 30, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2009.