March 2008 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in March 2008.

Events

March 4

• – British Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly issues a warning during a statement in the House of Commons to First Great Western that the company could be in danger of losing it train operating franchise if services do not improve soon. Despite First Great Western statements of improvement investments valued at £29 million, Ms. Kelly cited surveys from Autumn 2007 showing the highest passenger dissatisfaction levels noted. First Great Western and the government have agreed upon a set of improvements including new rolling stock, a greater number of inexpensive passenger tickets and increasing the compensation for disrupted services.^[1]

March 6

• – A grass fire that is believed to be the result of arson spreads to the Bowes Railway; built in 1826 by George Stephenson near Gateshead in northern England, it is the world's only preserved operational standard gauge cable railway. The fire destroyed several railway wagons, including the only preserved examples of wagons built at Watts Yard. Fire crews were able to put out the fire, preventing damage to about 70 other wagons. While the area damaged by the fire was closed for investigation, the rest of the heritage railway opened to the public for its regular schedule.^[2][3]
• – The State Program for Development of Azerbaijan Railway's chief engineer Gurban Nazirov announces details of planned improvements to the railway system in Azerbaijan. Fifty new trains valued just over AZN1.25 billion will be purchased between 2008 and 2011, and 240 kilometres (150 mi) of the Baku-Boyuk Kasik railway which forms a connection to Georgia will be rebuilt, allowing regular train speeds up to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).^[4]
• – Government officials in Maine are considering a forced takeover of rail service within the state due to perceived poor service from the current railroad operator, Pan Am Railways. Legislators are investigating whether they can use existing federal statutes to force the railway to sell its properties within the state to the state government, at which time the state would find another operator to assume service.^[5]

March 10

• – In an effort to address complaints of potential property value losses along the line, Canadian National Railway (CN) pledges as much as $40 million to build overpasses on the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad (EJ&E) mainline through suburban Chicago. The statement made by CN president E. Hunter Harrison also included a pledge to cap the costs that Amtrak would have to pay in order to use the line on services between Chicago and points south. Critics of CN's plans to purchase EJ&E, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, contend that these mitigation efforts would still be insufficient.^[6]

March 11

• – A delegation of Russian engineers travels to Pyongyang, North Korea, to discuss the reestablishment of cross-border rail connections between the two nations via the 55 km (34 mi) Khasan-Rajin railway. Among the issues expected to be discussed are a schedule for reconstruction of the line connecting its namesake cities.^[7]

March 13

• – RITES, of India, signs a memorandum of understanding with TransNamib holdings to upgrade the Namibian railway infrastructure. The upgrades will include GPS-based train dispatching and control systems as well as upgrades to TransNamib's locomotive fleet and new 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge rolling stock. The new systems and equipment are hoped to bolster the plans for a new line connecting Tsumeb to the Angolan border at Oshikango.^[8]

March 15

• – The first (southern) leg of the Osaka Higashi Line opens in Osaka, Japan. Operated by the West Japan Railway Company, the new suburban line runs from Hanaten to Kyūhōji. The northern section to Shin-Osaka, delayed by land purchase negotiations, is expected to finish in 2011.^[9]

March 16

• – John Shedd Reed, who served as president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between 1967 and 1986, passes away of natural causes at his home in Lake Forest, Illinois. For his contributions to the rail transport industry in North America, Modern Railways magazine named him its Railroader of the Year for 1970. Reed also served as president of Shedd Aquarium, which was founded by his grandfather, John G. Shedd.^[10][11]
• – A fire, believed to be started by a lightning strike, destroys the museum and gift shop building of the Tweetsie Railroad in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The building was an original depot moved from Boone to the site in 1957 when the park opened. The building housed numerous photos and memorabilia relating to the history of the park as well as items from the late Fred Kirby who portrayed the sheriff of Tweetsie Railroad.^[12][13]

March 19

• – Officials with Falcon Resource Holdings in Namibia announce plans to construct a trans-Kalahari electrified railway to be operational by the end of 2009. In order to supply enough electricity to the railway, a new power plant will be built exclusively for railway power. The new 1,600 km (990 mi) line is projected to extend from Morepule Colliery in Botswana across Namibia, connecting to other coal mines in the country, to Shearwater Bay south of Lüderitz. The planned railway would be the longest heavy-haul electrified railway in Africa.^[14]
• – Canadian National Railway (CN) is scheduled to appear in court on federal charges related to the derailment on August 3, 2005, and subsequent hazardous materials release at Wabamun Lake west of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada allege CN deposited material in the water that was harmful to migratory birds and that the deposit was also harmful to fish and that it destroyed the fish habitats.^[15]

March 20

• – Following mediation efforts by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads Transportation, railway workers in Accra, Ghana, agree to return to work after a two-month-long strike. Railway workers in Takoradi, however could not come to an agreement and remain on strike. The striking workers cited unpaid wages and poor working conditions as their reasons for the strike; among the strikers' demands were a 150% wage increase and the resignation of Rufus Quaye, Ghana Railway's Managing Director.^[16]
• – Officials in North Korea announce that an agreement has been reached following meetings earlier in March to refurbish the Khasan-Rajin railway linking Korea with Russia. The project, budgeted at 1.7 billion rubles ($71.4 million) includes regauging tracks to remove a break of gauge at the border as well as rebuilding tunnels and bridges along the line and installing a new signalling system. Most of the budget will be supplied by Russia with some additional investment from South Korea.^[17]

March 24

• – Jordanian Transport Minister Alaa Batayneh announces the cancellation of a construction contract for a light rail line connecting Amman to Zarqa. The contract, valued at $216 million and originally signed in May 2007, specified that construction was to begin in June 2008 and completed by the end of summer 2010. In the announcement, Batayneh stated that papers filed by the construction consortium in March describing the consortium's financial details "included a number of issues that violate the reference conditions and the agreement for the construction and operation of the project at the agreed time" as the primary reason for the cancellation.^[18]

March 27

• – Citing cost overruns up to €1.6 billion, German Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee announces the cancellation of a project to build a commercial Transrapid line in Munich. It is unclear which, if any, of the companies involved in the construction contracts is at fault for the overruns. The overrun would have nearly doubled the original cost of the project.^[19][20][21]

March 31

• – Representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance meet with Japan Bank for International Cooperation in Tokyo to sign an agreement on financing for the Giap Bat-Gia Lam Elevated Railway. About two thirds of the 15.26 km (9.48 mi) railway is planned to use an elevated right-of-way, which would become the first elevated railway in Vietnam. Groundbreaking for construction is expected in April with completion scheduled by 2017; it is planned that the line will eventually be extended to 25 km (16 mi), connecting Ngoc Hoi to Yen Vien through Hanoi.^[22]
• – The Greenbrier Companies announces the acquisition of American Allied Railway Equipment Company in a transaction valued at $83 million in cash plus capital adjustments. American Allied, was a manufacturer of railroad wheels with plants in Washington, Illinois, and Macon, Georgia, and also a reconditioner of railroad car parts in Peoria, Illinois; the transaction brings the number of refurbishment and parts manufacturing plants under Greenbrier's control to 38.^[23][24]

References