Events

January events

• January 17 - Groundbreaking ceremonies are held for the Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

February events

• February 28 - A rail accident in Selby, North Yorkshire, England, leaves 13 dead and 75 injured.

March events

• March 21 - A General Motors Electro-Motive Division class 66 becomes the first American-built diesel locomotive to cross the Germany-Switzerland border as it leads a container train from Cologne to Mutenz .

April events

• April 1 - Elipsos , a joint venture of SNCF (France) and RENFE (Spain), is created to handle the logistics of night trains between the two systems.
• April 3 - The European Union approves Bombardier's acquisition of Adtranz.

May events

• May 26 - SNCF sets a new speed record in France when TGV train number 531 travels the 1067.2 km (663.1 miles) between Calais and Marseilles in 3 hours and 29 minutes at an average speed of 317.46 km/h (197.26 mph).

June events

• June 7 - SNCF opens a station in Avignon, France, on the Meditrranean TGV line.

October events

• October - Cuban National Railways purchases its first six-axle GE diesel locomotives (mostly GE C30-7 models) secondhand from Mexican railroads.
• October 7 - Railtrack, in England, is placed under legal administration by Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport, effectively renationalizing the system.
• October 9 - Canadian National Railway (CN) purchases Wisconsin Central for $1.2 billion, giving CN a direct rail link to Chicago, Illinois.
• October 31 - A broken rail on the SNCF in France derails a TGV train travelling at 130 km/h (80.8 mph), but only six minor injuries result.

November events

• November 15 - Two Canadian National Railway trains collide head-on in Andersonville, Michigan (northwest of Detroit).
• November 19 - The Surface Transportation Board releases the final Environmental Impact Statement on Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's plan to expand into Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

December events

• December 11 - Seven members of the CCFE (Communauté des chemins de fer européens ) leave to form EIM (European Infrastructure Managers ).
• December 17 - MARC extends passenger service to Frederick, Maryland.
• December 23 - An incorrect brake application on a CSX local train that had stopped to perform switching at Kodak Park (Charlotte, New York) causes the train to run away and derail five miles later, destroying homes and businesses in the area.

Unknown date events

• The boiler tubes in Union Pacific 844 , one of two steam locomotives operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in excursion service, fail; the locomotive is removed from active service until repairs can be made.

Deaths

January deaths

• January 30 - O. Winston Link, American photographer who documented the end of steam locomotive use on the Norfolk and Western Railway in the 1950s (b. 1914).

References

• Some of the events listed here were translated from 2001 dans les chemins de fer, the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article.
• (May 2002), CSX recognizes human error, Trains Magazine, p. 22.
• (May 2002), Familiar faces in unfamiliar places, Trains Magazine, p. 26.
• (February 2002), Fatigue, or human error? Trains Magazine, p. 24.
• General Motors Electro-Motive Division (March 21 2001), First GM CLASS 66 Locomotive Crosses German-Swiss Border. Retrieved April 13 2005.
• (February 2002), MARC adds line; tower fixed up, Trains Magazine, p. 24.
• O. Winston Link Museum, O. Winston Link Biography. Retrieved February 4 2005.