June 2007 in rail transport

2006, 2007, 2008

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

[edit] Events

– New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority announces the appointment of Helena Williams to the position of President of Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). Williams succeeds Raymond P. Kenny, the interim President who held the office since James J. Dermody stepped down in September 2006.^[1] Williams's promotion marks the first time this position has been held by a woman.^[2]

Wikinews has related news:

Ten killed in train crash in northern Victoria, Australia

– At least eight people have been confirmed as dead in a level crossing collision near Kerang, Victoria, Australia, after a semi-trailer collided with a Melbourne-bound V/Line express passenger train service from Swan Hill.^[3] See also: Kerang train crash.

– The first section of LGV Est, a high-speed rail line, opens in France. This coincides with improvements to the German rail network to cut travel times from Paris to Eastern France and Germany.

– In a move designed to secure funding for a proposed expansion into Wyoming's Powder River Basin, Cedar American Rail Holdings, Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's (DM&E) parent company, reportedly narrows the list of potential bidders for the railroad in the Midwestern United States. From an initial list of about 30 bidders, about 10 were invited back to discuss the deal further in early June. Reports indicate that of those, the three most likely are Canadian National Railway (CN), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and an undisclosed shortline operator. Both CN and CP have direct rail connections to either DM&E or Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad, which is also owned by Cedar. The bidders are expected to respond by June 16 for further consideration. DM&E's president Kevin Schieffer denies that such reports were issued from his office.^[5]^[6]

– During excavations for road building, some of the original stone sleepers used by the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 are discovered intact near Lingfield Point in northeast England. It is believed that the rediscovered line is one that once hosted Locomotion No. 1, which is currently preserved in static display at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum. The stones each weigh about 75 pounds (34 kg) and have bolt holes for the chairs that secured the rail. Officials involved in the road project hope to preserve the stones along a new bicycle path.^[7]

– At a ceremony in Switzerland, the Lötschberg Base Tunnel is officially opened when a northbound freight train passes through it with Swiss Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger aboard the locomotive. It is estimated that travel times for passengers between the tunnel's endpoints will be cut in half from 110 minutes to 55 minutes. The new tunnel is now the world's longest land tunnel, measuring 34.577 km (21.5 miles) long, but will be surpassed when the nearby Gotthard Base Tunnel, measuring 57 km (36 mi), opens by 2017.^[8]^[9]^[10]

– The Netherlands' Queen Beatrix presides over the opening ceremony for the new freight-only Betuweroute railway connecting Rotterdam 160 kilometers (99 mi) to the German border. It is expected that up to 150 freight trains per day will be using the new line within five years. The first train on the line began its journey on June 18, two days after the opening ceremony.^[11]

– Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow announces support from Iran to build a new railway line connecting Turkmenistan with Iranian Persian Gulf ports. The planned route would also serve as an export route for goods and oil from Kazakhstan, to the north of Turkmenistan. A formal agreement is expected to be signed by Turkmen and Iranian officials later in 2007.^[12]^[13]
– The Severn Valley Railway, a major heritage line in the West Midlands region of England, suffers severe damage when the equivalent of two weeks’ rainfall falls in the valley in half an hour causing landslips in 45 separate locations.^[14]

– The new Southern Cross Station in Melbourne, Australia, has been awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Lubetkin Prize for the most outstanding new building located outside of the European Union, beating 500 other entries including New York City's Hearst Tower and the Des Moines, Iowa, public library. The AUD$700 million station is a "powerful conflation of old and new, people and trains, structure and light", according to the institute.^[15]

– Paris Métro Line 14, the first and only fully driverless line of the entire Paris Metro system, is extended from Bibliothèque François Mitterrand to Olympiades station. The 1.6 km (1 mi) long extension brings the line's total length to 9 kilometers (6 mi).^[16]

– Board of Deutsche Bahn give approval for its Railion subsidiary to take over the British freight operator EWS.^[17]

– The China Railway Construction Corporation and the China Machinery Import and Export Corporation have submitted a feasibility study for building a rail route in Vietnam linking Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Phuoc, to the northwest. The cost of a 128 km (80 mi) line to the Vietnam-Cambodia border is estimated at around US$438 million. It would form part of a 5,500 km (3,418 mi) Trans-Asia railway beginning in Kunming in China's Yunnan province, and eventually extend through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia to Singapore. Construction is scheduled to start in 2010 and it is hoped to complete the entire project in 2015.^{[citation needed]}

– The Athabasca Northern Railway files a notice of abandonment for its 320 km (199 mi) line connecting Boyle to Fort McMurray, Alberta, the only rail line to the oil producing region of northern Alberta. Although freight traffic has increased, maintenance costs on the line have forced the abandonment notice. The line is scheduled to close on December 17.^[18]