January 2005 in rail transport

January 1

January 1

:* - ÖBB, the national railway of Austria, is reorganized into ÖBB-Holding AG, a holding company to manage subsidiaries ÖBB-Dienstleistungs GmbH, ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG (for passenger train operations) and Rail Cargo Austria AG (for freight train operations).

January 2 – January 8

January 3

:* – Kansas City Southern names Arthur Shoener, formerly a vice president at Union Pacific Railroad, as the new CEO of the holding company's Kansas City Southern Railway and Texas Mexican Railway divisions. 1

January 4

:* – Bombardier receives a contract from SNCF for 350 million Euros to build 100 new regional trainsets.

January 5

:* – A Norfolk Southern train carrying a few carloads of hazardous materials (including chlorine gas) collides with a parked train in Graniteville, South Carolina, causing the Graniteville train disaster. 2

January 7

:* – A passenger train and freight train collide head-on in Crevalcore, in northern Italy (near Bologna), on the single-track mainline between Bologna and Verona. 3

January 9 – January 15

January 12

:* - General Motors announces that it has agreed to sell its Electro-Motive Division to a partnership led by Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. 4

:* - Five cars of a CN freight train derail in Fort St. John, Manitoba (a suburb of Winnipeg), Canada; as one of the cars was carrying propane, the area is evacuated. The tank car remains upright and intact, so local residents are allowed to return fairly quickly. 5

January 16 – January 22

January 17

:* - Two Bangkok Metro trains collide, injuring nearly 200 people. 6, 7

January 18

:* - A station at the Milwaukee Airport opens on Amtrak's Hiawatha service. 8, 9, 10

January 23 – January 29

January 24

:* - Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway introduces a new corporate logo that replaces the railroad's verbose name with BNSF Railway. 11

January 26

:* - In what police initially call a [...] attempt, a Metrolink train in Glendale, California, (a suburb of Los Angeles) hits a car parked on a grade crossing and then derails into another Metrolink train and a parked Union Pacific Railroad locomotive; the Glendale train crash results in 11 fatalities and 200 injuries. 12, 13, 14

January 29

:* - Singapore's third LRT Line, Punggol LRT Line opened.

January 30 – January 31

January 31

:* - Regular Metrolink passenger service is restored through Glendale, California, the scene of the previous week's Glendale train crash. 15

Deaths

• January 23 - John H. Kuehl, editor of Private Varnish magazine, passenger car historian and photographer (b. 1938).

References

• Associated Press (January 17 2005), 200 hurt in Bangkok subway crash. Retrieved January 19 2005.
• BBC News (January 17 2005), Thai subway shut for safety probe. Retrieved January 19 2005.
• BNSF Railway (January 24 2005), BNSF Adopts New Corporate and Subsidiary Logos and Changes Name of Railway Subsidiary as Part of Tenth Anniversary Celebration. Retrieved January 25 2005.
• CBS/AP (January 26 2005), Parked car caused train wreck. Retrieved January 26 2005.
• Edgar, Amy Geier, Associated Press (January 6 2005), Four Die, 200 Injured in S.C. Train Crash. Retrieved January 7 2005.
• General Motors (January 12 2005), GM Agrees To Sell Electro-Motive Division. Retrieved January 12 2005.
• Kansas City Southern Industries (January 3 2005), KCS Names Arthur Shoener EVP and COO of the Company, President & CEO of KCS's U.S. Rail Holdings, The Kansas City Southern Railway Company and Texas Mexican Railway Company; Owen Zidar Named Vice President Marketing. Retrieved January 25 2005.
• (January 2005), KCS says no to merger, for now. Retrieved January 25 2005.
• Kitching, Chris (January 13 2005), CN tankers derail, force evacuations. Retrieved January 25 2005.
• Liu, Caitlin, and Torrejon, Veronica; Los Angeles Times, Train service is fully restored. Retrieved February 1 2005.
• Molloy, Tim; Associated Press (January 26 2005), [...] try triggers California commuter rail tragedy, police say. Retrieved January 26 2005.
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation (January 18 2005), Governor Doyle, Senator Kohl & Amtrak dedicate new passenger rail station at Milwaukee airport. Retrieved February 4 2005.
• Nguyen, Daisy; Associated Press (January 26 2005), 9 killed as suburban L.A. trains derail. Retrieved January 26 2005.
• Paolucci, Gianluca; Reuters (January 7 2005), Italy Train Crash Kills at Least 13, Many Injured. Retrieved January 25 2005.
• Sandler, Larry, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online (January 13 2005), Amtrak on track to open at airport. Retrieved January 19 2005.