2013 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2013.

Events

January

• 18 January – Brand new V250-high speed EMU's taken out of Fyra-service definitely due to poor quality.^{[citation needed]}
• 28 January – New Orleans Regional Transit Authority Loyola Avenue Streetcar Line opened.^[1]

February

• 10 February – opening of Milan Metro Line 5.^{[citation needed]}
• 11 February – Manchester Metrolink light rail system East Manchester Line opened to Droylsden.^[2]
• 24 February – The platforms at Togoshi-kōen Station, on the Tokyu Oimachi Line in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan, are extended from three car lengths to five.^[3]

March

• 16 March – Shibuya Station of the Tokyu Toyoko Line move to an underground station from ground station, with direct commuter express trains beginning at Motomachi-Chūkagai of Yokohama heading to Hanno of the Seibu Ikebukuro Line or Kawagoeshi of the Tobu Tojo Line, via the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line.^[4] Tokyu Toyoko Line ends serving Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line trains. However, Hibiya Line trains are still able to run more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) for one trip during through-train services.^[5]
• 23 March – Paris Métro Line 4 is extended from Porte d'Orléans to Mairie de Montrouge.^[6]

April

• 14 April – Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Green Line extends service west from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake City International Airport.^[7]
• 26 April
  • – The Yongin Everline driverless metro opens for service in southern Seoul.^[8]
  • – RTD's W-Line light rail corridor extends service west from Denver Union Station to Golden. This is the first FasTracks corridor to be completed.^[9]

May

• 10 May – Norfolk Southern announces the appointment of James A. Squires to become the railroad's new president effective 1 June.^[10]
• 26 May – National Express' Essex Thameside franchise, c2c expires; extended through 2014.^{[citation needed]}
• 27 May – CapeFLYER summer weekend service from Boston, Massachusetts to Cape Cod begun.^[11]

July

• 1 July – Opening of Hangzhou–Ningbo High-Speed Railway and Nanjing–Hangzhou Passenger Railway.^[12]
• 6 July – Lac-Mégantic derailment: 47 people are killed in explosions and fire after an unattended train carrying Bakken formation crude oil runs away and derails in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. It becomes the deadliest rail accident in Canadian history since 1864.^{[citation needed]}
• 24 July – Santiago de Compostela derailment: 79 people are killed when an Alvia train derails at excessive speed on a curve in Galicia (Spain).^{[citation needed]}

August

• 18 August – Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Blue Line extends service further south from Sandy to Draper.^[13]

September

• 15 September – Xi'an Metro Line 1 opened.^[14]
• 26 September – Harbin Metro Line 1 opened.

October

• 15 October – The Kyushu Railway Company (Japan Railways Group) launches the 'Seven Stars in Kyushu' luxury sleeping car excursion train from Hakata Station with dedicated diesel locomotive haulage.^[15]
• 29 October – Completion of Marmaray suburban rail project in Istanbul with official opening of its Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosphorus, the first standard gauge rail connection between Europe and Asia.^[16]

November

• 3 November – Standseilbahn Linth-Limmern funicular opens.^[17]

December

• 8 December – Utah Transit Authority's S Line (formerly known as Sugar House Streetcar) opens with service from South Salt Lake to the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City.^[18]
• 22 December – Downtown MRT line Phase 1 scheduled to open.^{[citation needed]}
• 28 December – Opening of high speed Xiamen–Shenzhen Railway in southern China, fully completing the Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen High-Speed Railway.^[19]
• 28 December – Wuhan Metro Line 4 and Suzhou Metro Line 2, including Zhengzhou Metro has been opened.^{[citation needed]}
• 29 December – Shanghai Metro Lines 12 and 16 opened.^{[citation needed]}

Deaths

• 28 May – Isabel Benham, American railroad financial expert, dies (b. 1909).
• 23 August – Richard J. Corman, founder and owner of R.J. Corman Railroad Group, dies (b. 1955).

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2013 Blue Ribbon Award: Tokyo Metro 1000 series EMU^[20]