1975 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1975.

Years in rail transport

1974 in rail transport 1975 in rail transport 1976 in rail transport

Events

February events

• February 22 – Tretten train disaster: A head-on collision near Tretten station in Norway kills 27.
• February 28 – Moorgate tube crash on the London Underground: A train accelerates into a dead-end tunnel at Moorgate station killing 43.[1]

March events

• March 10 – Sanyo Shinkansen opens between Osaka and Fukuoka. Travel time between the two cities is reduced to 2 hours 30 minutes, and from Fukuoka to Tokyo to 5 hours.
• March 10 – Kosei Line, between Yamashina of Kyoto and Tsuruga route open, with Osaka-Kanazawa, Niigata route express train, through changed from via Hikone, Nagahama route.

April events

• April 1 – The second American Freedom Train tour begins, powered by newly restored Southern Pacific 4449, in Wilmington, Delaware. See also American Freedom Train - 1975-76 station stops.
• April 16 – In Portugal, Decree-Law 205-B/175 is published, nationalising the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses.[2]

June events

• June 6 – An overnight northbound passenger train from London, England, bound for Glasgow, Scotland, does not receive warning of a temporary speed restriction resulting in the Nuneaton rail crash.
• June 8 – Two trains collide on a single-track stretch between Lenggries and Munich due to a dispatcher's error. Forty-one die and 122 are injured.

July events

• July 1 – Australian National Railways Commission takes over assets of Commonwealth Railways.
• July 18 – Barcelona Sants railway station opens.
• July 19 – Hatton Cross tube station opens, the first stage of the extension of London Underground's Piccadilly line to London Heathrow Airport.[3]

August events

• August 5 – The first Amfleet passenger cars enter service on the Northeast Corridor.[4] They are Amtrak's first new intercity passenger cars and the Budd Company's last.
• August 10 – British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train achieves 245 km/h (152.3 mph) between Goring and Uffington on the Western Region.

September events

• September 24 – Scottish-built ex-État 140C 287 on hire to CFTA works a train from its depot at Gray, Haute-Saône, to Sainte-Colombe, the last commercial steam-hauled working on French railways.
• September 27 – Official opening of the National Railway Museum in York, England.

October events

• October 19 – US-built SNCF Class 141R 1187 of Vénissieux depot works a special return working between Lyon and Veynes, the last steam-hauled passenger train operated by SNCF.

November events

• November – English-built SNCF Class 140C 38 works a freight train between its depot at Gray and Chalindrey, the last steam-hauled train operated by SNCF.[5]

December events

• December 2 – A train hijacking takes place at the village of Wijster in the Netherlands by activists wanting to endorse the self-proclaimed Republic of South Maluku in the Maluku Islands. Hostages Hans Braam, Leo Bulter and Bert Bierling are shot. The activists surrender on December 14.
• December 14 – Japanese National Railways runs its last official steam-hauled passenger train, from Muroran to Iwamizawa on Hokkaido with JNR Class C57-135.[6]

Unknown date events

• The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad files its third and final bankruptcy.
• Last steam locomotive operated by State Railways of Finland.
• As a result of the Independent Safety Board Act's passage the previous year, the United States National Transportation Safety Board becomes a completely independent agency, severing all organizational ties to the national Department of Transportation and all of its modal agencies.[7]

Accidents

References

1. Left, Sarah (January 15, 2002). "Key dates in Britain's railway history". The Guardian Unlimited.
2. "CP Timeline". Retrieved November 22, 2009.
3. Green, Oliver (1988). The London Underground – An Illustrated History. Ian Allan. p. 62. ISBN 0-7110-1720-4.
4. Amtrak. "Digging into the Archives: Introducing Amfleet". Retrieved June 8, 2014.
5. "140 C 38 Steams Again After 38 Years". The SNCF Society News. September 2013. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
6. "The Final Passenger Steam Train". The Last days of Japanese Steam Engines. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
7. National Transportation Safety Board (March 15, 2005). "New NTSB publication examines 30-year history of transportation safety improvements". Archived from the original on May 10, 2005. Retrieved May 15, 2005.