2015 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2015.

Events

January

• January 2 – Reopening of Sri Lanka's Northern Line all the way to its terminus at Kankesanthurai.[1]
• January 6 – Groundbreaking of the California High-Speed Rail system, indicating sustained construction activity.[2]

February

• February 3 – The Valhalla train crash, in which a train on Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line strikes a vehicle at a level crossing in Valhalla, New York, killing six people and injuring 15.[3][4]
• February 8 – Opening of the South West Rail Link in Sydney.[5]
• February 14 – Rebuilt Benguela railway reopened throughout.[6]
• February 24
  • – A Metrolink train on the Ventura County Line strikes a pickup truck at a level crossing in Oxnard, California, injuring 30.[7]
  • – The first successful 16,156-mile round trip is completed on the world's longest railway line, the Yixin'ou cargo line, which connects Yiwu, China to Madrid, Spain.[8]

March

• March 1 – Virgin Trains East Coast takes over InterCity East Coast franchise from East Coast[9]
• March 7 – The Cathedrals Express return charter train from Bristol Temple Meads to Southend East, operated by West Coast Railways, overruns a signal passed at danger at Wootton Bassett Junction on the Great Western Main Line where it has a near miss with a First Great Western service from Swansea to London Paddington.[10]
• March 14
  • – The Hokuriku Shinkansen high-speed route opens from Nagano to Kanazawa, with the corresponding withdrawal of the 160 km/h express service on the Hokuhoku Line.[11]
  • – The Ueno–Tokyo Line route opens between Ueno and Tokyo Station.[12]
• March 21 – 2015 Uttar Pradesh train accident: The Indian Railways Janata Express heading towards Varanasi overshoots a signal and derails near Bachhrawan in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, resulting in at least fifty-eight deaths and 150 injuries.
• March 28 – Line 9 of the Seoul Metro is extended from Sinnonhyeon to Sports Complex.[13]

April

• April 1 – Abellio ScotRail takes over the ScotRail franchise from First ScotRail, while the Caledonian Sleeper service is taken over by Serco[14][15]
• April 3 – Network Rail suspends West Coast Railways' train operating license following the SPAD incident at Wootton Bassett Junction on March 7.[10]
• April 5 – Reopening of Tri-Rail's Miami Intermodal Center in Miami.[16]

June

• June 2 – Opening of BRT Sunway Line operated by RapidKL in Subang Jaya.^[citation needed]
• June 6 – Opening of the Union Pearson Express, an airport rail link in Toronto.[17]
• June 27 – SNCF TGV La Poste commits the last ride, making all high-speed freight services ended after more than 30 years operating.^[citation needed]

July

• July 1 – Opening of the Ring Rail Line in Vantaa, Finland.[18]

August

• August 22 – Phoenix Valley Metro Rail extends from Sycamore/Main Street to Mesa Drive/Main Street via the Central Mesa Extension.[19]

September

• September 6 – Opening of the Borders Railway along the old Waverley Route.[20]
• September 11 – Opening of KTM Komuter Northern Sector in Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Northern Perak.[21]
• September 12 – Opening of the MAX Orange Line in Portland, Oregon, United States.[22]
• September 13 – New York City Subway 34th Street–Hudson Yards opens to public, after a series of delays.^[citation needed]
• September 17 – Opening of the Ashkelon–Beersheba railway.^[citation needed]
• September 20 – Opening of one line of the Addis Ababa Light Rail in capital-city of Ethiopia: the first light-rail system to be built in sub-saharan Africa.[23][24]
• September 26 – Ningbo Rail Transit Line 2 opens connecting Lishe International Airport Station to Qingshuipu Station.^[citation needed]

October

• October 16 – Completion of the first phase of Rail Baltica connecting Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas and Warsaw.[25]
• October 31 - The Sri Petaling Line LRT expands from Sri Petaling to Kinrara, the line's first expansion since 1998.

November

• November 14 – Eckwersheim derailment: A TGV train derails in Alsace while performing commissioning trials on a section of the LGV Est high-speed rail line killing 11.[26][27]
• November 17 – Aab-e-Gum derailment: The Jaffar Express passenger train traveling from Quetta to Rawalpindi, Pakistan, derails killing 20 and injuring almost a hundred others.[28][29][30]

December

• December 11 – The first phase of the Nanning–Kunming High-Speed Railway, connecting Nanning to Baise, China, opens.[31]
• December 13 – Apperley Bridge railway station reopens, fifty years after the original station was closed.[32]
• December 27 – Downtown MRT line Stage 2 opens.[33]
• December 30 – Construction begins on the Ningbo Rail Transit Line 3 (Yinfeng Line) in China.[34]

Unknown date

• – Conclusion of joint project between Turkey, Iran and Pakistan to build 5,000 km freight link.[35] Break-of-gauge arrangements to be confirmed.

References

1. "Jaffna-KKS railway track roars again". Daily FT. January 3, 2015. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015.
2. "High-Speed Rail Authority Hosts Official Groundbreaking Ceremony" (PDF). hsr.ca.gov (Press release). CHSRA. January 6, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2015.
3. Trott, Bill; Heavey, Susan (4 February 2015). "Cuomo says death toll in commuter train accident revised to six". Reuters. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
4. Santora, Marc; Flegenheimer, Matt (February 4, 2015). "Investigation Underway in Metro-North Train Crash". New York Times. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
5. "South West Rail Link". Transport for NSW. New South Wales Government. 2012-11-13. Archived from the original on 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
6. "Three presidents inaugurate rebuilt Benguela Railway". Railway Gazette International. February 16, 2015.
7. KABC-TV (February 24, 2015). "Photos: Metrolink Commuter Train Derails in Oxnard". ABC News.
8. Dawber, Alistair (February 24, 2015). "China to Spain cargo train: Successful first 16,156-mile round trip on world's longest railway brings promise of increased trade". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01.
9. Stagecoach/Virgin bid wins East Coast franchise The Railway Magazine issue 1366 January 2015 page 6
10. "West Coast Railways track access suspended". Rail. April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
11. "Hokuriku Shinkansen Line opens for service, linking Tokyo and Kanazawa". The Japan Times. Kyodo. March 14, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
12. "Cross-Tokyo link inaugurated". Railway Gazette International. March 16, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
13. Kwak, Chang-ryeol (2015-03-28). "지하철9호선 2구간 개통… 김포공항~종합운동장 38분". 조선일보 (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
14. Abellio awarded ScotRail franchise Railway Gazette International 8 October 2014
15. Serco awarded contract to run the famous Caledonian Sleeper railway line The Independent 28 May 2014
16. "New Tri-Rail Miami International Airport Station Opens April 5". tri-rail.com. SFRTA. April 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015.
17. "Union Pearson Express to Launch June 6". news.ontario.ca. Government of Ontario. April 22, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
18. "Ring Rail Line opening day festivities on Wednesday 1 July". hsl.fi. HSL. June 26, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
19. Mitchell, Garrett (August 22, 2015). "Mesa light rail expansion debuts to thousands of riders". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
20. Clinnick, Richard (16–29 September 2015). "The long wait is finally over as £296m Borders Railway opens". Rail. No. 783. pp. 6–7.
21. "Northern folks to enjoy new mode of transportation". The Star. 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
22. Njus, Elliot (September 12, 2015). "The wait's over: TriMet's Orange Line, Tilikum Crossing up and running". The Oregonian. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
23. "Sub-Saharan Africa gets its first metro". The Economist. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
24. "Ethiopia: Addis Light Rail Eases Transportation Problem". AllAfrica. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
25. "Latvia to Begin Constructing Rail Baltica". RZD-Partner Portal. 18 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
26. "French TGV high-speed train derails near Strasbourg". BBC News. 2015-11-14. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
27. Bach, Christian; Poivret, Aurélien (2015-11-14). "Accident de la rame d'essai de TGV: 10 morts, douze blessés dans un état grave, cinq personnes recherchées, numéro vert mis en place". Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace.
28. AFP; Syed Ali Shah (November 18, 2015). "Death toll from Jaffar Express accident climbs to 19". Dawn. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
29. "Two killed as train derails in Pakistan". Daiji World. November 17, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
30. "20 die as train derails in Pakistan". New Kerala. November 17, 2015. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
31. "南昆客专南百段开通 南宁-百色动车二等票82.5元" [Nankun Passenger Train South Section opened Nanning-Baise EMU second-class ticket 82.5 yuan]. gxnews.com.cn (in Chinese). Guangxi News Network. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017.
32. "Apperley Bridge's new railway station opens". BBC News. December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
33. hermesauto (2015-12-27). "Downtown Line 2 draws crowds and curious commuters on opening day". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
34. "宁波-奉化城际铁路开工 对接轨道交通3号线" [Ningbo–Fenghua Intercity Railway begins construction and is scheduled to open in June 2019] (in Chinese). CNNB. December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
35. "Pakistan and Turkey Agree to Build Freight Rail Link". Railway-technology.com. 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2010-07-11.