2016 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2016.

Events

January

•   January 22–24 – In anticipation of heavy snowfall and preparation for the effects of winter storm Jonas, WMATA shuts down all services for the weekend. Metrorail services are suspended completely for two days and restored to normal service in phases up until January 29. During the shutdown, trains are stored in the system's subway tunnels to shelter them from the storm.^[1][2]
•   January 23 – The First Hill Streetcar line opens in Seattle.^[3]
•   January 31 – Baixada Santista Light Rail operations begin.^[4]

February

•   February 9 – Bad Aibling rail accident: Two Meridian trains are in a head-on collision at Bad Aibling in southeastern Germany, leaving 12 people dead and 85 injured, due to a train dispatcher's errors.^[5]
•   February 27 – The DC Streetcar opens in Washington, D.C., after several years of delays.^[6]

March

•   March 5 – The Gold Line Foothill Extension in Los Angeles County, California opens, extending the Metro Rail light rail system by 11.5 miles (18.5 km) to Azusa, California.^[7]
•   March 16 – The entire Washington Metro system, the second-largest subway system in the United States, is shut down on a weekday for 24 hours during emergency inspections of jumper cables in tunnels. The shutdown follows an electrical fire caused by a jumper cable two days prior.^[8]
•   March 19
  • The first phase of Valley Metro Rail's Northwest Extension in Phoenix, Arizona opens.^[9]
  • Sound Transit opens a Link light rail extension in Seattle, Washington to the University of Washington campus.^[10]
•   March 22 – 2016 Brussels bombings: 21 are killed by a terrorist suicide bomb in a subway car at Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station.
•   March 26 – The first segment of the Hokkaido Shinkansen opens, bringing high-speed rail service to Hokkaido,^[11] following the final run of an overnight locomotive-hauled train in Japan.

April

•   April 1 – Arriva Rail North takes over the Northern franchise in England from Northern Rail.
•   April 5 – Indian Railways (Northern Railway zone) inaugurates the semi-high-speed luxury Gatimaan Express between Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station and Agra Cantonment.^[12]
•   April 9 – Rail transport in Cambodia: Passenger services between Phnom Penh and the southern city of Sihanoukville resume after a 14-year suspension.
•   April 22 – The A Line in Denver, Colorado, an electrified commuter rail link between Union Station and Denver International Airport owned by RTD, begins service.^[13]

May

•   May 20 – The second phase of the Expo Line light rail in Los Angeles, California opens, extending the line to Santa Monica.^[14]

June

•   June 1 – Opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest rail tunnel.^[15]
•   June 4 – Beginning of "SafeTrack" program by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, to conduct emergency maintenance on the aging Washington Metro system, with expected single-tracking and shutdowns scheduled to last until March 2017.^[16]
•   June 6 – Opening of the Perris Valley extension of the 91/Perris Valley Line, a commuter rail line operated by Metrolink in Southern California, from Riverside to Perris.^[17][18]
•   June 19 – JR Kyushu phases out the 485 series.^[19]
•   June 19 – Opening of Kirkstall Forge railway station in England, close to the site of the earlier station with the same name (1860–1905).^[20]
•   June – The last locomotives are removed from the strategic steam reserve in Sweden in working order.^[21]
•   June 30 – Full opening of LRT Ampang Line and Kelana Jaya Line extension line operated by RapidKL.

July

•   July 1 – Taiwan High Speed Rail Nangang Station opens.
•   July 3 – Phase 2 of LGV Est, including the Saverne Tunnel, opens, extending the line from Baudrecort to Vendenheim near Strasbourg.^[22][23]
•   July 12 – Andria-Corato train collision: at least 23 people are killed and 50 injured by the head-on collision of two passenger trains on a single-track railroad in the Apulia region of Italy.^[24]
•   July 25 – Opening of the B Line commuter rail system in Denver, Colorado.^[25]
•    July 26 – The Chinese-built Kaduna–Abuja section of the high-speed Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway starts operation.^[26]

September

•   September 9 – Cincinnati Bell Connector opens to the public with a free-ride weekend after years of planning and building, bringing streetcar service back to Cincinnati for the first time since the 1950s.
•   September 10 In Moscow opened movement on Moscow Central Circle
•   September 24 – Angle Lake station near Seattle, Washington opens, extending Link light rail service past SeaTac Airport.^[27]
•   September 30 – The Wachusett station near Boston, Massachusetts, begins limited service, with full service beginning in November. The new station extends the MBTA Commuter Rail system by 4.5 miles (7.2 km).^[28][29]

October

•   October 23 – Kwun Tong line extension opens.
•   October 24 – Opening of the South Oak Cliff extension of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Blue Line to University of North Texas at Dallas.^[30]

November

•   November 8 – Major mass transit expansions are approved by voters in U.S. cities, including Los Angeles (Measure M),^[31] Seattle (Sound Transit 3),^[32] and Atlanta.^[33]
•   November 20 – Pukhrayan train derailment: Indian Railways' Indore–Patna Express derails at Pukhrayan near Kanpur with at least 146 fatalities.^[34]
•   November 28 – The double-track high-speed section from Larvik to Porsgrunn on the Vestfold Line, including the Holmestrandsporten, opens for service.^[35]

December

•   December 2 – The Evergreen Extension of the Vancouver Skytrain opens, extending the Millennium Line 10.9 kilometres (6.8 mi) to Coquitlam.
•   December 11 – Reopening of Łódź Fabryczna station after 5 years of reconstruction.^[36]
•   December 16 – Opening of MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line Phase 1 connecting Sungai Buloh to Semantan.^[37]
•   December 28 – The South Island line of Hong Kong's MTR metro system opens, connecting Admiralty station to the Southern District.

References

1. Halsey, Ashley III; Duggan, Paul (January 21, 2016). "D.C. region braces for epic blizzard; Metro to shut down subway, bus lines". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
2. Lazo, Luz (January 28, 2016). "Metro says all its bus routes are up and running Thursday". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
3. Lindblom, Mike (January 22, 2016). "Seattle's First Hill Streetcar to open Saturday with free rides". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
4. "VLT terá 13 pontos de venda de cartões de embarque na Baixada Santista a partir de 31/01" (in Portuguese). Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos. January 29, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
5. Smale, Alison (April 13, 2016). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 16, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
6. Laris, Michael (February 27, 2016). "D.C. streetcar makes its first voyages on H Street. 'Is it really happening?'". The Washington Post. D.C. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
7. Nelson, Laura J. (March 5, 2016). "Metro Gold Line extension tests San Gabriel Valley's support for transit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
8. Halsey III, Ashley; Laris, Michael; Shaver, Katherine (March 16, 2016). "Metro resumes rail service early Thursday". The Washington Post.
9. Goth, Brenna (December 10, 2015). "Northwest Phoenix light-rail extension to open in March". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
10. Beekman, Daniel (March 19, 2016). "Capitol Hill, UW light-rail stations open to big crowds". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
11. "Hokkaido Shinkansen Line opens, cutting Tokyo-Hakodate travel time by 53 minutes". The Japan Times. March 26, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
12. "Agra in 100 minutes from Delhi, courtesy Gatimaan Express, India's fastest train". IndiaToday. New Delhi. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
13. Whaley, Monte; Aguilar, John (April 22, 2016). . The Denver Post. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
14. Nelson, Laura J. (May 20, 2016). "You can finally ride the Expo Line from L.A. to Santa Monica. Here's why the trip takes 50 minutes". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
15. Oltermann, Philip (May 31, 2016). "World's longest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland under Alps". The Guardian. London. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
16. Duggan, Paul; Aratani, Lori; McCartney, Robert (May 6, 2016). "Metro will shut down sections of lines for year-long subway repair work". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
17. Sheridan, Tom (May 11, 2016). "Metrolink: Perris Valley Line set to open June 6 (Update)". The Press-Enterprise. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
18. Sheridan, Tom (June 6, 2016). "Transportation: Perris Valley Line rolls out right on schedule". The Press-Enterprise. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
19. 485系国鉄特急色編成がラストラン [Final run of JNR-liveried 485 series]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. June 19, 2016. from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
20. "Leeds Kirkstall Forge railway station opens". BBC News. BBC. June 19, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
21. Devereux, N. (August 4, 2016). "Sweden disbands final strategic steam reserve locos". The Railway Magazine. UK. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
22. "LGV Est européenne". Retrieved January 2, 2013.
23. "LGV-Est: Mise en service du dernier tronçon prévue pour le 3 juillet". 20 minutes (in French). January 20, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
24. "Italy train crash: 'Twenty-three killed' near Bari in collision". BBC. July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
25. Whaley, Monte (May 5, 2016). "RTD says B-Line from Union Station to Westminster will open in July". Denver Post. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
26. "President inaugurates Abuja – Kaduna railway". Railway Gazette. July 26, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
27. "Light rail service to Angle Lake starts Sept. 24" (Press release). Sound Transit. August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
28. (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. September 30, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2016.
29. Dumcius, Gintautas (July 11, 2016). "Massachusetts spending more on Wachusett commuter rail project to cover delays and remain on-time". Mass Live. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
30. Chiquillo, Julieta (October 24, 2016). "Students, workers try new commutes as DART takes rail line to UNT Dallas". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
31. Hawthorne, Christopher (November 9, 2016). "Bucking national trend, L.A. voters enthusiastically embrace a more urban future". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
32. Stewart, Ashley (November 9, 2016). "Voters approve $54B Sound Transit 3 proposal; here's what's next". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
33. Johnson, Leslie (November 15, 2016). "City projects will move forward thanks to TSPLOST, MARTA referenda". AJC. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
34. "India train crash: 100 killed in derailment near Kanpur". BBC News. November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
35. NRK. "Åpnet 14 km jernbane til 6,6 milliarder". NRK. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
36. "Tłumy na otwarciu nowej Łodzi Fabrycznej [zdjęcia] [film]". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved April 15, 2019.
37. Ruban, A. (December 16, 2016). "A quiet start to Malaysia's first MRT, but commuters happy". The Malay Mail Online. Retrieved December 18, 2016.