April events

April 1 2

• April 1
  • All former BC Rail systems and operations are fully integrated into those of the purchasing railroad, Canadian National Railway. http://cn.ca/productsservices/BCRail/en_BCRail.shtml
  • Kansas City Southern Railway completes its controlling interest purchase of TFM.
  • OmniTRAX purchases Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado RailNet, Georgia and Florida RailNet and Illinois RailNet from North American RailNet.

April 3 9

• April 4
  • East Japan Railway Company and Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit introduce women-only passenger cars in trains on the Saikyo and Rinkai Lines to deter groping. http://www.trains.com/content/dynamic/articles/000/000/005/830xrwog.asp?
  • The sale of General Motors Electro-Motive Division to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners is completed; the new company is known as Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. (EMD). http://www.gmemd.com/en/company/news/links/20050404_sale_done.htm

April 10 16

• April 11 Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signs into law a bonding bill for the Northstar Corridor Development Authority in Minneapolis worth US$866 million.
• April 13 The transport ministry of Bulgaria issues the first freight transport license to a private company, Bulgarian Railroad Company, to operate on the nation's rail network. http://www.bgnewsnet.com/story.php?lang=en&sid=19996
• April 14 Nineteen cars of a southbound Union Pacific train operating on Canadian National Railway tracks south of Superior, Wisconsin, derail and cause a forest fire near Solon Springs, Wisconsin. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/11396676.htm
• April 15
  • Amtrak cancels all Acela Express trains between Washington, DC, New York City and Boston as cracks are found in the brakes on a majority of the trainsets' coaches. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/national/15cnd-amtr.html?hp&ex=1113624000&en=b453b492802ee253&ei=5094&partner=homepage http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Simple_Copy_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1093553993887&ssid=25
  • SEPTA begins construction on an US$85 million project to replace and upgrade signal, communications and track switch equipment between its Wayne Junction and Glenside stations
• April 16 Alaska Railroad opens its new headquarters building and operations center in Anchorage, Alaska. http://www.ktuu.com/CMS/templates/master.asp?articleid=12935&zoneid=4

April 17 23

• April 20 UTA TRAX, in Salt Lake City, Utah, begins construction of its 900 South Station, the railroad's first new station in six years; this is the first station for the railroad that is to be built in a mainly residential area.
• April 21 Vadodara rail collision occurred at the village of Samlaya near Vadodara in Gujarat, Western India, when the Sabarmati Express passenger train crashed at high speed into a stationary goods train carrying cement, killing at least 17.
• April 23 Los Angeles Metrolink opens a new station in Palmdale on the system's Antelope Valley line. http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/872uxhif.asp

April 24 30

• April 25 Amagasaki rail crash: a JR West commuter train derails and strikes an apartment building in Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan, killing 106 and injuring more than 460 others.
• April 26 Polgahawela level crossing collision: bus collides with Sri Lanka Railways train at a level crossing near Polgahawela; 37 bus passengers die.
• April 28
  • The English, Welsh and Scottish Railway acquires the assets of Probotec Limited, the leading manufacturer of railroad freight car suspension systems in Europe. http://www.ews-railway.co.uk/cmsystem/news_article.asp?guid={D0A207AC-C79E-407E-B11D-D571C69C3A8A}
  • Swiss engineers blast through the last section of rock on the first bore of the Loetschberg base tunnel project under the Alps. http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/883laawr.asp See also Swiss finish drilling world's longest overland tunnel
• April 30 The English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) was expected to close a deal that will allow the railway to operate freight trains through the Channel Tunnel; such operations would make EWS one of the first non-governmental companies to operate trains on France's national rail network.http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/836swune.asp

Deaths

• April 22 Margaret Landry Moore, "Miss Southern Belle" spokesmodel for Kansas City Southern's Southern Belle passenger trains (born 1923). http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/872uxhif.asp
• April 28 Frank Turpin, CEO of Alaska Railroad, 1985 1993 (born 1923). http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/6437142p-6316333c.html

References

• (July 2005), "Abandonments and Acquisitions", Trains Magazine, p. 19.
• Amtrak (April 15, 2005), Service Alert: Acela Express Amtrak Cancels All Friday and Saturday Acela Express Service Due to Brake Problem. Retrieved April 15, 2005.
• Associated Press (April 14, 2005), Freight train derails, burns in northwestern Wisconsin. Retrieved April 14, 2005.
• Canadian National Railway (March 21, 2005), CN BC Rail Systems Integration. Retrieved March 21, 2005.
• (July 2005), "City Rail briefs", Trains Magazine, p. 29.
• EWS Railway (April 28, 2005), EWS acquires the assets of Probotec Limited. Retrieved April 30, 2005.
• General Motors Electro-Motive Division (April 4, 2005), Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners Complete Acquisition of Electro-Motive from General Motors. Retrieved April 13, 2005.
• Hauser, Kristine, New York Times (April 15, 2005), Amtrak Suspends Acela Trains After Finding Brake Problems. Retrieved April 15, 2005.
• Kansas City Southern Industries (April 1, 2005), Kansas City Southern Announces Closing of TFM Transaction; Naming of TFM Interim CEO. Retrieved May 26, 2005.
• Mapaye, John, KTUU (April 16, 2005), Railroad opens new operations center. Retrieved April 18, 2005.

Trains News Wire references

• (April 8, 2005), EWS close to Channel Tunnel deal. Retrieved April 12, 2005.
• (April 27, 2005), Metrolink opens Palmdale commuter station. Retrieved May 4, 2005.
• (April 29, 2005), Swiss complete digging Alpine tunnel. Retrieved May 4, 2005.
• (April 5, 2005), Tokyo introduces women-only trains to prevent groping. Retrieved April 7, 2005.