1997 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1997.

Events

January events

• January 6 – Full freight and passenger service is restored through the Channel Tunnel, just short of two months after a devastating fire.

April events

• April 25 – Construction begins on Phase II of Manchester Metrolink in Manchester, England.

May events

• May – Kansas City Southern acquires the Gateway Western Railway and begins operating it as a subsidiary railroad.

September events

• September 19 – In the Southall rail crash, the 1032 Great Western Intercity passenger train from Swansea to London Paddington, operating with a defective Automatic Warning System indicator passes a red signal (SPAD) and collides with a freight train leaving its depot, shortly before 1320 local time.

December events

• December – Illinois RailNet is formed.

Unknown date events

• The Ballard Terminal Railroad is formed to handle freight traffic around Ballard, Seattle, Washington.
• The Beijing-Kowloon Through Train and the Shanghai-Kowloon Through Train starts services.

Deaths

References

• (February 2002), Flags fall in corporate shuffles, Trains Magazine, p. 17.