2002 in rail transport

2001, 2002, 2003

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2002.

Events

January – The Muskingum Electric Railroad, one of only six heavy freight electric railroads in the United States, closes.
January 2 – The Iowa Interstate Railroad operates its first unit coal train over the former Milwaukee Road mainline through Amana, Iowa.

April – United States President George W. Bush appoints David Gunn to head Amtrak.
April – David Laney joins the Board of Directors for Amtrak.
April 4 – General Motors Electro-Motive Division and Porterbrook are awarded a contract to build new diesel locomotives for the first open access rail freight carrier in Belgium.
April 29 – The first Pendolino train, operated by Virgin Trains, arrives at Euston Station in London, England.

May – The Metrolink 91 Line opens for service between Los Angeles and Riverside, California.
May 2 – An eastbound Canadian National train collides with a trailer near Firmdale, Manitoba, Canada; about 20 cars carrying plastic pellets, benzene, glycol and hexane catch fire, forcing the evacuation of nearly 200 local residents.
May 10 – The Potters Bar rail crash occurs at Potters Bar, north of London, England, when a northbound passenger train derails at high speed, killing seven and seriously injuring another eleven.

July 4 – General Motors Electro-Motive Division announces that it will build new locomotives for HSBC Rail; the locomotives will be leased by CargoNet for use in Norway north of the Arctic Circle and are expected to enter service after February 2003.
July 26 – The German manufacturer of rail equipment, Vassloh, announces the acquisition of the French company Cogifer.
July 30 – The Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad takes over operations from the defunct I&M Rail Link in the north central United States. [1]

August 1 – Deutsche Bahn opens the high-speed line between Frankfurt and Cologne, Germany.

December – National Express Group hands back it's M>Train, M>Tram and V/Line public transport franchises in Victoria, Australia to the state government due to financial instability, leaving Connex as the only privatised rail operator in the state.
December 15 – All first-class cars on the TGV become non-smoking cars.
December 27 – The first X'Trapolis train enters service with Connex in Melbourne, Australia.

Robert Krebs resigns as chairman of the board of directors for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad and the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad are combined under the holding company Cedar American Rail Holdings.

Some of the events listed here were translated from 2003 dans les chemins de fer, the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article.
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (July 29 2002), IMRL Sale Final; IC&E Begins Operations Tomorrow. Retrieved April 2 2005.
General Motors Electro-Motive Division (April 4 2002), EMD and Porterbrook Win Contract For First Belgian Private Railway. Retrieved April 13 2005.
General Motors Electro-Motive Division (July 4 2002), EMD to provide locomotives to Norway. Retrieved April 13 2005.
(May 2002), Iowa Interstate operates first coal train to Cedar Rapids, Trains Magazine, p. 22.
Reh, Vincent (February 2002), Muskingum Electric Railroad just about done, Trains Magazine, p. 22–23.