1972 in rail transport

Events

January events

* January - General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD SD40-2.

March events

* March 30 - The Milwaukee Road discontinues its "Limburger Special" service to New Glarus, Wisconsin. [cite web| author=Kalrath, Jim| url=http://www.whrc-wi.org/History/newglarushis.htm| title=New Glarus Railroad History through the Years| date=March 24 1999| accessdate=March 29| accessyear=2006| ]

April events

* April 1 - The Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) pulls out of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, becoming a terminal road in New Jersey; this does not effect their Lehigh and New England Railway operations, however. The Lehigh Valley Railroad assumes operation of the former CNJ lines in Pennsylvania.
* April 30 - British Rail suspends operation of the "Brighton Belle" passenger train between London and Brighton, England. [cite journal| author=Hill, Keith| month=February| year=2005| title=Brighton's Belle Époque| journal=BackTrack| volume=19| issue=2| pages=p 70–79 ]

August events

* August 10 - The Illinois Central Railroad and the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad merge to form the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad.

eptember events

* September 11 - Revenue service begins on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in the San Francisco Bay Area.
* September 18 - São Paulo Metro is inaugurated.
* September 27 - Commemorating the opening of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) two weeks earlier, United States President Richard Nixon rides a BART train.

October events

* October 30 - The driver of a fast train does not notice a stop signal due to heavy fog and collides with another train in Schweinsburg-Culten, East Germany. 22 die and 70 are injured.
* October 30 - Illinois Central Gulf commuter rail crash - The accidental tripping of a signal at 27th Street Station in Chicago, Illinois causes an IC Electric express train to telescope another, killing 45 and injuring over 300.

Unknown date events

* The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Western Maryland Railway become parts of the Chessie System.
* The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway is officially merged into the Chicago and North Western Railway railroad.
* Donald Russell steps down as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Southern Pacific Company, the parent company of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The position remains vacant until 1976.
* General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces computer control systems in its line of diesel locomotives with the EMD SD40-2.
* Fred Burbidge succeeds Ian David Sinclair as president of Canadian Pacific Railway.
* The Family Lines System is formed through the merger of several eastern and southeastern United States railroads.
* The Pacific Great Eastern Railway changes its name to British Columbia Railway.

Births

Deaths

References