1985 in rail transport

Events

January events

* January 5 - At ceremonies held in Nenana and Seward, Alaska, ownership of the Alaska Railroad is officially transferred to the U.S. state of Alaska. [cite web| url=http://www.akrr.com/arrc119.html| title=History| author=Alaska Railroad| accessdate=2007-01-03| ]

February events

* February 21 - The Soo Line acquires the Milwaukee Road and attempts to operate it as a subsidiary railroad.

March events

* March - The Tōhoku Shinkansen line in Japan is extended from Omiya Station to Ueno Station, near Tokyo.
* March 25 - A methane gas explosion in Los Angeles will eventually lead to the abandonment of Red Line construction along the city's most important corridor, Wilshire Boulevard. The subway will not be seriously looked at again for almost 20 years.

April events

* April 30 - Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway assume joint operations of southern Ontario's Canada Southern Railway line. [cite web| url=http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/candate.htm| work=Colin Churcher's Railway Pages| title=Significant dates in Canadian railway history| year=2006-03-17| accessdate=2006-04-26| ]

Unknown date events

* Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority expands rail service on the Red Line beyond Harvard Square, into the west Cambridge and Somerville areas.
* The Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad is formed by a spinoff of former Illinois Central lines from Chicago, Illinois, westward.
* Amtrak's "Gulf Coast Limited" passenger train makes its final run.

Deaths

March deaths

* March 23 - Richard Beeching, chairman of the British Railways Board 1961–1965 (b. 1913).

References

* (June 1995), "Timeline", "Trains Magazine", p. 19.