2003 in rail transport

Events

January events

* January - The electrification of the Trans-Siberian Railway, a project begun in 1929, is completed.
* January 1 - E. Hunter Harrison, former president of Illinois Central Railroad (now a subsidiary of CN), succeeds Paul Tellier as president of Canadian National Railway.
* January 3 - A passenger train travelling from Secunderabad to Manmad, crashes into the rear end of a heavy goods train near Ghatnandur in Maharashtra, India, killing 18 people. See: Ghatnandur train crash.
* January 18 - Singapore's second LRT Line, Sengkang LRT Line opened.
* January 21 - The first segment of High Speed 1 is completed.
* January 27 - A head-on collision between an Italian and a French train in the Tende line's Biogna tunnel leaves two dead and four seriously injured.

February events

* February 18 - An arsonist causes the Daegu subway fire when he sets fire to a train stopped at the Joongang-ro (or Jungang-ro) station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu, South Korea.

March events

* March 21 - Official launch of M>Train's new Siemens Mo-Mo trains in Melbourne, Australia.

April events

* April 3 - First revenue run of M>Train's new Siemens Mo-Mo train.
* April 11 - M>Train withdraws fleet of Siemens Mo-Mo trains due to braking and traction issues.
* April 26 - DLW completes construction of the first WDP-4 locomotive to be built entirely within India. [cite web| url=http://irfca.org/faq/faq-history6.html| title=IR History: Part - VI (1995 - present)| year=2005| author=Indian Railways Fan Club| accessdate=2006-04-26 ]

June events

* June 20 - North East MRT Line in Singapore opened. It is the world's first fully underground, automated and driverless rapid transit line.

July events

* July - David Laney is promoted to Chairman of the Board of Directors for Amtrak.
* July 21 - A tornado knocks down most of the former Erie Railroad's Kinzua Bridge. [cite web| author=Alward, Daniel| year=2005| url=http://www.venangoil.com/bridgeskinzua.html| title=Kinzua Bridge In McKean County Pennsylvania| accessmonthday=13 June | accessyear=2005 ]

* July 30 - Eurostar train number 3313/14 establishes a new speed record in England at 334.7 km/h (208 mph) on High Speed 1.

August events

* August 9 - Indian Railways begins passenger train service between Hyderabad and Secunderabad with 13 trains between Lingampally and Hyderabad, and 11 between Lingampally and Secunderabad. [cite web| author=Indian Railways Fan Club| year=2005| url=http://irfca.org/faq/faq-history6.html| title=IR History: Part VI (1995-present)| accessmonthday=9 August | accessyear=2005 ]
* August 10 - M>Train (Melbourne, Australia) returns fleet of Siemens trains to service.
* August 22 - Sound Transit connects to Tacoma, Washington. [cite web| work=HistoryLink| year=2005| url=http://www.historylink.org/this_week/index.cfm| title=This week in state and local history| accessmonthday=22 August | accessyear=2005 ]

eptember events

* September 1 - Deutsche Bahn takes over operations of shipping company Stinnes Group in Germany.
* September 25 - James J. Dermody becomes President of Long Island Rail Road in New York. [cite press release| url=http://www.mta.info/mta/news/releases/?en=070604-HQ42| title=MTA Picks Helena Williams to Head Long Island Rail Road| date=2007-06-04| accessdate=2007-08-09| publisher=New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority ]

October events

* October 1 - M>Train (Melbourne, Australia) withdraws its fleet of Siemens trains for the second time.
* October 7 - RENFE opens the Madrid-Lerida section of the railroad's new Madrid-Barcelona line in Spain.
* October 27 - Fleet of Siemens trains returned to M>Train (Melbourne, Australia) service, some minus livery.

November events

* November 3 - NYC Subway's "Redbird" R36 trains make final run from 42nd Street Times Square to Willets Point Shea Stadium.
* November 4 - A new intermodal service is inaugurated between Aiton, France, and Orbassano (near Turin), Italy, to transport complete trucks (both the tractor and trailer) and their loads; the trains include coach seating for the truck drivers as well.
* November 28 - SNCF (France) celebrates the one-billionth passenger on its TGV.

December events

* December 9 - The European Commission approves the franchise of the Trans-Pennine Express JV between Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and other northern England locations as a joint operation of FirstGroup plc and Keolis. [cite press release| publisher=European Commission| date=2003-12-09| title=Commission clears northern England train JV between FirstGroup and Keolis| url=http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/03/1675&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en| accessdate=2006-12-09 ]
* December 20 - The KCR West Rail in Hong Kong starts services.
* December - Great North Eastern Railways, operators of services on the East Coast Main Line in England and Scotland, begin trials of 802.11b wireless LAN access to the Internet on their Mallard Intercity 225 trains.

Deaths

June deaths

* June 10 - Livio Dante Porta, Argentinian steam locomotive mechanical engineer (b. 1922).

Industry awards

North America

;2003 E. H. Harriman Awards:

;Awards presented by Railway Age magazine:
* 2003 Railroader of the Year: Richard K. Davidson (UP) [cite journal| journal=Railway Age| author=Vantuono, William C.| month=January| year=2003| title=Union Pacific's Dick Davidson: managing a 33,000-mile factory—with no roof - Railroader of the Year - Company Profile| url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_1_204/ai_97447683/pg_1| accessdate=2007-01-13 ]
* 2003 Regional Railroad of the Year: Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
* 2003 Short Line Railroad of the Year: San Joaquin Valley Railroad

United Kingdom

;Train Operator of the Year:
* 2003: Anglia Railways [cite press release| url=http://www.scotrail.co.uk/press240204.htm| title=ScotRail highly commended in rail 'Oscars'| author=ScotRail| date=2004-02-24| accessdate=2006-11-06| ] [cite web| url=http://www.railpro.co.uk/issues/apr2004.html| title=HSBC Rail Awards 2003 Review| accessdate=2006-11-06| author=Rail Professional, Ltd.| ]

References

Many of the events listed here were translated from [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_dans_les_chemins_de_fer 2003 dans les chemins de fer] , the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article.