January 2008 in rail transport

Events

January 1 - January 6

;January 6:* flagicon|China – Officials in China hold groundbreaking ceremonies in Chao'an County, Guangdong Province, to begin construction of a new railway line to connect Xiamen in Fujian Province to Shenzhen, just over km to mi|500. The Xiemen-Shenzhen railway, which will serve both freight and passenger trains, is expected to be completed in 2011, with train speeds expected to reach convert|200|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on in regular service. [cite web| url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-01/07/content_6374749.htm| title=Construction begins on railway linking special economic zones| date=2008-01-07| publisher=China Daily| author=Xinhua| accessdate=2008-02-13| ]

January 7 - January 13

;January 9:* flagicon|Belgium – Officials in Belgium express their concern that the dismantling of the Vennbahn, which ran across the High Fens (Hautes Fagnes) to the south of Aachen, would require Belgium to cede some of the land that carries the right-of-way to Germany. Some of the line crossed the border between the two nations, but the land under the railway remained Belgian territory, creating five small exclaves of Germany on its western side. [cite news| url=http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1385509.php/Belgium_may_lose_land_to_Germany_due_to_disused_railway_line| title=Belgium may lose land to Germany due to disused railway line| date=2008-01-09| publisher=Monsters and Critics| author=Deutsche Presse-Agentur| accessdate=2008-02-22| ]

January 14 - January 20

; January 16;* flagicon|Argentina Argentina announces High Speed train to link Buenos Aires with Córdoba 710km away. [ Track & Signal 2008/02 p52 ] ;January 19:* flagicon|Germanyflagicon|United Kingdom – Agreement is reached for Deutsche Bahn to take over the Laing Rail subsidiary of John Laing plc including English passenger train operator Chiltern Railways. [cite web|title=Deutsche Bahn steigt erstmals in den britischen Schienenpersonenverkehr ein|publisher=Deutsche Bahn|date=2008-01-21| url=http://www.db.de/site/bahn/de/unternehmen/presse/presseinformationen/ubp/p20080121,version=3.html|accessdate=2008-02-02] [cite journal|first=Philip|last=Haigh|title=Germans take over Chiltern as DB buys Laing Rail|journal=Rail|date=30 Jan.-12 Feb. 2008|volume=584|pages=6–7]

January 21 - January 27

;January 21:* flagicon|Saudi Arabia – RZD, the Russian national railway, announces that it has been awarded a contract by the government of Saudi Arabia to build a new line between the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Al Zabirah, a distance of km to mi|520. The contract is valued at $800 million; construction is expected to be completed by 2011. When completed, the entire project is estimated to cost nearly $2 billion. [cite news| url=http://en.rian.ru/business/20080121/97465993.html| title=Russian Railways wins $800 million Saudi project tender| publisher=RIA Novosti| date=2008-01-21| accessdate=2008-02-22| ] [cite news| url=http://www.eurailpress.com/news/news_archiv.php3?action=displaynews&id=19611| title=Saudi-Arabien: RZD baut Strecke| language=de icon| date=2008-01-23| accessdate=2008-02-22| ] ;January 25:* flagicon|Chinaflagicon|Germany – The first Peking-Hamburg Container-Express freight train arrives in Hamburg, Germany, five days ahead of schedule. The trip was planned to take 20 days from Peking, China, to the European continent, which included transloading the containers for the break-of-gauge points at the Chinese-Mongolian and the Belarus-Polish borders. Officials are hopeful that the trip time can be further reduced to 10 days. [cite news| url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/a-railroad-rarety-train-arrives-five-days-early/?hp| title=A Railroad Rarity: Train Arrives Five Days Early| publisher=New York Times| author=Lyons, Patrick J.| date=2008-01-25| accessdate=2008-02-24| ]

January 28 - January 31

References