1971 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1971.

Events

April 18 – Serious fire at Kentish Town West railway station in London; it remains closed until 5 October 1981.
April 30 – On the eve of Amtrak's assumption of American passenger train operations, Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago and North Western Railway end the City of Los Angeles and City of Denver trains, and the United States Post Office Department cancels all but one of the eight remaining Railway Mail Service routes; the final route served Washington, D.C., to New York City.^[1]

May 1 – Amtrak begins operations of most intercity passenger train service in the United States.
May 4 – The Bucharest Transport Enterprise (Întreprinderea de Transport București) puts in operation the first of the V3A trams, which later became the basis of the Bucharest Articulated Tramcar series.

June 5 – Amtrak begins operating a section of the Empire Builder over the ex-Northern Pacific Railway mainline between Minneapolis and Spokane, Washington, restoring service to that route. This train will later be known as the North Coast Hiawatha.
June 6 – London Transport commemorates the end of operating steam locomotives with a special run from Moorgate to Neasden depot of a train comprising No. L94 (ex-GWR 5700 Class No. 7752) and a selection of maintenance rolling stock.^[2]

July 23 – Opening of the final section of London Underground's Victoria line, from Victoria to Brixton, by Princess Alexandra.^[3]
July 24 – The last regularly steam-hauled passenger train in New South Wales.
July 30 – Opening of Pfaffenberg-Zwenberg Bridge on Tauern Railway Line in Austria, the world's longest concrete arch, with a span of 200 m (660 ft).^[4]
July 31 – The Monon Railroad is merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.

October 2 – Preserved ex-Great Western Railway steam locomotive No. 6000 King George V inaugurates a series of special trains on British Rail, the first steam allowed on the main line for several years.^[5]
October 26 – Last train worked by steam on New Zealand Railways, the South Island Limited, hauled by J^A class.

December 6 – The first Auto Train operates under the control of the Auto-Train Corporation.
December 16 – A first section of Sapporo Municipal Subway, connecting from Kita-nijuyo-jo Station, via Sapporo Station to Makomanai Station route officially open in Hokkaido, before 1972 Winter Olympics.^{[citation needed]}

February 9 – A Zurich-bound TEE train derails at Aitrang, Germany, due to excess speed and is hit by a railbus. 28 die and 42 are injured.

March 4 – A local train collides with a mini truck at a level crossing on the Fujikyu line, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan, killing at least 179 people and injuring 6100.
March 11 – A runaway train carrying 350 passengers, mostly children, derails next to a 12-metre deep (39 ft) ravine near Vicuña, Chile, killing twelve people.

May 27 – Dahlerau train disaster: A special train full of schoolchildren collides with a freight train in Dahlerau, West Germany, on the line between Wuppertal and Radevormwald due to a misunderstanding of signals. 46 die and 25 are injured, making this the worst rail accident in West Germany during Deutsche Bundesbahn times.

June 10 – Salem, Illinois derailment: a flat spot on a locomotive wheel causes Amtrak's City of New Orleans to derail near Salem, Illinois. Six passengers are killed. It is Amtrak's first fatal accident since beginning operations on May 1.

July 21 – A fast train from Basel to Copenhagen derails due to a technical failure in the Class 103 engine; 23 die and 121 are injured.

August 30 – Louis Armand, French railway engineer, manager and resistance fighter (born 1905)

^ "The Post Office Role in U.S. Development: Railway Mail Service". History of the United States Post Office. Retrieved 2006-04-26.
^ Scott-Morgan, John; Martin, Kirk (2008). Red Panniers: Last Steam on the Underground. Lydney, Gloucester: Lightmoor Press. p. 145. ISBN 9781899889297. OCLC 271770628.
^ Green, Oliver (1988). The London Underground – An Illustrated History. Ian Allan. p. 59. ISBN 0-7110-1720-4.
^ Balkwill, Richard; Marshall, John (1993). The Guinness Book of Railway Facts and Feats (6th ed.). Enfield: Guinness Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85112-707-1.
^ Wood, G. C. (1972). 6000 King George V – a chronology. Hereford: 6000 Locomotive Association.
^ "実に地球３００周…雪国駆けた「丸顔の美人」さらば新幹線２００系". MSN Sankei News. 15 March 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014. 最後の活躍の舞台となった上越新幹線。その誕生には、田中角栄元首相が赤鉛筆で線を引きルートを決めたとの逸話も残る。