1968 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1968.

Events

January

• January 6 – The Hixon rail crash occurs when a low-loader road transporter is struck by an express train on an automatic half-barrier level crossing at Hixon, Staffordshire, England. 11 people are killed. This has repercussions on the arrangements for automating level crossings on British Rail.^[1][2]

February

• February 1 – The
  Penn Central. Terms of the merger with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad have not yet been agreed with the Interstate Commerce Commission
  ; in the interim, the Penn Central will financially support the New Haven.
• February 9 – The first line of the Rotterdam Metro opens, being the first rapid transit line to open in The Netherlands.

March

• March 4 –
  Pear Tree and Normanton railway station in Derby, England, is closed as part of the Beeching cuts
  .

• April 1 – Abukuma Express line opened in Japan.
• April 4 – Transit Planning Study Chicago Central Area, a three volume report authorized in 1965, is published by the
  City of Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority, and other public agencies. It proposed a new Loop Subway under Randolph, Wabash, Van Buren and Franklin Streets to replace the Loop elevated system (which still exists today), and a Distributor Subway system under Monroe Street to the North Michigan Avenue business district and McCormick Place. After 1970, it was referred to as the Chicago Central Area Transit Project
  .
• April 5 – The
  Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) (formed as Ulster Transport Railways) takes over operation of railways in Northern Ireland
  .
• April 7 –
  Hankyu Sannomiya to Shinkaichi route officially completed in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, Sanyo Himeji to Umeda of Osaka route direct commuter express service start to 1998.^{[citation needed}
  ]

• April 8
  • The last run of the
    Los Angeles, California
    .
  • The final
    Southern Pacific Lark departs from Los Angeles en route to San Francisco
    .
• April 27 –
  Ayub Khan in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh
  ).

June

• June 12 – Following the withdrawal of
  CGW merger.^[3]

July

• July 1 – The
  Chicago and North Western Railway
  to avoid bankruptcy.
• July 4 –
  Renfe opens the Madrid–Burgos direct railway in Spain using Talgo trains.^[4]
• July 19 –
  Dallas, Texas
  .
• July 30
  • The
    Chicago and North Western Railway railroad acquires the Des Moines and Central Iowa Railway and the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway
    .
  • The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway operates its last passenger train on its subsidiary Grand Canyon Railway, carrying only three passengers for the final run.^[5]

August

• August 4 – Santa Fe Railroad discontinues the Dallas, Texas, section of the Texas Chief.^[6]
• August 11 –
  standard gauge, the "Fifteen Guinea Special
  ".
• August 22 – Magma Arizona Railroad discontinues its use of steam locomotives.^[7]

September

• September 1 – The
  Highbury and Islington.^[8]

October

• October 4 – First section of Frankfurt U-Bahn opens, pioneering the Stadtbahn concept in Germany.
• October 14 – The Queen opens British Rail's rebuilt Euston station in London.

November

• November 30 –
  standard gauge
  .

December

• December 5 – The Southern Railway (U.S.) discontinues the Carolina Special.
• December 6 –
  gauge San Juan Extension, Alamosa–Durango.^[9]
• December 23 – Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, opened in China, with a rail track on the lower deck completing the Beijing–Shanghai railway.
• December 27 – Toei Mita Line opened in Japan.
• December 31 –
  Penn Central's purchase of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
  is completed.

Unknown date

• The fully automated Muskingum Electric Railroad in southeastern Ohio begins operation.^[10]
• Murmansk–Nikel Railway completed throughout.
• NGG16 class no. 156 completed by Hunslet Taylor, Johannesburg: last Garratt locomotive and SAR's last steam locomotive.^[11]
• The Philippine National Railways scraps its last known flagship tender locomotive built prior to World War II. Manila Railroad No. 176, a 170 class locomotive, entered service in 1922 and was primarily used on the inaugural Bicol Express to Legazpi, Albay starting in 1938.^[12]

Accidents

Births

Main article:

births in 1968

Further information: Category:1968 births

Deaths

• October 7 -
  diesel-electric locomotive concept in the 1930s (b. 1885).^[13]

References

• Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), This Month in Railroad History: July. Retrieved July 18, 2005.

1. ISBN 0-10-137060-1
   .
2. ISBN 1-85260-055-1
   .
3. ^ "Week at a glance: Chicago roads get merger reaffirmed". Railway Age. 164 (23): 11. June 17, 1968.
4. ^ "Madrid-Burgos line opened". The Railway Magazine. 114. London: 619. 1968.
5. ^ Bianchi, Curt (May 1995). "By steam to the Grand Canyon". Trains: 38–45.
6. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3
   .
7. ^ Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005). "This Month in Railroad History: August". Retrieved 2005-08-22.
8. ISBN 0-9508774-0-9
   .
9. ^ "History of the San Juan Extension". DRGW.Net. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
10. ^ Reh, Vincent (February 2002). "Muskingum Electric Railroad just about done". Trains: 22–23.
11. ISBN 0-7153-7641-1
    .
12. ^ Steam locos number 869 and 176 at Tutuban with a Class 3500 Diesel Hydraulic Locomotive circa 1968. 1968. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
13. ^ "You ought to know: Electro-Motive's Dilworth is dead; diesel pioneer". Railway Age. 165 (16): 40. October 21, 1968.