This article lists events related to
rail transport that occurred in 1981.
Events
February
February 21 –
MBTA discontinues passenger train service to
Rhode Island.
February 26 – A
TGV Sud-Est (trainset no. 16) breaks the world record for rail speed at 380 km/h (236 mph)[1] between Courcelles-Frémois (
Côte-d'Or) and Dyé (
Yonne), France.
April
April 3 – The inaugural runs of the first 2600-series cars are made. The 2600-series (2601–3200), built by the
Budd Company of
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, had increased interior floor space and seats that fold up for wheelchairs. After completing the order, Budd (later Transit America) retired from railcar manufacturing.
June 6 – In the
Bihar train disaster, a passenger train carrying 800 or more passengers between
Mansi and
Saharsa,
India, derailed and plunged into the
Bagmati river while it was crossing a bridge. Estimates of the death toll range from 500 to 800.
July 17 – The Manchester–Sheffield–Wath
Woodhead Line, carrying electric-hauled freight traffic through the
Pennines in
England, is closed and all
British Rail Class 76 locomotives used on it are stored at Guide Bridge and Reddish before being scrapped.
July 26
The
San Diego Trolley starts operation.[2] The starter line is the first entirely new light rail system in America and is credited with inspiring the choice of modes for later systems.
Yamanote Line introduces
Automatic Train Control, city circle railway of Tokyo is now operated without lineside signals. Previously such system has been installed only at subways and high-speed lines.
^"The business car"(PDF). Canadian Rail (360): 26–27. January 1982. Archived from
the original(PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
(February 2005) Trains Timeline, Trains Magazine, p. 9
This article lists events related to
rail transport that occurred in 1981.
Events
February
February 21 –
MBTA discontinues passenger train service to
Rhode Island.
February 26 – A
TGV Sud-Est (trainset no. 16) breaks the world record for rail speed at 380 km/h (236 mph)[1] between Courcelles-Frémois (
Côte-d'Or) and Dyé (
Yonne), France.
April
April 3 – The inaugural runs of the first 2600-series cars are made. The 2600-series (2601–3200), built by the
Budd Company of
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, had increased interior floor space and seats that fold up for wheelchairs. After completing the order, Budd (later Transit America) retired from railcar manufacturing.
June 6 – In the
Bihar train disaster, a passenger train carrying 800 or more passengers between
Mansi and
Saharsa,
India, derailed and plunged into the
Bagmati river while it was crossing a bridge. Estimates of the death toll range from 500 to 800.
July 17 – The Manchester–Sheffield–Wath
Woodhead Line, carrying electric-hauled freight traffic through the
Pennines in
England, is closed and all
British Rail Class 76 locomotives used on it are stored at Guide Bridge and Reddish before being scrapped.
July 26
The
San Diego Trolley starts operation.[2] The starter line is the first entirely new light rail system in America and is credited with inspiring the choice of modes for later systems.
Yamanote Line introduces
Automatic Train Control, city circle railway of Tokyo is now operated without lineside signals. Previously such system has been installed only at subways and high-speed lines.
^"The business car"(PDF). Canadian Rail (360): 26–27. January 1982. Archived from
the original(PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
(February 2005) Trains Timeline, Trains Magazine, p. 9