1977 in rail transport

Updated on Jan 17, 2024

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This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1977.

January events

January 10 – Passenger service on Boston and Maine Railroad's Lexington Branch ends when a train consisting of a Budd Rail Diesel Car and a switcher locomotive are stranded by a snowstorm at the Bedford, Massachusetts depot.

January 18 – The Granville railway disaster was Australia's worst ever railway disaster at Granville, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, when a commuter train derails and hits a bridge, causing the bridge to collapse on top of the train.

February events

February 4 – Chicago Loop derailment Chicago, Illinois, United States: A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train motorman disregards cab signals and rear ends another train at a curve on the Loop during the evening rush hour causing four cars of the rear train derail and fall to the street below. Eleven people are killed and over 180 injured in the worst disaster in the history of Chicago's rapid transit system. The motorman was suspected of being high on marijuana.

March events

March 13 – Shin-Nagata and Myodani route of Seishin-Yamate Line open, for first section of Kobe Municipal Subway in Hyogo Prefecture.

March 28 – The United States Interstate Commerce Commission approves Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad's petition to end passenger service.

April events

April 21 – Indiana Governor Otis R. Bowen signs into law an act forming the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District which will take over passenger service from the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad.

May events

May – Auto-Train Corporation launches a second Auto Train, this time between Louisville, Kentucky and Sanford, Florida.

May 9 – The last Paris-Istanbul train with the name Orient Express makes its final run. The name persists as a train running from Paris to Vienna.

May 21 – The Glasgow Subway shuts down for a complete system overhaul.

May 23 – A train hijack takes place at the village of De Punt, in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands. Activists aimed to endorse the Republik Maluku Selatan (RMS), a self-proclaimed republic in the Maluku Islands. At the same time a hostage situation occurred at a school in Bovensmilde. The Dutch Marines stormed the train at June 11, 1977, after six Starfighters flew over the train, creating a noise and distraction for the hostage takers. Six hostage takers and two passengers lost their lives in the operation. The activists at the school surrendered after they learned of the fate of their fellow activists in the train.

June events

June 16 – Construction begins on the Minsk Metro in Belarus (at the time, still a part of the Soviet Union).

June 30 – Last Railway post office to run on rails in the United States, New York-Washington, D.C.

September events

September – The second Auto Train route to Louisville, Kentucky is discontinued due to heavy financial losses.

October events

October 26 – Locomotive number 043 903 pulls the last regularly scheduled mainline train on German tracks to be hauled by a steam locomotive.

October 29 – First run of the Maple Leaf.

November events

November 9 – A first section of Tashkent Metro Chilonzor Line, Olmazar to Amir Temur Xiyoboni route officially regular operation service to start in Uzbekistan. (former part of Soviet Union)

December events

December 16 – London becomes the first capital city in the world to be directly linked to its international airport by underground railway as the Queen opens Heathrow Central tube station (now Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 tube station) on London Underground's Piccadilly line at the centre of London Heathrow Airport.