|
2 January | • | Eurotunnel began 24-h operation
of tourist shuttles, with
hourly service reduced to twohourly
between 23.00 and
07.00
|
| • | Orly Airport, Paris opened to
KLM and Air Lauda flights.
Government, hoping to
strengthen own airline companies
tried to delay use claiming
that state-controlled Air
France needed time to restructure
and reduce losses
|
|
3 January | • | Long-distance bus with 70
passengers fell from bridge
into valley in mountainous
area of Northern Luzon, Philippines,
killing 35 and injuring
32, some seriously
|
| • | Congestion at train stations
and airport terminals in and
out Tokyo reached peak as
people headed home at end of
New Year holidays. 41,600
people arrived at Narita airport,
roughly 60% more than
normal. Bullet trains also
above full capacity
|
|
5 January | • | Two South Korean air force
fighter-trainers, T59 Hawks,
collided in mid-air during training
in Ho-tong, eastern South
Kyongsang Province, South
Korea, and crashed, killing all
four pilots
|
| • | Sendai Kurihara Electric Railway
Co. of Miyagi Prefecture
to renew survival by renaming
itself Kurihara Denen (pastoral)
Railway. Diesel engine
cars to replace present electric
railway cars to reduce cost
of overhead-power maintenance
|
|
6 January | • | Air France employees signed
up for innovative scheme in
which salaries reduced in return
for shares in loss-making,
state-owned airline. French
flag-carrier suffered loss of
Ffr8.5 billion ($1.56 billion) in
1993 and Ffr2.6 billion in first
half of 1994
|
|
11 January | • | Domestic DC-9 airliner of Inter-
Continental Airline of Colombia,
bound from Santa Fe
de Bogota for Cartagena, lost
control before landing and
crashed into swamp. Fifty-two
of 53 passengers and crew
killed, with only 9-year-old girl
surviving. Terrorist bomb suspected
|
|
13 January | • | Two passenger trains packed
to capacity collided head-on in
northern Dinajipur,
Bangladesh, killing more than
100
|
|
14 January | • | 39 people dead and 100 injured
in Bangladesh rail accident
at Hili railroad station in
Dinajpur district, 270 km north
of Dhaka. Simanta Express
packed with about 1,000 passengers
on run from northern
town of Parbapur collided with
stationary local train
|
|
17 January | • | Earthquake of Richter magnitude
7.2 hit Kobe, Japan, and
neighbouring areas at 5:40
am. Bridges and bridge girders
over JR lines, including
shinkansen, private railway
lines and roads collapsed.
Railway lines and roads seriously
damaged. One month
after disaster, 5,738 persons
listed dead, two missing, and
35,626 injured. Completely or
partially destroyed houses totalled
159,544. Total debris
estimated at 11 million tonnes.
Worst disaster in post-war Japan.
Sanyo Shinkansen service
between Shin-Osaka and
Himeji suspended until 7 April
|
| • | According to new study, air accidents
worldwide killed 1,385
in 1994, increase of 25% over
1993. Human error and bad
weather top causes
|
|
20 January | • | Twelve people suffered injuries
when Singapore Airlines
jet en route to Fukuoka hit turbulence
over southern Japan
|
|
21 January | • | World's largest passenger
ship, 77,000-tonne Sun Princess
launched by Italy's staterun
ship-building company at
total construction cost of $300
million. 261-m length can accommodate
2,000 passengers
|
|
26 January | • | Sixteen-seater microbus for
kindergartners crashed into 4-
carriage train at crossing on
JR Ibusuki-Makurazaki line in
Kagoshima Prefecture. Two
children killed and 12 others
injured, some seriously
|
| • | Manned ML-002 linear car
marked 411 km/h at Miyazaki
Experimental Center of JR Integrated
Research Institute,
breaking 400.8 km/h recorded
by MLU-00 in April 1987
|
|
30 January | • | Trains began running again
between Suma and Kobe stations
on JR West, Sanyo line,
13 days after devastating
Kobe quake
|
|
31 January | • | JR West and JR Central abandon
hope of listing shares on
stock market in fiscal 1995 because
Kobe quake ruined possibility
of meeting requirements
|
|
4 February | • | Dawn fire at hotel in Hamilton,
New Zealand, killed 5 persons
|
|
8 February | • | Railway service suspended
since May 1992 due to civil
war, resumed, following road
service, in Sarajevo, Bosnia-
Herzegovina. International
Red Cross presented large
truck with railway track
wheels, and moved two passenger
carriages over 6 km
|
| • | Earthquake with magnitude of
6.4 shook central Colombia.
27 persons confirmed dead
and about 220 injured. Earlier
earthquake in January killed 7
|
| • | JR West resumed service on
JR Tokaido line between
Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture and
Sumiyoshi station in Kobe for
first time since Kobe earthquake
|
|
9 February | • | JAL and ANA ranked fifth and
seventh by Sagard Survey in
New York for service. Leading
US airlines not listed among
top 10 airlines: (1) Singapore
Airlines, (2) SwissAir, (3)
Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong),
(4) Midwest Air (US), (5) JAL,
(6) QANTAS (Australia), (7)
ANA, (8) Virgin Atlantic (UK),
(9) Lufthansa (Germany) and
KLM (Holland)
|
|
13 February | • | Double-engined small sightseeing
plane, Piper PA31,
crashed due to engine trouble
in Grand Canyon, Arizona,
with 10 passengers and crew.
Eight killed and two others seriously
injured
|
| • | Japan and China agreed to
expand airline services of
China Northwestern Airlines,
China Eastern Airlines, Japan
Air System and Nippon Air
Cargo Airlines between two
countries
|
|
16 February | • | 30 days after Kobe earthquake,
subway trains ran entire
length of 23-km municipal
line in Kobe
|
|
18 February | • | Large bus with 45 passengers
fell into deep ravine in
Wudanshan in northern Hubei
Province, China. Twenty-two
killed
|
|
21 February | • | US1A rescue seaplane of
Japan's Maritime Self-Defense
Force overturned in sea
and seriously damaged as
failed on landing. One crew
member saved, but 11 others
killed
|
|
24 February | • | JR West started selling “Gran
Via Cards” as credit cards for
JR group hotels, offering privileges
to holders, including
10%-20% discount
|
| • | Ferry traffic across English
Channel severely disrupted by
striking French sailors angry
because British ferry company
hired Polish crew
|
|
25 February | • | Two bombs planted in train
with Indian Army soldiers
aboard exploded in northern
Assam, killing at least 25 and
injuring 32
|
| • | Passenger ferry ran aground
near Ako Port off Miyake island.
205 passengers of
3,708-ton Strelitzia Maru rescued
by local fishermen
|
|
27 February | • | JR Shikoku to suffer pre-tax
losses of more than ¥1 billion
in fiscal 1994 largely because
of heavy damage from massive
Kobe quake. Mr Hiroatsu
Ito, president, reported
company's first loss since established
by privatization in
1987
|
|
28 February | • | Japanese and French authorities
agreed to add one weekly
jumbo-jet flight on international
routes between Tokyo
and Paris, and Tokyo and
Papeete, Tahiti
|
|
5 March | • | Mysterious odor of probable
chemical origin filled late-night
train bound for Uraga on Miura
Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture.
11 passengers
rushed to hospital with eye irritation,
headaches and sore
throats
|
|
6 March | • | JR Freight introduced car rack
system for carrying eight large
cars or four 5-tonne (12 ft)
containers. Revolutionary system
expected to greatly improve
economic efficiency of
train operations, permitting effective
utilization of up and
down runs
|
|
12 March | • | Tanker collided with fullyloaded
bus and both burned in
southern Tamil Nadu. Following
bus and trailer enveloped
in flames, killing more than
120 persons
|
| • | Gun fire hit jet carrying UN
special envoy Yusashi Akashi
as landing at Sarajevo airport.
No one reported injured
|
|
15 March | • | Anti-submarine patrol helicopter,
SH60, from US aircraft
carrier, Independence, with
home port in Japan crashed
into sea off Nojimazaki, Chiba
Prefecture. Pilot and crewman
saved by US rescue helicopter,
but two other crew
missing
|
|
16 March | • | Sounzan cable cars on Mt.
Hakone hot-spring resort, (operated
by Hakone Tozan Railway)
replaced by two trains of
two Swiss-made cars doubling
capacity to 250 persons
|
|
17 March | • | Bus loaded to capacity fell
from cliff near Mexico City, killing
29 and injuring 36
|
|
19 March | • | Train schedules revised for
Sapporo area together with
partial completion of doubletracking
work on Chitose line
(Sapporo-Numanohata). New
station opened at Hoshimi
|
|
20 March | • | Sarin nerve gas sprayed on
Hibiya, Chiyoda and
Marunouchi Eidan subway
trains in Tokyo during rush
hour. Eleven killed and more
than 5000 hospitalized
|
|
21 March | • | French government announced
plans to build lightrail
pontoon link to Mont-Saint-
Michel, in multimillion dollar
face-lift to Breton landmark.
France's most-visited tourist
site increasingly threatened
with becoming part of mainland
in recent years
|
|
22 March | • | Coalition of people whose
relatives killed in China Airlines
crash at Nagoya Airport
last 26 April submitted petition
of more than 150,000 signatures
to Transport Ministry Aircraft
Investigation Committee
|
|
28 March | • | France faced transport chaos
as striking workers forced
main domestic airline, Air Inter,
to cancel third of flights.
Rail workers and Paris transport
authority, RATP, also
joined strike
|
|
29 March | • | European Commission gave
Greece go-ahead to build new
international airport for Athens
|
|
31 March | • | Airbus A300 of Rumanian
state-run Tarom Airline, bound
for Brussels, crashed and
burned shortly after take-off,
killing all 59 passengers and
crew
|
|
9 April | • | Earthquake-disrupted services
on all shinkansen lines in
Western Japan returned to
normal
|
|
15 April | • | Express train plowed into
crowded bus in Nile Delta
north of Cairo, Egypt, killing 42
people and injuring 45 others
|
|
19 April | • | State-owned Air France announced
sharp fall in losses
for 1994, reporting net deficit
of Ffr2.36 bn ($490.1 m) compared
with losses of Ffr8.48 bn
in 1993
|
|
22 April | • | More than 1,000 people rescued
when 8,000-ton Tallink
car ferry travelling from Finland
to Estonia ran aground off
island of Suomenlinna, near
Helsinki
|
|
27 April | • | Proposed T$442-bn ($17.4
bn) high-speed rail project to
link Taipei and Kaohsiung revived
following 2 years in
limbo after funding rejected by
Taiwan legislature in 1993
|
