2 May | • | Luxury liner, Crystal Symphony
arrived in New York after
inaugural trans-Atlantic
crossing. 250-meter, 50,000-
ton vessel, built in Turku, Finland,
then departed for Los
Angeles.
|
4 May | • | Two-hour blackout suspended
operations of shinkansen
trains heading north out of Tokyo,
forcing cancellation of
several and inconveniencing
some 25,000 passengers.
Crow's nest on cable caused
short circuit, official said.
|
5 May | • | Canada to sell national railways.
Government said will
sell 100% of holdings in company.
Given relatively small
size of Canadian market, no
limits on foreign ownership of
shares but no one to hold
more than 15% of stock.
|
7 May | • | Narita and Kansai airports set
records as flood of people returned
home from overseas
Golden Week holidays.
49,000 people used Narita
and 21,000 Kansai International
Airport which opened
early September 1994.
|
• | Small Cessna crashed in
mountains of southern Utah
killing all 6 people aboard.
|
8 May | • | Six people killed and two
saved when bus fell from ferry
into 30 meters of water off port
of Hattvik, Norway.
|
• | 12th International Convention
and Exposition on High-Speed
Rail held in Boston.
|
9 May | • | All Nippon Airways applied for
government approval of plans
to inaugurate flights linking
Kansai International Airport
with Shanghai, Bangkok and
Kuala Lumpur.
|
• | 140 people, including 78
middle school students,
slightly injured in ferry accident
after 140-ton Kurosaki,
carrying 206 passengers and
3 crew, crashed into pier in
Kensennuma, Miyagi Prefecture,
Japan.
|
• | South-Korea Daewoo group,
leading industrial conglomerate,
to participate in construction
of 1,500-km railway in
northern Australia. Railway
targeted at steadily growing
number of tourists from Japan,
South Korea and other Asian
countries.
|
15 May | • | JR Hokkaido announced construction
plan for hotel in front
of Obihiro station. To house
about 280 guests in 170
rooms on 11 storeys, with full
convention facilities.
|
• | JR East unveiled new Series
E2 trainset for Tohoku
Shinkansen between Tokyo
and Morioka. Eight-carriage
trains, white and light blue,
with bright red stripes designed
to be ‘dynamic and
graceful’.
|
16 May | • | 42 people killed and 23 missing
when Philippine inter-island
ferry caught fire and sank
near Lucena. Overloaded vessel
carrying more than 150
listed on manifest, police said.
|
• | Government white paper announced
13.58 million people
went abroad last year, up
13.8% over previous year, and
all-time record high. Yen's
strength and opening of
Kansai International Airport
listed as reason. 3.47 million
people visited Japan, 1.7% increase,
resulting in $35.3 billion
travel deficit for year, lowering
overall trade surplus.
|
18 May | • | Two trains collided spilling
crude oil and gasoline in Japan
Railway cargo terminal in
Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture.
Tank cars spilled 60
kilolitres of oil, spreading over
10-km area through irrigation
system.
|
20 May | • | Three Chinese companies
won contracts to help build two
subway lines in Teheran and
43-km electrified railway to
satellite town of Karaj. Subway
to be completed in 2 years to
become largest and longest
underground in middle East.
|
22 May | • | Kobe Port Liner resumed operation
on Port Island enabling
travel by monorail around artificial
island from Kitafuto to
Naka Koen station. Transport
system knocked out of service
by Great Hanshin Earthquake.
|
23 May | • | Sightseeing bus carrying 30
people tumbled down highway
embankment near Bristol, England.
Ten people killed and
20 others seriously injured.
|
24 May | • | Twin-engined plane of local
commercial airline crashed
shortly after takeoff from
Leeds Airport, England, killing
all 12 people aboard.
|
25 May | • | All 7 seven JR companies report
profit reductions for 1994,
first time since privatization in
1987. Recurring profits down
32.5%, and total sales down
2.9%. Reduced domestic
travel due to yen's strength
overseas, and decrease in
freight business reported as
causes. JR Kyushu and JR
Shikoku reported first recurring
losses, and JR Freight fell
deeper into red.
|
28 May | • | Pre-dawn 7.5 Richter magnitude
earthquake hit Sakhalin,
Russia, destroying all structures
in hardest-hit village of
Nevchegorsk. Ten days after
disaster, 2,159 persons reported
dead.
|
• | German Railways raised top
speed of InterCity-Express
services from 250 to 280 km/h
on both Hannover-Warzburg
and Mannheim-Stuttgart-
Neubaustrecken routes.
|
• | Paris hosted 3-day International
Union of Public Transport
51st Congress and City
Transport '95 exhibition.
|
29 May | • | Twenty-two people drowned
and 100 injured in central Indian
Narmada river after three
boats capsized during festival.
Hundreds of residents of
nearby villages went to dip in
Narmada on occasion of
Somvati Amavasya, considered
auspicious day by Hindus.
|
30 May | • | Railway Friends Club (nationwide
organization of railway
fans) awarded Blue Ribbon
Prize to Nankai Electric Railway
Rapide Kansai Airport Express
(50000 Series) and Laurel
Prize to JR Hokkaido Super Hokuto (DMU 281 Series)
pendulum diesel train.
|
31 May | • | Tokyo's newly-appointed governor,
Yukio Aoshima, announced
cancellation of World
City Expo Tokyo, 96 keeping
campaign promise.
|
• | Twenty-four people died when
bus, travelling without lights to
avoid drawing Indian gunfire,
plunged into ravine in Pakistan-
controlled Kashmir.
|
1 June | • | Japan Air Lines and Air
France signed agreement in
Tokyo to expand cooperation,
including linking frequent flyer
programmes. Two airlines
also to cooperate in airport operations.
|
2 June | • | Train collision kills at least 48
in India. Jammu-Tawi express
collided with goods trains near
Kalubathan Station on border
of eastern states of Bihar and
West Bengal.
|
3 June | • | Australian Transport Minister,
Laurie Brereton announced
plans to form national track
authority to manage standardgauge
interstate network. Proposal
welcomed by NRC and
Westrail.
|
• | In ceremony at Integral Coach
Factory near Madras, Vietnam
Ambassador to India formally
took delivery of first ten airconditioned
luxury coaches to
be used on express between
Hanoi and Saigon.
|
5 June | • | Express passenger train
bound for Switzerland
slammed into work train killing
four people and injuring 38
near village of Cuzzego, few
kilometres south of next main
stop, Domodossola, not far
from Italian-Swiss border.
|
• | Seven people killed and 43 injured
in crash of bus carrying
passengers from Wales on
day trip to Shakespeare's
birthplace in England.
|
• | Subway train collided with
train in front over New York
East River. One driver killed
and 60 passengers injured.
|
6 June | • | Japan Maritime Self-Defense
Force MH53E minesweeping
helicopter caught fire and sank
during training manoeuvres
over Sagami Bay, Kanagawa
Prefecture. Eight crew members
missing.
|
7 June | • | Japan and France agreed to
increase number of flights between
two countries and also
between New Caledonia and
Japan. Agreement will enable
both nations to add one additional
flight each week on Tokyo-
Paris route starting next
summer and on Tokyo-
Noumea route starting this
winter. Japan currently has 19
flights to France each week
and France has 16 flights to
Japan. Air France also flies
twice weekly between Tokyo
and Noumea.
|
• | South Africa and Mozambique
celebrated 100 years of rail
link. Steam locomotive hauling
13 carriages ran from Pretoria
to Mozambique capital,
Maputo, to mark centenary of
old Transvaal Republic's link
to Indian Ocean.
|
9 June | • | Minister of Transport Shizuka
Kamei approved fare rise application
by 14 major private
railway companies in Kanto,
Kansai and Nagoya, and
Tokyo's Rapid Transit Authority.
Average rise of 14.7%, to
take effect 1 September. First
major railway fare increase
since November 1991.
|
12 June | • | JR East unveiled Series E2
trainset for use on Hokuriku
Shinkansen from Takasaki to
Nagano in 1997. Eight-carriage
lightweight trains to
handle up to 30 per mil gradients.
Feature frequency converters,
and run at up to 275
km/h.
|
• | Standing room only, new commuter
car with folding seats to
be used during rush hour on
Hankyu Kobe line. Carriage allows
for more passengers and
first of kind in Kansai region.
|
• | SNCF and Air France took
modest move toward common
ticketing. International travellers
to and from Lille via Paris
Charles de Gaulle airport able
to buy ticket combining flight
and TGV travel between airport
and Lille-Europa.
|
• | Collapse of floating jetty on
Chao Phraya River in
Bangkok threw group of elementary
schoolchildren into
river. Nineteen people killed,
36 injured.
|
15 June | • | Pre-dawn earthquake shook
western Greece, killing at least
14 and injuring over 40.
|
• | French court decision in
favour of parcels courier
Eurostar gives SNCF, SNCB
and EPS six months to choose
another name for high-speed
rail services across Channel.
SNCF to appeal ruling.
|
16 June | • | Fourteen people killed and 31
injured when bus, truck and
car collided on highway close
to eastern coastal city of
Tarragona, Spain.
|
20 June | • | All Nippon Airways 747 carrying
365 passengers and crew
members bound for Hakodate
from Tokyo hijacked by man
claiming to be member of Aum
cult (believed responsible for
Tokyo nerve gas attack) . Police
stormed plane, capturing
lone hijacker and ending 15-
hour ordeal for passengers.
|
• | Saudi Arabian Airlines announced
long-awaited order
for 23 new Boeing 777 twinjets
and five 747 Jumbo jets. Order
part of $6-billion deal originally
announced by President
Bill Clinton in February 1994
but stalled by falling oil prices.
|
22 June | • | Australian government
launched long-awaited sale of
national carrier Qantas Airways
with release of float prospectus
aimed at raising at
least A$1.37 billion.
|
• | Mitsubishi Heavy industries
Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp.
jointly won $400-million order
from Edsa LRT of Hong Kong
to build 18-km streetcar system
in Manila. Two companies
will build modern system including
stations and other facilities
due to begin operating
in 1998.
|
24 June | • | Runaway rail freight train
slammed into Czech passenger
train, killing 17 people in
Chrudin, about 80 km east of
Prague. Three freight cars
broke loose and ran onto
tracks where passenger train
travelling.
|
25 June | • | Sixteen people killed and 64
injured when Russian-built aircraft
overshot runway at
Lagos Airport, Nigeria and
burst into flames. Aircraft on
domestic flight from city of
Kaduna to Lagos when jet
skidded off rain-soaked runway
into field.
|
29 June | • | Britain and China reached
long-awaited consensus over
vital financial arrangements
for Hong Kong's new $20.3-
billion (¥1.7 trillion) airport,
bringing essential borrowing
for project one step closer. Airport
due to open in 1997.
|
2 July | • | 15-m high platform for Chuo
Line in Tokyo Station completed.
Yamanote and Keihin
Tohoku lines moved to Chuo
Line platform to make room for
Hokuriku Shinkansen scheduled
to start operation in 1997.
|
4 July | • | Japan Maritime Self Defense
Force SH60J anti-submarine
helicopter crashed over sea
off Erimo Misaki, southern
Hokkaido, during training
manoeuvres. Two of 3 crew
members rescued, but pilot
missing.
|
7 July | • | JR East opened Folkloro Tono
Hotel, in renovated station
building in Tono, Iwate Prefecture.
Hotel has 18 rooms for
56 guests. Built in 1950, modelled
on German station building.
Name means ‘folk story’ in
Esperanto, for which Tono is
famous.
|
10 July | • | Twenty-six people killed in two
separate bus crashes in
France. Twenty-two people,
mainly students, killed and 32
injured when Spanish coach
overturned on highway in
southern France, making it
worst road disaster in 13 years
in France. Four people killed
and 25 injured in collision between
Slovakian tourist bus
and truck in Meuse region of
northeastern France.
|
12 July | • | Light plane carrying 15 people
crashed onto beach in Papua
New Guinea killing all on
board. Twin Otter crashed
minutes after taking off from
coastal airstrip on southeast
tip of country's mainland.
|
16 July | • | Two magnetically-levitated linear
train motor cars arrived at
experimental line depot in
Tsukuba, Yamanashi Prefecture.
Both transported by ship
to Tagonoura, Shizuoka Prefecture,
and then put aboard
special trailer and taken to experimental
line depot. To be
assembled with middle cars to
undergo number of tests in
preparation for running tests
scheduled to begin in early
1997.
|
18 July | • | Plane carrying medical relief
workers crashed as tried to
land at airport in Madagascar
capital, Antananarivo, killing
34 people with 6 survivors.
Plane was flying from
Maintirano on west coast of island
nation.
|
19 July | • | Greece to award $2.3-billion
contract to consortium, led by
Hochtief of Germany, for construction
of new international
airport. Official said Hochtief
would get roughly 45%, and
state 55% stake in facility, located
at Sparta, east of Athens.
|
• | European Commission approved
merger of Sabena,
Belgium's state-owned airline,
with Swissair. Mr Neil Kinnock,
transport commissioner, said
deal good for both companies
and would bring benefits to
travellers.
|
20 July | • | Giant merger of Burlington
Northern Inc. and Santa Fe
Pacific Corp. approved by Interstate
Commerce Commission
creating United States'
largest rail network with about
$7 billion in annual revenue
and dominant share of rail
cargo in west.
|
22 July | • | Japanese Transport Ministry
and Home Affairs Ministry decided
to set up consortium
comprising national government,
local authorities in
Osaka and Kansai International
Airport Co. to shoulder
costs of reclamation work involved
in construction of second
runway at Kansai International
Airport.
|
25 July | • | Time bomb exploded in stationary
train in Paris' Saint
Michel underground station,
killing 5 and injuring over 60,
some seriously.
|
27 July | • | 22.3-km highway section from
Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto to Ebi,
Miyazaki completed and formally
opened.
|
28 July | • | Sightseeing bus in Cologne,
Germany hijacked by man
with gun barricaded amongst
20 passengers for about 7
hours. Hijacker killed bus
driver and one woman before
shot dead by special police
unit storming bus.
|
29 July | • | Small aircraft crashed on JR
Nemuro line in Akabira,
Hokkaido, killing 3 people on
board. Tracks closed for about
2.5 hours in both directions,
disrupting service on 5 lines.
|
31 July | • | Kobe Port Liner, connecting
Kobe Sannomiya and Port Island,
reopened between
Sannomiya and Nakakoen
stations, 6.5 months after
Great Hanshin Earthquake. All
routes between city and island
now back in service.
|
1 August | • | Chiba City Monorail Line No. 1
partially opened (1.5 km from
Chiba Minato to Chiba). Temporarily
operating as continuation
of opened Line No. 2 (12
km from Chiba to Chishirodai)
|
7 August | • | Large sightseeing bus with
over 40 passengers fell about
200 m into valley and burst
into flames in Sichuan Province,
China. Over 20 people
killed and 24 others injured.
|
9 August | • | Boeing 737 of Guatemalan airline
crashed into volcano outside
San Salvador, killing all
65 people aboard.
|
10 August | • | First fatal accident on
Toronto's subway system
since opened in 1954 left three
people dead, more than 36 injured
and countless others
dazed by ordeal in sweltering
tunnel. Accident occurred during
Friday evening rush-hour
when train full of commuters
ran into rear of another going
out of service between Dupont
and St. Clair West stations in
uptown area of Forest Hill.
|
• | Sightseeing bus loaded with
elementary schoolchildren hit
from rear by large truck on
Tomei Expressway in
Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Bus roof ripped off, killing
guide and two others, injuring
40 children, some seriously.
|
11 August | • | Train plunged into Alpine
gorge in western Austria killing
four people and injuring about
100. Locomotive and three
coaches plummeted 40
meters into gorge after landslide
washed away bridge during
torrential rains.
|
20 August | • | Some 350 passengers killed
and another 400 injured when
express train slammed into
another train stopped on track
after hitting cow. Two trains
carrying total of 2,200 passengers,
most asleep when disaster
occurred. Toll one of highest
in Indian railroad 142-year
history.
|
22 August | • | Nineteen people injured when
New York subway train collided
with stationary train.
|
23 August | • | Kobe New Transit Co., Ltd.
Rokko Island Line, heavily
damaged during Great
Hanshin Earthquake, resumed
service. Last rail line to be restored.
Service restored to JR
on 1 April, Hankyu Corp. on 12
June, Hanshin Electric Railway
on 26 June, and Kobe
New Transit Co., Ltd. Port Island
Line on 31 July.
|
25 August | • | One person killed and 120 injured
at Goisan in central
South Korea when train
jumped tracks on river bridge
with foundations weakened by
3 days of heavy rain.
|
• | Express train derailed and
overturned in Korea, killing
one passenger and injuring
120 others, some seriously.
Derailment caused by track
subsidence from heavy traffic
flow. Seoul-bound train following
detour due to landslide at
time of crash.
|
2 September | • | Twin-engined turboprop plane
crashed in Arizona, killing all 8
people aboard, including four
JTB employees.
|
3 September | • | JR Shinmei line (121.8 km,
from Fukagawa to Nayoro),
Japan's least profitable line
since 1986, stopped service
after 71 years. Line opened in
1924 between Nayoro and
Tadoshi for lumber transport,
completed in 1941. Users decreased
due to decrease in
lumbering, depopulation and
increase in automobile use.
|
15 September | • | Fokker 50 airplane of Malaysian
domestic airline exploded
shortly before landing at
Tawau Airport in Malaysian
state of Sabah. Crashed in
flames into settlement near
airport. Sixteen people rescued,
35 killed, pilot and co-pilot
missing.
|
22 September | • | USA Air Force E3 AWACS
plane exploded shortly after
takeoff from Air Force Base
near Anchorage, Alaska.
Twenty-two American, and
two Canadian military personnel
killed, no survivors.
|