2 July | • | 32 killed when trolley bus overturned
in Dneprodzerzhinsk, eastern
Ukraine
|
3 July | • | US regulatory agency approved
$5.4 billion mega-merger of Union Pacific
Corp. and Southern Pacific Rail Corp. combining
more than 50,000 km of track from
Canada to Mexico, and Midwest to Pacific,
creating biggest railroad in Western
Hemisphere
|
6 July | • | Formal 1988 Cabinet decision
following 1987 JNR privatization stipulated
that debts unpaid at end of fiscal 1997
must be paid by public. With high interest
rates snowballing debt to ¥27.6 trillion,
Japanese taxpayers could end up paying
¥200,000 per capita. Settlement likely to
involve issuing of government bonds after
March 1998, followed by tax hikes to cover
redemption
|
8 July | • | Air turbulence hit Qantas Airways
jumbo jet Flight 69 from Brisbane to
Tokyo injuring 23
|
15 July | • | Belgian Air Force Hercules 130
transport crashed and burned after executing
sharp turn immediately before landing
in Eindhoven, Holland killing 32 and
injuring 9 seriously
|
17 July | • | TWA Jumbo exploded in midair
off coast of Long Island, New York killing
all on board
|
18 July | • | Double-decker school bus
smashed into bridge specifically designed
and signposted for use only by singledeckers,
at Runcorn, UK injuring 49 children
and adults
|
• | World Theme Park and Resort
Fair '96 opens at Pacifico Yokohama. Exhibitors
included 23 domestic and foreign
theme park operators, and 115 airlines and
travel-related corporations. 132,000 visitors
crowded exhibition
|
19 July | • | Last of old, red Class-500
EMUs used on Tokyo Marunouchi Line to
be retired and sold to Metrovias, Argentina's
subway company. 500s continue
serving on Buenos Aires' subway system
without modification because two countries'
subway systems identical
|
• | 26th Summer Olympics open
in Atlanta. During 16 days until 4 August,
over 15,000 athletes competed in 271
events covering 26 sports, representing all
197 member nations
|
20 July | • | Ladies-only toilets unveiled for
Tohoku/Joetsu shinkansen in response to
female passengers' requests, forming part
of Clean-up Campaign following 10th anniversary
of JR East's inauguration
|
21 July | • | WWII-vintage Mosquito bomber
crashes at British air show on outskirts
of Manchester killing 2, including pilot
|
22 July | • | Bomb exploded in domestic
waiting lounge at Lahore International Airport
in Punjab, eastern Pakistan, killing at
least 9 people and injuring 30
|
24 July | • | Fokker Friendship aircraft of
Myanmar Airlines crashed on landing in
southern Myanmar, killing 8 and injuring
14
|
25 July | • | Hijacker arrested after hijacking
Algerian Airlines B767 at Oran Airport,
Algeria. Security forces arrested man
about 5 hours later. 232 passengers unharmed
|
• | Deutsche Bahn ordered novel
low-pollution train ventilation system developed
by British company, Normalair-Garrett.
System said to be first in world to use aircycle
technology for passenger trains
|
26 July | • | JR Central's 300X next-generation
experimental bullet train achieves domestic
record of 443 kph in pre-dawn
Maibara-Kyoto run, breaking own previous
domestic rail speed records
|
• | Air Iberia DC10 bound for Havana,
Cuba from Madrid, Spain, hijacked
by man over Mexico City. Aircraft made
emergency landing at Miami International
Airport, Florida where hijacker arrested by
FBI officers. All 231 passengers and crew
unharmed
|
2 August | • | Tokyo's Ryogoku Station on
JR Sobu Line converted to beer restaurant
seating 900, largest indoor non-chain
restaurant in Tokyo
|
• | Two Mongolian youths die after
stowing away on American C-141 B
transport plane. Mechanics at Katena military
base, Okinawa, discovered two
youths unconscious in landing gear bay in
bottom of fuselage
|
4 August | • | Agreement to open skies to
overflights by world airlines signed between
North Korea and International Air
Transport Association (IATA) representing
95% of all international scheduled flights.
Agreement reduces flight time and costs
between major cities in northeast and
southeast Asia and Russian Far East
|
5 August | • | JR East installs world's first
personal driving simulator for trains at Central
Training Centre (Omiya City, Saitama)
|
7 August | • | U2 reconnaissance aircraft
crashes in USA killing pilot and two people
on ground
|
• | 1995 passenger numbers for
major Japanese private railways drop marginally
showing that 7.76 billion passengers
carried, drop of 0.9% on previous
year, and 4th straight year-on-year decline.
Japan Non-Government Railways' Association
gives corporate relocations to suburban
areas, and dwindling number of
children as reasons for long-term downtrend
|
8 August | • | Crowded commuter train collided
head-on with empty passenger train
near Watford Junction, 15 miles north of
London, killing one passenger and injuring
70 others, some seriously
|
13 August | • | Cash snatched from aircraft
landing at Perpignan Airport, France by
group in military dress forcing crew of Air
Inter Airbus A320 to open cargo hold. None
of 173 passengers and crew hurt
|
15 August | • | Bosnia-Herzegovina's Sarajevo
Airport, closed to civil air traffic for
4 years by civil war, re-opened with flights
arriving from Turkey and Croatia
|
• | Doulos, world's oldest oceangoing
passenger ship and crewed by about
300 volunteers from 34 countries berthed
at Nagoya Garden Pier. Open to public from
23 August to 18 September featuring book
fair and other international activities
|
16 August | • | Japan international air passengers
up 14% in 1995 to 14.47 million
according to statistics announced by Ministry
of Transport. Domestic air traffic
reached 78.1 million passengers (4.8%
increase over previous year). In addition
to booming international travel trend, opening
of Kansai International Airport had
major year-round impact boosting both
international and domestic traffic. International
and domestic cargo traffic both grew
by 6%
|
• | Light sightseeing aircraft
hijacked by group of Cubans in Cuba and
crashed into sea. Pilot and hijackers rescued
by cargo ship
|
17 August | • | Successful test launch of
Japanese H2 rocket with release of
ADEOS earth observation satellite
|
21 August | • | EgyptAir Boeing 707 from
Cairo overran Istanbul Airport and collided
with taxi injuring 20 people
|
24 August | • | JR West began electrification
of Bantan Line on 29.6-km Himeji-
Teramae section. Work to be completed
in spring of 1998. Maximum speed to be
increased from 95 kph to 110 kph, saving
about 7 minutes over sector
|
29 August | • | Tupolev 154 aircraft belonging
to civilian Russian airline, Vrnkovo Airlines,
crashed on Spitzbergen Island in
Arctic killing 141 passengers and crew
|