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3 March | • | Five cars of 17-car train overturned
due to brake failure in eastern
Punjab, Pakistan, killing 125 and injuring
175
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5 March | • | Two persons died when Air
Command II-R532 gyroplane crashed during
practice at Yamaga Airport in
Wakamatsu, Kita-Kyushu, Japan
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8 March | • | JR West Tozai Line (12.5 km
from Kyobashi to Amagasaki in Osaka)
opened with 200,000 passengers per day
expected
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10 March | • | Far Eastern Air Transport
B757 with 158 passengers and crew on
board, headed for Taipei from Kao-hsiung,
Taiwan, hijacked and landed at Xiamen Airport
in Fujian Province, China. Hijacker requested
asylum
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11 March | • | Explosion at nuclear fuel reprocessing
plant in Tokaimura, Japan, exposed
37 workers to radiation
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12 March | • | JR West and JR Central hold
International High-Speed Railway Conference
1997 at Okayama City to commemorate
25th anniversary of opening of Sanyo
Shinkansen
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|
14 March | • | Furious passengers took over
train of South West Trains in UK when behind-
schedule Exeter-bound train stopped
short in Salisbury and they were told to divert
100 miles to catch another service to
Exeter. South West Trains finally yielded
and continued train. Company facing fine
and threat of franchise removal for poor
service
|
| • | Bus plunged from 36-m cliff
in Shaanxi Province, China, killing 25 and
injuring 27
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18 March | • | Stavropol Airlines Antonov 24
aircraft en route from Stavropol, Russia to
Trabzon in Turkey, crashed near Cherkessk
killing all 50 on board
|
| • | Japan Telecom and ITJ agree
to merger under Japan Telecom name from
1 October. Merger ratio set at 1 Japan
Telecom share to 12 ITJ shares. Two corporations'
joint earnings of ¥383.9 billion in
March 1996 quarter ranked third after NTT
(¥6,235 billion) and DDI (¥400 billion)
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|
19 March | • | Twenty drivers of Great Eastern
told to drive over body on Shenfield-
Southend Line, UK, after woman committed
suicide. Decision made jointly by Great
Eastern, Railtrack and police to prevent
train delays
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|
22 March | • | JR companies revised spring
timetables with start of Akita Shinkansen
(Morioka–Akita) connecting with Tohoku
Shinkansen, linking Tokyo and Akita (663
km) in minimum 3 hours 49 minutes
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| • | JR West applied to British
Guiness Book of Records for 500-series
Nozomi for maximum average speed between
two stops (Hiroshima and Ogura) of
261.8 km/h. Application also made for average
speed of 242.5 km/h over journey
start-to-finish
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25 March | • | Train smashed into packed
city bus at railway crossing in Nammwon,
South Korea, killing 14 and injuring 20
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|
30 March | • | British Airways Jumbo flew
from New York to London with one passenger
monopolizing services of 17 cabin crew,
usually responsible for 426 passengers
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|
31 March | • | Fifty years of state ownership
of UK railways ended when Scotrail, last of
25 BR franchises, passed into private sector
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| • | Passenger train carrying approximately
250 people derailed at Huarte
Araquil in northern Spain killing at least 21,
and injuring 86
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|
1 April | • | Shimabara Railway Co. reopened
entire line after 4-year hiatus for
repair work on Gaiko–Fukae section due
to eruption of Mt Unzen
|
| • | US Air Force C-130 transport
crashed near Tegucigalpa International Airport,
Honduras, killing three of 10 on board
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|
3 April | • | Practical running tests commenced
on superconductive levitating linear
motor car (MAGLEV) on test line
in Yamanashi Prefecture (Tsuru City–
Otsuki), Japan, with aim of stable travel at
500 km/h
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|
4 April | • | Nine-car Azusa 70 express
bound for Tokyo from Matsumoto broke
down in tunnel between Yanagawa and
Shiotsu on JR Chuo Line in Otsuki City,
Yamanashi Prefecture
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|
7 April | • | Four-car east-bound local train
carrying 60 passengers ran into landslide,
between Taura and Anjunzuka Kanagawa
Prefecture on Keihin Kyuko Line derailing
three carriages
|
| • | Two young children (aged 5 and
3) and grandmother rescued safely 6 days
after light aircraft crashed in dense forest
in western Colombia, South America. Pilot
and children's mother killed
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|
11 April | • | JR Central made provisional
application for listing on Tokyo, Osaka,
Nagoya and Kyoto stock markets in early
October. Third JR group company to go
public, following JR East in 1993, and JR
West in 1996. JR Central expects ¥1.125
trillion of business in 1997 March quarter
and current profits of ¥64.7 billion
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|
14 April | • | JR East announced operations
on Takasaki–Nagano section (115.8 km) of
Hokuriku Shinkansen to start 1 October. 8-
car Asama to make 24 round trips each day
between Tokyo–Nagano (220.8 km) with
journey time of approximately 80 minutes
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|
15 April | • | Tent fire killed 217 pilgrims visiting
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
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|
18 April | • | China Transnational Railway
resumed twice-weekly passenger and
freight services between Lao Cai, Vietnam,
and Hekou, China linking two cities in approximately
32 hours
|
|
19 April | • | State-operated Merpati
Nusantara Airlines turboprop airliner carrying
53 people crashed on Belitung Island
south of Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 18 and
severely injuring 31
|
|
21 April | • | JR Group Health Insurance
Union held first board meeting. Mr
Mutsutake Otsuka, Managing Director of JR
East, elected as Chairman of Union insuring
approximately 200,000 people
|
|
23 April | • | ANA announced new mediumterm
5-year plan assuming parallel runway
at Narita Airport to be completed in 2000,
and progress in US-Japan aviation talks.
Plan aims to increase ANA share on domestic
routes to 50%, and increase business
turnover by 30% to ¥1.15 trillion
|
|
26 April | • | JR East launched aggressive
campaign for newly-opened Tokyo-Akita
Komachi mini-shinkansen to lure passengers
from airlines. ANA suffered 10% decrease,
and JAL 4%, compared to previous
year
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|
29 April | • | Express train from Kunming
bound for Zhengzhou crashed into stationary
passenger train at Rongjiawan Station
in Yueyang, Hunan Province, killing 58 and
injuring approximately 300 people
|
|
7 May | • | Four cars of passenger train derailed,
smashing into parked freight train,
killing 12 and injuring 30 in Szczecin, northwestern
Poland
|
|
9 May | • | Boeing 737 crash-landed in rainstorm
at Shenzhen Airport, killing 35 passengers
|
| • | Travel Fair ‘97, opened at Osaka’s
South Port, and attended by 180,000
people
|
|
10 May | • | Strong earthquake of 7.1 magnitude
struck Khorasan Province in Eastern
Iran with death toll reaching 1568
|
| • | Amtrak's century-old Desert
Wind passenger train linking LA, Las Vegas
and Salt Lake City halted due to decline
in federal rail subsidies and air
competition
|
|
12 May | • | Figures for total business volume
in FY 1996 for 50 major travel firms
collated by Ministry of Transport totalled
¥6.282 trillion (4.5% increase over previous
year), but earnings from overseas visitors
dropped 4.4% to ¥29.5 billion
|
|
17 May | • | Four paragliders crashed at rally
at Takayama, Nagano Prefecture, Japan,
killing one and severely injuring two
|
|
18 May | • | Direct train service began on
alternate days between Hong Kong and
Beijing on 2400-km Beijing–Kowloon Railway
with journey time of 29 hours and 40
minutes
|
|
20 May | • | JR West gives 50 carriages and
engines free-of-charge to State Railway of
Thailand. JR East previously donated 50
engines to Sakhalin
|
|
21 May | • | JR East announced construction
of permanent JR East Art Centre at
Hamamatsu-cho, Tokyo, in cooperation with
Four Seasons Theatre Company. JR East
to build theatre on approximately 9400 m²
of vacant company land. Theatre expected
to open in October 1998, functioning as cultural
focus for JR East
|
| • | Aerospatiale SA 315B Alouette
III load-lifting helicopter crashed on western
slope of Mt Akadake in Yatsugatake
Range of Nagano and Yamanashi Prefectures,
Japan, killing pilot
|
|
23 May | • | Seven JR companies closed accounts,
with JR Central and JR West recording
best ever results, while three
main-island JRs including JR East recorded
increased profits for second consecutive
year. JR Hokkaido, JR Kyushu and JR
Shikoku, showed increased revenue after
fare increases last January, reducing current
deficits. JR Freight, showed deficit for
fourth consecutive quarter, increasing to
¥10 billion
|
|
26 May | • | Ground-breaking ceremony held
for Shinagawa Station to be constructed by
JR Central to increase transport capacity
of Tokaido Shinkansen. Two double platforms
to be constructed at total cost of ¥95
billion. New station scheduled for completion
in 2003, permitting up to 15 (currently
11) combined departures per hour from
new station and Tokyo Central Station
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