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5 March | • | Seibu Railway Co. filed application
with Tokyo Metropolitan Government to build
30-storey hotel and park on company land
close to Tokyo Tower
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8 March | • | Itochu Corp., Kinki Sharyo Co.,
Ltd. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.
jointly unveiled order worth 50 billion yen
for 250 railway carriages from Kowloon
Canton Railway Corporation of Hong Kong
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9 March | • | Amtrak announced new Acela
express to run in eastern USA, beginning
later this year. Train to boast max. speed of
240 km/h and will reduce travel time between
Boston and Washington DC (280 km) from
4.5 hours to 3 hours
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10 March | • | Sagami Railway's Izumino Line
extended 3.1 km between Izumi Chuo and
Shonandai to connect with Odakyu
Railway's Enoshima Line at Shonandai
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13 March | • | Series 700 Nozomi shinkansen
debuted between Tokyo and Hakata as
result of joint development by JR Central
and JR West. Max. speed of 285 km/h,
lower than 300 km/h of Series 500 operated
by JR West but improved noise levels,
energy saving, ride comfort, etc.
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15 March | • | Korean Air plane over-ran
runway at Riko Airport in south Korea,
injuring 70 passengers and crew
|
| • | Amtrak night train from Chicago
to New Orleans collided with trailer on
crossing in Chicago, leaving 16 people dead
and two missing
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16 March | • | North Wing of Terminal 1 at
Tokyo's Narita Airport reopened after more
than 6 years, increasing lobby space by 50%
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24 March | • | Fire in Mont Blanc Tunnel (11.5
km) in French Alps left at least 35 dead
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28 March | • | 80-year old woman in wheelchair
killed on crossing by express train on
Hanshin Railway's main line
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2 April | • | Japan National Tourist Organization
(JNTO) figures for foreign visitors to
Japan in 1998 showed drop of 2.7% to 4.106
million, second-highest figure recorded.
Number of Japanese visitors abroad
recorded minus growth for first time in 7
years, decreasing by 5.9% to 15.806 million
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4 April | • | Niigata Transportation Company's
line between Higashi Sekiya and Tsukigata
(21.6 km) closed to end 66-year history
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5 April | • | Transport Minister Jiro Kawasaki
met China's Railway Minister Fu Zhihuan in
Beijing to explain Japan's plan to bid for
express train project linking Beijing and
Shanghai
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8 April | • | Passenger car on pedestrian
crossing of Chichibu Railway Co. in
Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, hit by train,
killing car driver and passenger
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12 April | • | Suspended monorail at
Wuppertal in Germany, derailed killing three
passengers and injuring at least 59
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14 April | • | Manned test of MAGLEV by JR
Central and Railway Technical Research
Institute in Yamanashi Prefecture, achieved
world record manned speed of 552 km/h
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15 April | • | Korean Air MD-11 cargo aircraft
from Shanghai to Seoul crashed on takeoff
killing all three crew and six people on
ground
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17 April | • | JR West began loading 20
diesel railcars carriages donated to State
Railway of Thailand
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18 April | • | Usui Pass Railway Monument
Park opened at site adjoining Yokokawa
Station on JR Shin'etsu Line. Railway
theme park includes Class EF63 electric
locomotive used on rack-and-pinion Usui
Pass plus 21 other locomotives and carriages
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22 April | • | Sendai branch of JR East
unveiled 359-million yen investment in
Sendai Airport railway access project. New
line opening in 2004 to cover 7.2 km
between JR East's Natori Station (Tohoku
Line) and airport
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25 April | • | Japan Telecom Co.,Ltd. (JR
affiliate), British Telecom (BT) and AT&T
announced capital tie up, marking first major
capital link up of Japanese telecommunications
company with overseas counterparts
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29 April | • | JR East started occasional
operation of C57 steam locomotive between
Niitsu and Aizu Wakamatsu on Ban'etsu
West Line (111 km) until 28 November.
Locomotive preserved in Niitsu for last 30
years, but recalled to service to revitalize
holiday areas along line
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1 May | • | Setouchi Shimanami road opened,
linking Onomichi (Hiroshima Prefecture) and
Imabari (Ehime Prefecture) as part of
Honshu–Shikoku Highway (Onomichi–
Imabari route) and completing last of three
bridge links in Seto Inland Sea
|
| • | JR Hokkaido started occasional
operation of Suzuran C11 steam locomotive
on Rumoi Line between Fukagawa and
Rumoi (50.1 km) for tourism
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9 May | • | Tourist bus with 46 passengers
crashed into embankment on highway in
New Orleans, USA, killing 22 passengers
|
| • | 54-year old blind man killed on
crossing by express train on Hanshin
Railway's main line at Nishinomiya
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10 May | • | Japanese Ministry of Transport
abandoned plan to build 2500-m second
parallel runway at Tokyo's Narita Airport by
fiscal 2000 due to failure to obtain land (4.8
ha) from opposing farmers
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14 May | • | JR East announced introduction
of new IC card commuting season tickets in
January 2001 for major stations within a
100-km radius of Tokyo
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21 May | • | Bahaman-registered cruise ship
San Vista (30,440 tonnes, 1100 passengers
and crew) caught fire and sank in Strait of
Malacca, Malaysia, without loss of life
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25 May | • | Japanese Ministry of Transport
announced survey to promote urban railways.
In Tokyo, survey will include through
operation of Tobu–Tojo Line and Seibu–
Ikebukuro Line to Haneda Airport, etc.
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27 May | • | Japan Non-Government Railways
Association announced 7.337 billion
passengers carried by 15 major private
railway companies in FY 1998, down 1.9%
from previous year and seventh consecutive
drop since peak of 8.010 billion passengers
carried in FY 1991
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28 May | • | JR Central unveiled automatic
train control (ATC) system for Tokaido
Shinkansen to be introduced in 2006,
enabling faster timetable recovery after
delays, etc.
|
| • | International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) approved Montreal
Convention to increase compensation for
victims of transport accidents. Under new
convention, international airlines have no
liability limit
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