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2 December | • | Australian commuter train
bound for Sydney from Lithgow ran into
Indian Pacific long-distance train near
Sydney, killing 12 people
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3 December | • | Groundbreaking ceremony
held for construction of parallel runway
(2180 m) at Narita Airport near Tokyo with
plans to start use in May 2002 in time for
World Cup soccer tournament
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4 December | • | Yamagata Shinkansen
service extended 61.5 km to Shinjo,
providing fastest direct link with Tokyo in 3
hours 5 minutes
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5 December | • | Bangkok Mass Transit
System started service with three-car
trains every 2 to 3 minutes on 23.5 km of
elevated track
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6 December | • | Test car of Chiba Urban
Monorail ran out of control in inspection
shed at Inage, Chiba Prefecture in Japan,
killing one worker and injuring another
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7 December | • | Light passenger plane of
Philippine domestic airline crashed on
Luzon Island, killing all 17 passengers and
crew
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8 December | • | Airbus Industrie consortium
announced investigation into funding for
development of super-large Airbus A3XX,
accommodating 550 to 800 passengers
with aim of entering service from 2005
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11 December | • | Passenger plane of
Portuguese Sata Airline crashed on Sao
Jorge Island in Azores, killing all 35
passengers and crew
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15 December | • | JR East announced gift of
21 carriages to Philippine National
Railways with JR staff to offer technical
advice on inspection and maintenance
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| • | JR East started 1-month
operation of special ‘Eco Train’ on Keihin
Tohoku Line (Omiya–Ofuna) in Tokyo
Metropolitan Area, exhibiting posters and
compositions with ‘Save the Earth’ theme
by elementary and junior high school
students
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16 December | • | New Korea High Speed
Rail KTX (Korea Train Express) to connect
Seoul and Pusan (approximately 410 km)
in less than 2 hours started test runs. First
phase of project aims to complete
construction of Seoul–Taegu high-speed
line as well as electrification of existing
Taegu–Pusan line by April 2004
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19 December | • | Four-car train collided with
10-tonne truck on crossing of JR East
Uetsu Line in Niigata Prefecture injuring
train driver and five passengers
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20 December | • | JR Central Towers opened
at Nagoya Station. Constructed at cost of
¥233.5 billion and consists of 51-storey
office building (including head office of JR
Central) and 53-storey hotel with total area
of 410,000 m², making it largest single
building in Japan
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21 December | • | Cuba Airlines DC10
passenger plane from Havana with 18
crew and 296 passengers overran runway
and crashed into nearby residential area
of Guatemala City Airport killing 26 and
injuring at least 50
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22 December | • | Korean Air Boeing 747
cargo plane crashed shortly after taking
off from Stansted Airport near London
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23 December | • | Ferry MV Asia South
Korea (2840 tonnes) with 660 passengers
and crew sank off Cebu Island in central
Philippines, drowning 9 with 591 survivors
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24 December | • | Indian Airlines A300
Airbus hijacked with 189 passengers and
crew. Passengers released on 31
December in exchange for three Muslim
extremists imprisoned in India
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25 December | • | Cuba Airlines YAK42
passenger plane bound from Havana to
Valencia, Venezuela, crashed
approximately 160 km west of Caracas,
killing all 22 passengers and crew
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28 December | • | Taiwan High Speed Rail
Corporation planning 340-km high-speed
transit system connecting Taipei and
Gaoxiong announced intention to use
Japanese shinkansen technologies for
cars and electrical systems, marking first
export of shinkansen
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2 January | • | Japanese National Police
Agency announced 1999 road death toll
of 9005, down 206 from 1998 and lowest
number since 1982
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4 January | • | Olso-bound express and local
train crashed and overturned in southern
Norway killing at least 7 people with 26
missing
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5 January | • | Eurotunnel managing
Channel Tunnel connecting Britain and
France announced submission of report
to both governments into excavation of
second undersea tunnel with 9-year
excavation to start in 2025 at earliest
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6 January | • | Bomb exploded on express
train standing at Old New Delhi Station,
India, injuring at least 12 people
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10 January | • | Tama City Monorail (16.0
km) traversing five cities in Tama area of
Tokyo fully opened with commencement
of services on last section between
Tachikawa Kita and Tama Centre (10.6 km)
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| • | Crossair SAAB 340
passenger plane crashed near Kloten
International Airport in Switzerland killing
10 people
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12 January | • | Long-distance bus crashed
in southern Brazil killing 42 people and
injuring 44
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19 January | • | Nagoya Subway Line No. 4
extension opened between Osone and
Sunadabashi (1.4 km)
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| • | Keio Teito Electric Railway
started installing ‘eco-chair’ manufactured
by recycling used plastic passes and
plastic food trays
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27 January | • | Council for Transport Policy
of Ministry of Transport concluded new rail
expansion master plan for Tokyo
Metropolitan Area as guideline for planning
railway construction in Tokyo Metropolitan
Area until 2015. Council designated 18
new lines (233 km) including new
underground line between Tokyo and
Mitaka, extension of JR Keiyo Line, and
third-sector new-town commuter Hokuso-
Kaihatsu Railway Line for joint operation
by Toei (Tokyo Metropolitan Government
subway), Keisei Electric Railway, and
Keihin Electric Express Railway.
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28 January | • | Japan National Tourist
Organization announced new record of
4,439,000 foreigners visiting Japan in 1999
(8.1% increase over previous year)
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30 January | • | Kenya Airways' A310 airbus
with 179 passengers and crew crashed
into Atlantic after taking off from Abidjan
International Airport in Ivory Coast. Seven
passengers rescued and six found dead
with remaining passengers missing
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31 January | • | Alaska Airlines' MD80
passenger plane with 70 passengers and
crew bound for San Francisco from Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico, crashed into Pacific
Ocean approximately 140 km from Los
Angeles International Airport with no
survivors
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1 February | • | Revised Civil Aeronautics
Law came into force with complete
liberalization of Japanese domestic air
fares and abolition of demand and supply
restrictions previously limiting entry and
withdrawal from air routes
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6 February | • | International express train of
10 cars from Amsterdam bound for Basle,
derailed in suburbs of Cologne in western
Germany, killing at least 9 of some 300
passengers
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10 February | • | All 178 passengers and
crew of Boeing 727 passenger plane of
Afghanistan airline hijacked after taking off
from Kabul released at Stansted Airport
in London when 22 hijackers surrendered
|
| • | Bomb exploded in express
train in Jam Kashmir, northern India, killing
5 people and injuring at least 7
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16 February | • | First female shinkansen
driver debuted on Tokaido Shinkansen
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| • | JR Railway Technical
Research Institute (RTRI) exhibited
guidance system for visually handicapped
people that transfers information from IC
chips buried in textured paving blocks on
station platforms to walking sticks where
processed into sound. RTRI aims to put
system to practical use as soon as
possible to promote barrier-free stations
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22 February | • | First Iranian subway
service started in Tehran between Immam
Khomeini Station in city centre via 9
stations to new Tehran station in west of
city
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28 February | • | MD87 passenger plane of
Japan Air System (JAS) carrying 99
passengers and crew from Kita Kyushu
accidentally landed at new runway B
(2500 m) under construction at Haneda
Airport in Tokyo but no injuries or damage
reported
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29 February | • | Operation of old-fashioned
Ginza Excursion Bus closed after Tokyo's
Chuo Ward local government decided to
withdraw bus due to declining passenger
numbers
|
| • | The Boeing Company and
General Electric Company announced
joint development of new B777-200X
passenger plane capable of flying 10,100
miles (16,250 km) or distance between
New York and Kuala Lumpur and
exceeding 9765-mile range of Airbus
A340-500
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