| 3 May | •
| Storm sank ferry in Meghna River south of Bangladesh capital of Dhaka with death toll expected to pass 450 people |
| 4 May | •
| Domestic BAC1-11-50 carrying 76 passengers and crew crashed on takeoff in Kano, killing all on board and about 50 people on ground |
| 7 May | •
| China Northern Airlines MD82 crashed into sea near Dalian, killing all 112 passengers and crew on board |
| •
| EgyptAir B737crashed outside Tunisian capital of Tunis while landing |
| 10 May | •
| Four-car train derailed at Potters Bar station in north London, killing 7 people and injuring 90 |
| 14 May | •
| JR East announced Morioka–Hachinohe section of Tohoku Shinkansen now under construction to start operations on 1 December with 15 round-trip daily services between Tokyo and Hachinohe and one between Sendai and Hachinohe |
| 15 May | •
| Hanshin Electric Railway announced plan to dissolve railway carriage manufacturing subsidiary Mukogawasharyo Co., Ltd. on 30 September, citing poor performance due to declining orders |
| 17 May | •
| Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. announced plan to cease production of railway carriages and bus bodies at end of FY2002 due to market slump with entire production totalling 10,299 units. Company to focus efforts on automobile production |
| 25 May | •
| China Airlines B747-200 crashed into Taiwan Strait, killing all 206 passengers and 19 crew |
| •
| Passenger and freight trains collided outside Mozambique capital of Maputo, killing more than 200 people and injuring several hundred others |
| 26 May | •
| Barges hit pillars of road bridge over Arkansas River in Oklahoma, causing collapse of 150-m span and drowning 14 occupants of cars on bridge |
| 27 May | •
| JR West filed plan to close 46.2-km section of Kabe–Sandankyo section of Kabe Line (Yokogawa–Sandankyo) in November 2003, citing lack of passengers |
| 28 May | •
| Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) approved request for three third-sector companies to operate existing line between Morioka and Hachinohe when new Morioka–Hachinohe section of Tohoku Shinkansen begins operation on 1 December. |
| 30 May | •
| 4500-strong Japan Railfan Club named JR East’s new Series E257 Azusa and Kaiji limited expresses running on Chuo Line as winner of 2002 Blue Ribbon Award |
| 28 March | •
| Kinki Nippon Railway filed plan with MLIT to close 20.4-km Hokusei Line in Mie Prefecture from Nishi Kuwana to Ageki on 1 April 2003 due to declining passenger and freight volumes |
| 3 June | •
| Takamatsu Kotohira Electric Railroad Co., Ltd (three lines of about 60 km in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan) and subsidiary Kotoden Bus announced court-authorized rehabilitation plan |
| 11 June | •
| Koizumi Cabinet approved 2002 White Paper on Traffic Safety against background of lowest number of traffic deaths (8,747) since 1981 and record 947,169 traffic accidents for 9th straight year |
| 12 June | •
| Two commuter trains crashed in outskirts of Chicago, USA, injuring 30 |
| 15 June | •
| Berlin City loop fully re-opened after 41 years at cost of a54 million |
| •
| Tanker crossed divide on Seoul–Busan Expressway and collided with oncoming express bus, killing 16 bus passengers and injuring 16 |
| 16 June | •
| Nippon Sharyo, Ltd., began exporting 300 stainless-steel double-decker passenger carriages to Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (METRA) in Chicago |
| 18 June | •
| JR Central and Railway Technical Research Institute transported two prototype linear motor cars consisting of head car (28.0 m) and middle car (24.3 m) to Maglev Test Line in Yamanashi Prefecture |
| 19 June | •
| Korean Airlines awarded complementary pass for unlimited first-class tickets to anywhere airline flies for next 4 years to Guus Hiddink, Korean World Cup team soccer coach |
| 20 June | •
| World Tourism Organization (headquartered in Madrid) announced decline in 2001 world travel to 693 million (-0.6% over previous year) due to effects of terrorist attacks in USA on 11 September 2001 |
| 21 June | •
| Japanese government completed privatization of JR East with third and final sell-off of 500,000 shares |
| 25 June | •
| Hokkaido International Airlines filed with Tokyo District Court under Civil Rehabilitation Law aiming to rehabilitate management through full alliance with All Nippon Airways |
| 1 July | •
| Russia Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev 154 collided with DHL-operated B-757 cargo plane over Lake Konstanz on Swiss–German border, killing all 71 people on board both planes |
| •
| Gomen–Nahari Line of third-sector operator Tosa Kuroshio Railway began operations over 42.7-km route in eastern Kochi Prefecture, Japan; built with ¥51.8-billion investment by Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation |
| •
| JR West started Japan’s first morning rush-hour female-only carriage on Osaka Kanjo and Katamachi lines for 3-month trial |
| 2 July | •
| JR East began permanent female-only carriage on Saikyo Line for late-night weekdays after popularity of 1-year trial |
| 4 July | •
| Cessna 310 light aircraft crashed near Los Angeles, killing pilots and two children on ground |
| 5 July | •
| MLIT approved application by third-sector company composed of Narita High-speed Rail Access and Keisei Electric Railway Co., Ltd. to build new line connecting central Tokyo and New Tokyo International Airport (Narita) with service scheduled to begin in fiscal 2010 |
| 11 July | •
| Akita City Transportation Bureau announced transfer of remaining 41 bus routes on 11 lines to private sector by end of fiscal 2005; 70% of city bus lines already transferred to Akita Central Transportation |
| 15 July | •
| MLIT announced 1.8% year-on-year increase in domestic air travellers (94.58 million) in 2001 but 13.95% year-on-year decrease in international air travellers (16.90 million) after 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks caused 30% drop in Japanese travellers to North America |
| 18 July | •
| Tohoku Shinkansen began test runs of East-i track inspection car on new 96.6-km Morioka–Hachinohe section in preparation for start of commercial operations on 1 December 2002 |
| 20 July | •
| Seven-car express train bound for Venice derailed outside Messina, Sicily, killing 8 passengers and injuring about 40 |
| 23 July | •
| Coalition of seven Japanese companies announced successful bid to build 176-km southern half of Taiwan Rapid Transit Railway (linking Taipei and Guaxiong in 1.5 hours) |
| 27 July | •
| Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashed at air show in western Ukraine, killing 83 spectators |
| 28 July | •
| Russian Pulkovo Airlines Ilyushin-86 on training flight crashed in outskirts of Moscow after taking off from Sheremetyevo Airport, killing 14 crew |
| 29 July | •
| Amtrak express bound for Washington DC derailed in Kensington, Maryland, injuring 90 passengers |
