| 1 October |
• | Japan Tourism Agency headed by Yoshiaki Honpo
incorporated into Ministry of Land, Transport,
Infrastructure and Tourism with aim of increasing
inbound tourism to Japan to 20 million people by 2020 |
| 1 October |
• | Ministry of Land, Transport, Infrastructure and Tourism
integrated Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation
Commission with Marine Accident Inquiry Agency to
form Japan Transport Safety Board responsible for
assuring safe land, air, and sea transport |
| 1 October |
•
| Fire in video rental shop in Naniwa Ward, Osaka, Japan,
killed 15 people and injured 10 others |
| 2 October |
• | Hitachi Engineering and Sojitz Corporation received
order for 84 carriages and signalling system for Korea’s
first straddle-type monorail running 24 km between
northwest and southeast parts of Daegu Metropolitan
City with opening expected in October 2014 |
| 5 October |
• | Head-on collision between long-distance bus and truck
on expressway near Cairo, Egypt, killed 13 people and
injured 21 others |
| 7 October |
• |
JR East announced 7-car Multipurpose Experimental
Train (MUE-Train) adapted from Series 209 to run on
conventional lines to monitor carriage performance,
and develop and monitor control systems and trackside
infrastructure |
| 14 October |
• | Six passenger operators in JR group established joint
Tretabi website to stimulate interest in rail travel by
introducing trains, rail scenes, historic stations, station
bento lunchboxes, etc. |
| 14 October |
• | JR West designated first four carriages of Series
0 shinkansen displayed in JR West ’s Modern
Transportation Museum, Osaka, as historic Railway
Monument to celebrate Railway Day |
| 14 October |
• |
JR East announced 1.88 million people visited The
Railway Museum opened 1 year ago to mark 20th
anniversary of JR East’s foundation with displays
including 36 pieces of rolling stock, such as popular
steam locomotives, carriages, and more railway
memorabilia |
| 19 October |
• |
Keihan Railway opened Nakanoshima subway (3.0
km) linking Nakanoshima and Tenmabashi in Osaka as
Category-2 railway operator in partnership with third sector
Nakanoshima High-Speed Railway |
| 22 October |
• | JR Central reported results of surveys into three possible
routes for its (proposed opening in 2025) maglev
shinkansen between Tokyo and Nagoya to Ministry of
Land, Transport, Infrastructure and Tourism allowing
Ministry to estimate transport capacity and construction
costs |
| 24 October |
• | Ministry of Land, Transport, Infrastructure and Tourism
announced plans for code sharing on direct flights
between Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) and Paris
following completion of extension work at Haneda in
October 2010 |
| 27 October |
• | Switzerland’s first subway (m2) opened in Lausanne
with unmanned operation over 5.9-km length and
world’s highest grades of 120‰ max. |
| 29 October |
•
|
Delta (world #3) and Northwest (world #7) announced
merger to create new airline called Delta with world’s
highest number of scheduled passenger-km flown in
2007 |
| 29 October |
• | Governor Yoshinobu Ishikawa of Shizuoka Prefecture
announced delay in opening Shizuoka Airport from
March 2009 to late July due to need to shorten 2500-m
runway by 300 m so forest stand does not affect landings
and takeoffs |
| |
|
|
| 1 November |
• | Explosion in expressway tunnel under construction in
Chongqing City, China, killed 3 workers and injured
about 20 others |
| 4 November |
•
| Ferry overturned by strong winds in Central Philippines
left more than 40 people dead out of at least 125
registered passengers and crew |
| 4 November |
• | Bus drove off cliff on mountain road in northern India
when driver distracted by operating CD player, killing 46
people on board and injuring 4 others |
| 4 November |
• | Tourist bus on autobahn caught fire near Hanover,
Germany, killing about 20 people and injuring 13 others
after fire started by smoker in toilets |
| 4 November |
• |
Small jet belonging to Mexican government crashed in
central Mexico City, killing at least 8 people and setting
fire to about 30 cars on ground |
| 4 November |
• |
First domestically produced Chinese jet (ARJ21-700)
and capable of carrying 78 to 90 passengers sold to US
lease company |
| 4 November |
• |
China and Taiwan concluded agreement to expand
direct passenger flights between countries threefold
(to 108 daily flights) and to start airfreight services (60
flights) |
| 10 November |
• |
JR East announced plans to bring forward start of
services on Tohoku Shinkansen between Hachinohe
and Shin-Aomori (81.8 km) by 3 months to December
2010 due to good progress with engineering works;
shinkansen maximum operation speed to be increased
in stages, linking Tokyo and Shin Aomori in 3 hours and
5 minutes by late 2012 |
| 15 November |
• |
Large collapse above subway tunnel under
construction in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province,
China, engulfed about 15 buses, trucks and passenger
cars, killing at least 5 people and leaving 16 missing |
| 27 November |
• |
Airbus A320 belonging to New Zealand airline crashed
while under inspection in southwest France, killing at
least two engineers on board and leaving 5 missing |
| 30 November |
• |
Last Series 0 bullet train dating from first days of
Tokaido Shinkansen services between Tokyo and Shin-
Osaka in October 1964 taken out of regular service
after production of some 3200 carriages by 1986 prior
to final memorial sayonara run on San’yo Shinkansen in
December this year |
| |
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| 2 December |
• |
Head-on collision between long-distance bus and truck
killed 21 people in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,
China |
| 3 December |
• |
German airline company Lufthansa announced
purchase of troubled Austrian Airlines; both companies
members of Star Alliance |
| 4 December |
• |
122 passengers and crew rescued by Chilean Navy
from Argentinian cruise liner after hitting iceberg in
Antarctic Ocean |
| 8 December |
• |
US Air Force FA18D crashed into houses near San
Diego, California, after pilot ejected, killing four people |
| 9 December |
• |
IATA announced poor business forecast for 2009 with
anticipated 7% year-on-year decrease in passengers
and freight worldwide totalling lost income of US$501
billion |
| 11 December |
• |
Boeing Corporation announced fourth 6-month delay in
first deliveries of new flagship B787 until Q1 2010 due to
labour problems and parts shortages |
| 12 December |
• |
Italian airline Alitalia announced sale to Italian business
group with new operations resuming under Alitalia name
from January 2009 |
| 12 December |
• |
World’s largest gondola (4.4-km long) called
PEAK2PEAK with distance of more than 3 km between
supporting pylons opened at ski resort near Vancouver,
Canada, in anticipation of 2010 Vancouver Winter
Olympics |
| 14 December |
• |
Bus carrying 70 passengers overturned into river in
central Egypt, killing 55 people |
| 15 December |
• |
President’s transition team announced plans for
President-elect Obama and family to arrive in Washington
by special train on 17 January prior to inauguration
ceremony on 20 January |
| 16 December |
• |
JAL announced planned flight of B747-300 using nonfood
biofuel to power one of four engines for 1-hour test
flight between Tokyo Airport (Haneda) and airspace off
Hachijojima Island on 30 January 2009 |
| 18 December |
• |
JR Central announced plans to start wireless LAN
service on N700 shinkansen services between Tokyo
and Shin-Osaka from March 2009 |
| 18 December |
• |
Collision between two flying-school aircraft near Sydney,
Australia, killed 2 people onboard one plane while other
plane made successful emergency landing |
| 19 December |
• |
JR Group announced closure of Hayabusa (Tokyo–
Kumamoto) and Fuji (Tokyo–Oita) blue train services
from 13 March in line with planned 14 March 2009
timetable revisions |
| 19 December |
• |
Light aircraft crashed on landing near Honolulu, Hawaii,
during flight training exercise, injuring three Japanese
on board |
| 20 December |
• |
Continental B737 crashed and caught fire on takeoff
from Denver International Airport, Colorado, USA,
injuring 58 of 115 people onboard |
| 21 December |
• |
Beijing-to-Shanghai, 16-car shinkansen with 2-bed
sleeping compartments, restaurant car, etc., made
debut |
| 24 December |
• |
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Transport, Infrastructure and
Tourism announced feasibility study for JR Central’s
proposed linear maglev shinkansen between Tokyo
and Nagoya to study transport capacity, technology
development, construction costs, etc., for three
previously announced candidate routes |
| 27 December |
• |
Nagoya Railroad announced closure of 1.2-km Monkey
Park straddle-beam monorail in operation since
1988 due to declining passenger numbers and worn
Infrastructure |
| 28 December |
• |
Typhoon-damaged, 50-km, Takachiho Railway
Takachiho Line in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, closed
after 73-year operation history |
| 29 December |
• |
Long-distance bus carrying 35 people overturned on
highway near Xiamen City, Fujian Province, killing 1
person and injuring 21 others |
| 30 December |
• |
JR East received warning from Kanto District Transport
Bureau after problems with shinkansen operations
management system on 29 December caused delays
and inconvenience to 130,000 passengers |
