February 14 –
Yaoundé train explosion – A freight train passing through
Yaoundé, Cameroon, collides with another freight; some
tank cars carrying fuel oil are ruptured in the derailment. The oil is ignited by a lit cigarette causing a
flash fire and an explosion when the flames reach the tank cars, killing 120 people.
March 6 – The
Jyväskylä rail accident occurred in
Jyväskylä, Finland, when an express train from
Turku bound for
Joensuu via
Pieksämäki derailed. Of the 300 on board, the driver and nine passengers were killed, and 94 were injured.
April events
April 1 – British trainload freight operator
EWS takes over rail operations of
National Power.
April 4 – The
Fatuha train crash in India was caused by the removal of
fishplates leading to the packed
Howrah–
Danapur express jumping tracks, killing at least 11 people.
April 27 – Spain's
Madrid Metro opens the section between Esperanza and Mar de Cristal on
Line 4.
June events
June 3 – The
Eschede train disaster, the worst railroad accident in German history, occurs when a wheel on the high-speed
IntercityExpress breaks; the derailed train's forward momentum caused it to slam into a bridge pier which increased the damage to the train and caused a higher injury toll than would otherwise have occurred.
December – Railways in Germany are attacked by the extortionist
Klaus-Peter Sabotta. An
Intercity Express line is sabotaged (but the train does not derail), while a freight train is derailed near
Anklam.
December 5 –
Trinity Railway Express in Texas adds Saturday train schedules to its timetables and begins operating the first regular Saturday trains.[3]
May 12 – A
Norfolk Southern conductor saved a little girl by kicking her off the tracks in front on his oncoming train while he was still on it in
Lafayette, Indiana. The girl, who had wandered away from her home a couple blocks away, had only minor injuries.[4][5]