Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 17, 1892 Two years after construction on it began, the Brienz Rothorn Railway in central Switzerland first went into service. This line connects the municipality of Brienz with the summit of the mountain known as the Brienzer Rothorn (part of the western region of the Alps). The Brienz Rothorn Railway (“Brienz Rothorn Bahn” [BRB]... Continue Reading →
June 12, 2005 Passenger rail service returned after a hiatus of 41 years to the Vale of Glamorgan, a county borough in southeastern Wales. This service began on a regular basis two days after the Vale of Glamorgan Line was formally dedicated. The festivities that day included a train breaking through an inaugural banner at... Continue Reading →
June 5, 2017 The day before it first opened for passengers on a regular basis, a newly built Amtrak train station in the city of Pontiac, Illinois, was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and plenty of praise. Approximately 75 people attended this event. The funding for this station was a federal grant provided to the... Continue Reading →
June 1, 1982 A little over two months before the Helsinki Metro was officially inaugurated, Hakaniemi station became one of a few stations of that rapid transit system to be opened to the public for test drives of trains during the morning and afternoon rush hours. Hakaniemi station is named for an area within the... Continue Reading →
May 13, 1885 Operations officially began for a rapid transit system in what was then the independent city of Brooklyn, New York. This new means of public transportation in Brooklyn was the first elevated railway – a transit system with its tracks above street level and on a viaduct or some other raised structure –... Continue Reading →
May 11, 1991 The first segment of the Green Line of the Washington Metro rapid transit system was formally opened. The next day’s edition of the Washington Post highlighted the fanfare surrounding this public transportation milestone in the nation’s capital. “The politicians were there,” reported Washington Post staff writer. Stephen C. Fehr. “So were clergy... Continue Reading →
April 28, 1978 Operations began for Adenauerplatz station, a part of the line that is designated as U7 and within the rapid transit system known as the Berlin U.Bahn. This station was built in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorft, a borough of what was then West Berlin. West Berlin was a political enclave in the western area of the... Continue Reading →
April 22, 2016 Operations began for a rail station built at the intersection of East 40th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Denver. 40th & Colorado station, which is based in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, was one of eight stations opened on the same date to form the newly established A Line. This commuter rail line is... Continue Reading →
April 3, 2011 On the South Side of Chicago, operations began for a passenger train station built on 35th Street in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood. This station is part of the Metra commuter rail system’s Rock Island District line. The station was officially named not only for the street and neighborhood where it is located... Continue Reading →
April 1, 2013 Operations began for Pedro Mir station on Line 2 of the Santo Domingo Metro, a rapid transit system in the metropolitan region of the Dominican Republic’s capital city. The station was one of 13 opened as part of the inaugural segment of that line. Pedro Mir station was built underneath Avenida John... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 