Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 22, 2021 In eastern India’s state of West Bengal, a station serving Kolkata Metro Line 1 of the rapid transit system Kolkata Metro was officially opened in the locality of Dakshineswar in North 24 Parganas District. This district is under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, the statutory planning and development authority for... Continue Reading →
February 10, 1955 The day after the Rome Metro was formally opened in Italy’s capital city, Colosseo (Colosseum) station became one of the five stations on Line B of that rapid transit system to begin operations. Colosseo station is located in the Monti rione (administrative division) in the central part of Rome. As its name... Continue Reading →
February 3, 1862 The first railway line in New Zealand was opened with considerable fanfare. (At the time, New Zealand was a British colony; it gained semi-independent status as a dominion of the British Empire in 1907 and achieved full autonomy in 1947.) Horse-drawn train cars were used for this 13.4-mile (21.5-kilometer)-long privately owned and... Continue Reading →
January 31, 1862 A railway bridge was inaugurated in an area of western England that is now entirely within the county of Worcestershire. This bridge, which went into regular service the day after it was it was officially opened, crosses the River Severn between the village of Upper Arley (part of the county of Staffordshire... Continue Reading →
January 30, 2009 The Santo Domingo Metro, a rapid transit system operating in the metropolitan area of the capital of the Dominican Republic, was officially opened for commercial service for the public. (Along being capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo is that country’s largest city; in addition, the metropolitan area bearing this city’s name... Continue Reading →
January 23, 1912 Regular service began on the Overseas Railroad, a 156-mile (251.1-kilometer)-long extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West (located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula). This service was launched the day after Henry Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil and the developer of Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), arrived in... Continue Reading →
January 20, 1902 A railway station in the Alnabru neighborhood of Norway’s city of Kristiania was opened. At the time, Norway was part of the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. Under this personal union, those countries had the same monarch; the capital typically alternated throughout each year between Kristiania and the Swedish city of... Continue Reading →
January 19, 1977 In the Philippines, Food Terminal Junction station (also known as FTI station) was opened in the city of Taguig in Metro Manila (an area that is officially called the National Capital Region) on the island of Luzon. FTI station is part of the South Main Line serving the larger network of the... Continue Reading →
January 13, 2001 The last remaining section of the Washington Metro rapid transit system as originally planned was opened to passengers. This 6.5-mile (10.5-kilometer) segment consisted of the final five Green Line stations -- Congress Heights, Southern Avenue, Naylor Road, Suitland, and Branch Avenue. (Congress Heights is in Washington, D.C., while the other stations are... Continue Reading →
December 27, 1893 A pivotal test ride took place for a newly completed truss railroad bridge in eastern-central Missouri. This four-span truss bridge, crossing the Missouri River at Bellefontaine Bluffs and serving as a link between Charles County and St. Louis County in the Show-Me State, had been built for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 