Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 13, 2024 La Dhuys station on Line 11 of the Paris Métro rapid transit system made its debut. This station was one of six built as part of a 3.7-mile (six-kilometer) extension of Line 11. All of these stations were opened to the public on the same date. (Paris Métro is among the French... Continue Reading →
June 9, 1994 Operations formally began that afternoon at Cincinnati/Norther Kentucky International Airport (CVG) for an automated people mover. This underground train service was originally run by Delta Air Lines to help more quickly transport large numbers of passengers to the concourses where they would need to catch their flights within that Kentucky-based airport. Judy... Continue Reading →
May 21, 2018 Operations officially began for an airport rail link in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. This transit service was inaugurated by Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (born in 1961), who was president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. The link was built to reduce travel time between Padang, West Sumatra’s capital and largest city;... Continue Reading →
May 9, 2006 A newly built station of the Sáo Paulo Metro (popularly known as the Metrô), one of the rapid transit systems serving the capital of Brazil, was opened in the Chácara Klabin neighborhood of the city’s south-central area. Chácara Klabin station made its debut as part of Line 2 (Green) of the Metrô.... Continue Reading →
May 7, 1867 A railway station in the city of Naples in the Kingdom of Italy was inaugurated. (The Kingdom of Italy existed from 1861 to 1946; it was replaced by the present-day Republic of Italy.) Napoli Centrale (Naples Central Station) was designed by Enrico Alvino (1809-1872). This version of Napoli Centrale, which is... Continue Reading →
May 6, 1895 The third elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, and the first of those lines to be electrically operated, made its debut. The first train of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad -- also called the Metropolitan “L” -- left the Robey Street station at six o’clock that morning for the downtown terminal at... Continue Reading →
April 23, 2017 Aubin Grove railway station in the vicinity of the state of Western Australia’s capital city of Perth made its official debut. This station -- located within the median of the Kwinana Freeway -- serves the Perth suburbs of Atwell, Aubin Grove, Hammond Park, and Success. Aubin Grove railway station is part of... Continue Reading →
April 22, 1833 The Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad (E&KRR) was chartered in the then-Territory of Michigan, which became a state in 1837. This railroad ultimately ran from what was at that time Port Lawrence, Michigan (now Toledo, Ohio) near Lake Erie to the village of Adrian, Michigan, on the River Raisin to the northwest. E&KRR was... Continue Reading →
April 18, 1905 A passenger train crossed a five-span cantilever truss bridge built to carry train traffic across the Mississippi River between the community of Illmo (now part of Scott City) in Missouri and the village of Thebes, Illinois. This train was the first one to cross the Thebes Bridge, thereby (in the words of... Continue Reading →
April 17, 1871 A railway station in the town of Scone in the colony (and present-day state) of New South Wales (NSW) was opened. Scone railway station was constructed as part of the NSW-based Great Northern Railway, which is also known today as the Main North Line. The inaugural duties for this station were carried... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 