Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 9, 1961 The California-based Pacific Electric (PE) mass transit system ended its operations after nearly six decades of serving the Greater Los Angeles Area. At its zenith during the 1920s, this network was the world’s largest electric railway system. More than 2,100 PE interurban trains covered about 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) of tracks altogether, providing... Continue Reading →
April 7, 1878 A newly completed train station in Kansas City, Missouri, made its official debut. “The new Union Depot of Kansas City will be opened to the public for the first time this morning,” announced that day’s edition of the Kansas City Times. “It will be an event in the history of Kansas City... Continue Reading →
April 3, 2016 In Norway’s capital city of Oslo, operations began for a rapid transit station in the borough of Grünerløkka. This station is part of the Oslo Metro, and it was specifically built in Grünerløkka’s neighborhood of Løren. Construction on Løren station started in 2013. Løren station, which is 89 feet (27 meters) underground,... Continue Reading →
March 27, 1976 The first 4.6 miles (7.4 kilometers) of the Washington Metro were officially opened just over six years after construction on this rapid transit system had begun. “The nation’s capital got a subway Saturday,” announced a subsequent Associated Press news article, “an itty-bitty one by most metropolitan standards, but a subway nonetheless.” This... Continue Reading →
March 19, 2018 In northern Italy’s autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a railway station built to serve Trieste Airport near the commune of Ronchi dei Legionari was officially opened. (Ronchi dei Legionari is 19 miles [30 kilometers] northwest of Trieste, a major seaport and the capital city of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.) Those attending the inauguration of... Continue Reading →
March 13, 2004 On Kyūshū – the third largest of Japan’s five main islands – operations began for a newly completed passenger railway station in the city of Minamata. Shin-Minamata Station is served by both the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed trains (popularly known as bullet trains); and the Hisatsu Orange Railway Line. Shin-Minamata Station was designed... Continue Reading →
February 27, 1850 In central Ohio, a key transportation milestone took place in Columbus when regular railroad service was introduced to that city. The Columbus & Xenia Railroad (C&X), which measured 54.7 miles (88 kilometers) in length and connected Columbus with the town of Xenia in the southwestern part of the state, became the first... Continue Reading →
February 26, 2017 Regular passenger train runs began for a railway line in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This inaugural segment of the line was built between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city, and the Qassim Region in the central area of the country. The line was launched by the Saudi Railway Company (SAR), which has... Continue Reading →
February 18, 2023 Operations began for a station in the Uttara neighborhood of Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. This elevated station -- formally designated as Uttara Center -- is part of Line 6 of the city’s mass rapid transit system known as the Dhaka Metro. The first section of that line was... Continue Reading →
February 17, 2014 In the Australian state of South Australia (SA), a railway station in Wayville was formally opened to the public. (Wayville is a suburb of the City of Unley, a government area within the metropolitan region of SA’s capital of Adelaide.) This station was built as a transit link for the Adelaide Showground,... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 