Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
The first streetcars in Chicago went into service. These streetcars, running on State Street between Randolph and 12th Streets in the city, were each pulled along by a single horse at about three miles (4.8 kilometers) per hour. In addition, the streetcars measured 12 feet (3.7 meters) in length and could carry up to 18... Continue Reading →
A pioneering railway officially began operations in the city of Liverpool in northwestern England at seven o’clock in the morning. In reporting on the first runs of the railway’s trains that day, the Liverpool Echo noted that “the carriages appear to be fairly well filled with passengers.” The Liverpool Overhead Railway, which originally spanned five... Continue Reading →
A new station on the Green Line of the Chicago Transit Authority’s “L” (elevated) rapid transit system was opened for service at 5:00 a.m. The Cermak-McCormick Place station is located at Cermak Road and State Street in Chicago’s Near South Side neighborhood. The facility is within walking distance of McCormick Place, which is the largest... Continue Reading →
In the present-day Republic of Turkey, an underground rail line made its official debut in Constantinople (now Istanbul). At the time, Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Tünel (the Turkish word for “tunnel”) is located at the northern shore of the Bosphorus strait’s primary inlet popularly known as the Golden Horn. The... Continue Reading →
Two new stations serving Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) network were officially opened to the public early in the morning. The stations were built in a hilly region of the Western District of Hong Kong Island. One of these facilities, Kennedy Town Station, is located in the Kennedy Town community on the northwestern end... Continue Reading →
In Ireland, a form of integrated ticketing for a cross-section of transit networks made its debut in the Dublin region. The Leap Card is a prepaid card that can be used for public transportation services such as Dublin Bus, the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) system, Iranród Éireann (Irish Rail), and Luas tram/light rail network.... Continue Reading →
The first line of Singapore’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) series of fully automated transit systems was opened in the residential town and planning area of Bukit Panjang. This initial segment, known as the Bukit Panjang LRT Line, was formally inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam. Tan, who has since... Continue Reading →
The first line of a new rapid transit system in Spain’s capital city of Madrid was opened to the general public. The opening took place just two weeks after Spain’s King Alfonso XIII officially inaugurated this initial segment of the Madrid Metro. At the time of its debut, Line 1 of the Madrid Metro encompassed... Continue Reading →
Jens Theodor Paludan Vogt, a civil engineer, and public transportation pioneer died at the age of 62 in Norway’s capital city of Kristiania. (In 1924, the city formally readopted its original name of Oslo.) Vogt had been born in 1830 in the Norwegian parish of Fiskum. To say that Jens Vogt came from a highly... Continue Reading →
The first line of a new subway system in the South Korean city of Incheon began operations after six years of construction. The initial section of the north-south Incheon Subway Line 1 covered approximately 12 miles between the Bakchon and Dongmak stations. Incheon Subway Line 1, which is also included as part of the Seoul... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 