March 2014

A Tokai Transport Service KiHa 11-200 diesel car at Biwajima Station in 2006

• ...that Tōkai Transport Service Company's Jōhoku Line, which is operated as a commuter rail line connecting Kachigawa Station in Kasugai and Biwajima Station in Kiyosu in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, was originally constructed in the 1970s to be a freight line?

TRTA 3000 series train running on the Tobu Isesaki Line in 1988

• ...that TRTA 3000 series trains that were used on the Hibiya Line in Tokyo, Japan, served as testbeds for driverless operation from 1962 until 1987 and the success of those experiments became the basis of operating the Namboku Line in driverless mode?

A Plasser & Theurer type RU 800 S renewal machine on the Szombathely–Szentgotthárd railway line, Hungary, in 2010

• ...that with a little preparation to the line, modern track renewal trains can minimize the disruption to regular railway service by replacing ballast, ties, spikes or rail clips and rail in one continuous pass over the track that is being renewed?

The exterior of the museum hall at Thielenbruch in 2006

• ...that since 1997, the 1926-built hall at Thielenbruch station, the other half which now serves as a terminal for Cologne Stadtbahn in Germany, is used as a transport museum to document the development of tramways and Stadtbahn in the Cologne region?

A Tanimachi Line 30000 series train at Yao Depot in 2009

• ...that Osaka Municipal Subway's Tanimachi Line, which connects Dainichi Station in Moriguchi to Yaominami Station in Yao through Osaka City, is officially named Rapid Electric Tramway Line No. 2 (高速電気軌道第2号線) even though it was actually the fourth to open?

A postcard showing a pushcar railway in Taiwan

• ...that push car railways were introduced to Taiwan in the 1890s by Japan, and at its peak during the late 1920s to mid-1930s the network extended from Taipei to Kaohsiung?

The preserved depot in 2008

• ...that the right-of-way leading to the Streetcar Depot, on the grounds of the Sawtelle Veterans Home in West Los Angeles, which served as the terminus of the Soldier's Home Branch, a short extension of Pacific Electric's Santa Monica Air Line, is still partially intact?

The upper level platforms of Sportivnaya station in 2011

• ...that because of its close proximity to Petrovskiy Stadium, Sportivnaya station on Saint Petersburg Metro's Frunzensko-Primorskaya Line, the first double-decked station with cross-platform transfer in Russia, closes during and immediately after FC Zenit Saint Petersburg's home games mostly due to apprehension over riot damage?

A class GMAM locomotive circa 1993

• ...that between 1954 and 1958 the South African Railways placed one hundred and twenty Class GMA branch line and Class GMAM main line 4-8-2+2-8-4 "Double Mountain" Garratt articulated steam locomotives in service, making it the most numerous Garratt class in the world?

Class 18E locomotive number 18-224 at Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, in 2007

• ...that when the project to rebuild South African Railways' Class 6E1 electric locomotives to Spoornet Class 18E began, most of the early rebuildings were done on the newest of the Class 6E1 fleet, partly due to the mechanical similarity between the two classes?

An SNCF Infra locomotive and two other SNCF locomotives at Haute-Picardie station in 2009

• ...that although EU regulations dictated that SNCF, the national railway of France, be split into two companies with SNCF retaining train operations and RFF taking over infrastructure maintenance, SNCF Infra was established as a division of SNCF to handle infrastructure maintenance?

Shiwaguchi Station in 2004

• ...that the "Shiwa" in the name of Shiwaguchi Station on JR West's Geibi Line, is derived from the nearby Shiwa-chō, Higashihiroshima, despite there being no shuttle bus or other connection between the two locations?

The tracks and platforms of Shin-Sakuradai Station in 2012

• ...that Shin-Sakuradai Station, on Seibu Railway's Yūrakuchō Line in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan, is the only underground station owned by Seibu while the neighboring Kotake-mukaihara Station on the same line is owned by Tokyo Metro?

The tracks and platforms of Shimo-Kitazawa Station in 2009

• ...that as a legacy of the Inokashira Line's former ownership by Odakyu Electric Railway, an unusual feature of Shimo-Kitazawa Station in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, is the use of a single ticket gate serving two independent lines and ticketing systems?

A 3600 class EMU on the Shibayama Railway in 2007

• ...that although the Shibayama Railway is an independent operator, running the 2.2-kilometre long (1.4 mi) line between Higashi-Narita and Shibayama-Chiyoda stations, the shortest independent railway line in Japan, it functionally resembles an extension of the Keisei Electric Railway?

A modern Seetal train on typical trackage along the route in 2003

• ...that the Seetal railway line, which was opened in 1883 by the Swiss Lake Valley Railway Company to connect Lenzburg and Lucerne in Switzerland and is now operated by Swiss Federal Railways, was built following the parallel road almost throughout, running within the villages separating houses from the road, and despite rebuilding to improve its safety record, much of this nature has survived into the 21st century?

The retro styled Sanriku Railway 36-600 series DMU number 602 in 2005

• ...that when Sanriku Railway was established in 1981 to assume operations of former Japanese National Railways lines that were going to be closed, it became the first "third sector" (half public, half private) railway line in Japan, excluding special cases such as freight railways in seaports?

Map showing rail lines on Sakhalin island and the location of the Sakhalin tunnel to mainland Russia

• ...that current plans for construction of the Sakhalin Tunnel, a railway connection first envisioned in the latter 19th century which would connect the island of Sakhalin with mainland Russia under the Nevelskoy Strait, project its completion by 2030?

The former Melbourne tram used for the River Street Streetcar in 2009

• ...that although the current single-car River Street Streetcar heritage streetcar service in Savannah, Georgia, uses a 1930s-era W5-class streetcar originally from Melbourne, Australia, that has been converted to run on a biodiesel-fueled generator and batteries, future line extensions are planned to be electrified by overhead wires?

A Gurgaon Metro station under construction in January 2013

• ...that Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon, which was built at a cost of nearly ₹11 billion (US$140 million) and opened in November 2013, is the first fully privately financed metro system in India?

A VR Allegro train at Helsinki Central station in January 2014

• ...that for rail transport in Finland, most passenger train services, which are operated by VR Group, originate or terminate at Helsinki Central railway station, and a large proportion of the passenger rail network radiates out of Helsinki?

Tram car 501 of the Pöstlingbergbahn on a test ride before the reopening of the line in May 2009

• ...that the narrow-gauge Pöstlingbergbahn tram system in Linz, Austria, was built to use 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge gauge track in 1898 and continued as such until it was regauged to 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) and a track connection to the Linz tram network was built in 2009?