1975 in rail transport

{{Year in rail transport|prev=1974|curr=1975|next=1976|decade=1970}}

Events

January 2 – A bomb blast at Samastipur in India fatally injures Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways, who is visiting in order to declare the broad gauge line to Darbhanga open.{{cite book |title=Limca Book of Records 1991 |year=1991 |publisher=Bisleri Beverages Ltd. |location=Bombay |page=41 |isbn=81-900115-1-0}}
January 20 – The 1974 Anglo-French Channel Tunnel scheme is abandoned.

February 22 – Tretten train disaster: A head-on collision near Tretten station in Norway kills 27.
February 28 – Moorgate tube crash on the London Underground: A train accelerates into a dead-end tunnel at Moorgate station killing 43.{{cite news |last=Left|first=Sarah|title=Key dates in Britain's railway history|work=The Guardian Unlimited|date=January 15, 2002|url=https://www.theguardian.com/transport/Story/0,2763,633951,00.html}}

March 10 – In Japan:
Second phase of the San'yō Shinkansen high-speed rail line opens between Okayama and Fukuoka, bringing the system to the country's second island, Kyushu.{{Cite journal |last=Taniguchi |first=Mamoru |date=1993 |title=The Japanese Shinkansen |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23288577 |journal=Built environment |volume=19 |issue=3/4 |pages=216 |jstor=23288577}} Travel time between the two cities is reduced to 2 hours 45 minutes, and from Fukuoka to Tokyo to 6 hours.
The Kosei Line, a commuter route between Yamashina Station in Kyoto and Tsuruga opens, with Osaka-Kanazawa and Niigata express trains, changed from the route via Hikone and Nagahama.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}

April 1 – The second American Freedom Train tour begins, powered by newly restored Southern Pacific 4449, in Wilmington, Delaware. See also American Freedom Train - 1975-76 station stops.
April 16 – In Portugal, Decree-Law 205-B/175 is published, nationalising the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses.{{cite web|title=CP Timeline|url=http://www.cp.pt/cp/displayPage.do?vgnextoid=70ecab3226ea4010VgnVCM1000007b01a8c0RCRD|accessdate=2009-11-22}}
April 26 – In Japan, Keikyu extends from Miurakaigan to Misakiguchi, enabling rail service from central Tokyo further into the Miura Peninsula.{{Cite web |title=発展期 |url=https://www.keikyu.co.jp/history/chronology05.html |access-date=12 July 2024 |website=Keikyu |language=ja}}

June 6 – An overnight northbound passenger train from London, England, bound for Glasgow, Scotland, does not receive warning of a temporary speed restriction resulting in the Nuneaton rail crash.
June 8 – Two trains collide on a single-track stretch between Lenggries and Munich due to a dispatcher's error. 41 die and 122 are injured.

July 1 – Australian National Railways Commission takes over assets of Commonwealth Railways.
July 18 – Barcelona Sants railway station opens.
July 19 – Hatton Cross tube station opens, the first stage of the extension of London Underground's Piccadilly line to London Heathrow Airport.{{cite book|author=Green, Oliver|title=The London Underground – An Illustrated History|publisher=Ian Allan|year=1988|page=62|isbn=0-7110-1720-4}}

August 5 – The first Amfleet passenger cars enter service on the Northeast Corridor.{{cite web|title=Digging into the Archives: Introducing Amfleet|author=Amtrak|url=http://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/digging-into-the-archives-introducing-amfleet|accessdate=2014-06-08}} They are Amtrak's first new intercity passenger cars and the Budd Company's last.
August 10 – British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train achieves 245 km/h (152.3 mph) between Goring and Uffington on the Western Region.
August 25 – The Victoria Falls Conference between Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and the United African National Council is held in a South African Railways coach on the Victoria Falls Bridge.

September 24 – Scottish-built ex-État 140C 287 on hire to CFTA works a train from its depot at Gray, Haute-Saône, to Sainte-Colombe, the last commercial steam-hauled working on French railways.
September 27 – Official opening of the National Railway Museum in York, England.

October 19 – US-built SNCF Class 141R 1187 of Vénissieux depot works a special return working between Lyon and Veynes, the last steam-hauled passenger train operated by SNCF.
October 24 – The first through passenger train over the TAZARA Railway arrives in Dar es Salaam,{{cite news|title=Tanzania Greets Train|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/25/archives/pennsylvania-plans-to-buy-kahn-architecture-materials.html|work=The New York Times|agency=Agence France Presse|date=25 October 1975}} marking completion of this Chinese-funded {{convert|1860|km|abbr=on}} {{RailGauge|1067mm|al=on|lk=on}} gauge link between Tanzania and Zambia.

November – English-built SNCF Class 140C 38 works a freight train between its depot at Gray and Chalindrey, the last steam-hauled train operated by SNCF.{{cite web|title=140 C 38 Steams Again After 38 Years|url=http://www.sncfsociety.org.uk/Site/September_2013_News.html|work=The SNCF Society News|date=September 2013|accessdate=2015-04-09}}

December 2 – A train hijacking takes place at the village of Wijster in the Netherlands by activists wanting to endorse the self-proclaimed Republic of South Maluku in the Maluku Islands. Hostages Hans Braam, Leo Bulter and Bert Bierling are shot. The activists surrender on December 14.
December 14 – Japanese National Railways runs its last official steam-hauled passenger train, from Muroran to Iwamizawa on Hokkaido with JNR Class C57-135.{{cite web|title=The Final Passenger Steam Train|work=The Last days of Japanese Steam Engines|url=http://homepage3.nifty.com/EF57/lastday/lastday-2.htm|accessdate=2015-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913212002/http://homepage3.nifty.com/EF57/lastday/lastday-2.htm|archive-date=September 13, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad files its third and final bankruptcy.
Last steam locomotive operated by State Railways of Finland.
As a result of the Independent Safety Board Act's passage the previous year, the United States National Transportation Safety Board becomes a completely independent agency, severing all organizational ties to the national Department of Transportation and all of its modal agencies.{{cite web|author=National Transportation Safety Board|date=March 15, 2005|url=http://ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2005/050315.htm|title=New NTSB publication examines 30-year history of transportation safety improvements|accessdate=2005-05-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050510102921/http://www.ntsb.gov/pressrel/2005/050315.htm|archive-date=May 10, 2005|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}