This article lists events related torail transport that occurred in 1987.

• January 4 –Maryland train collision –Amtrak andConrail trains collide inMaryland, killing 16 people.
• January 18 – A fire starts onAylmer Manor, one of theManor seriessleeping cars used byVia Rail, forcing VIA to take the car out of regular service permanently.^[1]

• February 2 – The Irish national transport operatorCóras Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) is split up into subsidiaries, withIarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) taking responsibility for theIrish railway network in the Republic of Ireland.

• February 12 –Oslo Central Station in Oslo, Norway is officially opened, and the western stationOslo Vestbanestasjon closes.

• March 12 – TheSacramento Regional Transit District opens the first line of itsnew light rail system, inSacramento, California.^[2]

• April 1 – TheJapanese National Railways (JNR) are divided and privatized. The seven companies ofJapan Railways Group (JR Group) succeed the former JNR.
• April 4 – TheSoo Line railroad announces the sale of itsLake States Transportation Division to private investors, forming the newWisconsin Central Transportation Corporation.
• April 18 – TheMidosuji Line inOsaka, Japan, is extended fromAbiko toNakamozu.^[3]
• April 27 – Construction begins in Germany on theBerlin U-Bahn'sU8 line extension to Paracelsus-Bad.
• April 30 – TheBaltimore and Ohio merges into theChesapeake and Ohio Railway, ending its 160-year existence.

• May 6 – A Spanish-builtPendolino,RENFE Class 443, achieveS a speed record for Spain of 206 km/h.
• May 11 –British Rail renamesSecond class as Standard class.

• July 13 –Union Pacific Railroad files with theInterstate Commerce Commission to acquire theMissouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad.^[4]
• July 13 –Nanboku Line open, for first time ofSendai Subway, northern Japan.
• July 19 – New short line railroadRed River Valley and Western Railroad begins operations over 667 miles (1,073.4 km) of formerBNtracks inNorth Dakota.^[5]
• July 25
  • Indian Railways installs its firstsolid stateinterlocking atSrirangam, India.^[6]
  • TheEast Lancashire Railway, aheritage railway in North West England, opens betweenBury andRamsbottom.

• July 31 – QueenElizabeth II presides over the opening ceremonies of theDocklands Light Railway in London, England.

• August 7 –Kamensk-Shakhtinsky rail disaster in theSoviet Union kills 106.
• August 25 – InTokyo,Japan, theYurakucho Line is opened betweenWakoshi andChikatetsu-narimasu.^[7]
• August 31 – TheChesapeake and Ohio Railway is merged intoCSX Transportation.

• September 22 –Richmond Vale railway line, New South Wales, runs last coal train toHexham, becoming the last non-tourist railway in Australia to use steam locomotives.^[8]

• October 1 –Botswana Railways created by the government to take over railways withinBotswana previously operated by theNational Railways of Zimbabwe.
• October 11 –Soo Line Railroad sells 2,002 miles (3,222 km) oftrack to the newly formedWisconsin Central.^[9]
• October 19 –Bintaro Tragedy – a catastrophic crash nearTangerang, Indonesia kills 156 people.
• October 19 – TheGlanrhyd Bridge collapse kills four people when a bridge over theRiver Towy nearLlandeilo,Carmarthenshire in Wales is washed away by swollen water.
• October 31 –Montana Rail Link begins operations on 907 miles (1,460 km) of formerBurlington Northern Railroad (originallyNorthern Pacific)tracks.^[9]

• November 1 –British Rail establishes a world speed record fordiesel traction, 238.9 km/h (148.4 mph) with a testInterCity 125 formation betweenDarlington andYork.^[10]
• November 7 – The first 6 kilometres of theMRT line inSingapore opened.
• November 18 –King's Cross fire: 31 killed in a fire on anescalator atKing's Cross tube station on theLondon Underground.^[11]

• December 5 –Downpatrick & Ardglass Railway begins public operation, the firstIrish gaugeheritage railway in Ireland.^[12]
• December 11 –Santa Clara County Transit begins revenue service on the first line of itsnew light rail system inSan Jose, California.^[13]

• TheUnited States Congress divests government ownership ofConrail in the largest initial public offering of company shares (IPO) to date.
• Line One (the Red line) ofCairo Metro opens.
• Apassenger express fromKuala Lumpur toSingapore derails at high speed nearJohor Bahru, Malaysia, after bolts holding the underframe-mountedair conditioning generator come off causing it to fall off and catapult the particular coach and the ones behind it off the rails. 12 people are killed in the worst accident inKTM's history.

• 1987 in rail transport

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