# 1961 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1961.

## Events
### January events

* January – The American Car and Foundry Company delivers the last passenger car it will build, an R28 (New York City Subway car).
* January 4 – Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke delivers the first electric locomotives built in the German Democratic Republic to Deutsche Reichsbahn.
* January 16 – Eastern Region of British Railways takes delivery of D9001, the first production "Deltic" class diesel locomotive.

### February events

* February 4 – Lehigh Valley Railroad discontinues its Black Diamond passenger train service.
* February 6 – The first automatic level crossing on British Railways is installed at Spath, Staffordshire.

### March events

* March 27 – Black demonstrators stage a "ride-in" on Charleston, South Carolina, streetcars.
* March 28 – Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line opens between Minami-senju and Naka-okachimachi. The first railway line in the world without any lineside signals.

### April events

* April – D5151, the first Sulzer Type 2 diesel locomotive, later British Rail Class 25, is completed at B.R. Darlington Works.
* April 9 – The Long Beach Line, the last operating service of the former Pacific Electric Railway, is replaced by buses.
* April 25 – Osaka Loop Line, circular line system start operation in Japan.

### May events

* May 24 – The Milwaukee Road's Olympian Hiawatha passenger train makes its final run between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington.
* May 28 – The Orient Express makes its last run between Paris, France, and Bucharest, Romania.

### June events

* June – The last of the Bradshaw railway timetables, first published by George Bradshaw in 1839, is published in Britain.
* June 1 – Dr Richard Beeching takes office as chairman of the British Transport Commission and British Railways Board.
* June 17 – A Paris–Strasbourg train derails near Vitry-le-François; 24 are killed, 109 injured.

### August events

* August 31 – Portland, Maine's Union Station is demolished to make room for a shopping plaza.

### September events

* September 23 – Maritime, Coal Railway and Power Company, in Nova Scotia, ceases operations.
* September 30 – Southern Pacific Railroad closes the Centerville (SP station).

### October events

* October 18 – General Motors Electro-Motive Division completes construction of the first GP30 diesel locomotive.
* October 26 – Two cars of a commuter train operated by Oita Traffic Company are involved in a mudslide during a massive rainstorm at Ōita, eastern Kyūshū, Japan, 31 killed, 36 injured. Most of the passengers are senior high school students.
* October 28 – Bangor and Aroostook Railroad ends passenger service.
* October – Work starts on demolition of Euston Arch in London.

### November events

* November 20 – Union Pacific 844 makes its first excursion run following retirement from regular revenue service on the Union Pacific Railroad.

### Unknown date events

* Atlantic Coast Line's headquarters are moved from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida.
* Construction is completed on Mexico's Chihuahua al Pacífico which linked the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, to the town of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, near the Pacific coast.
* Nationalization of rail transport in Paraguay.
* The first eight DC powered VL10 (i.e. Vladimir Lenin class) freight locomotives built at Tbilisi.
* The introduction in Sweden of the first SJ T43 locomotives opens the way for the phasing out of steam power on Swedish railways.
* The world's last Mallet locomotive is built in Japan, BB84 for the Indonesian State Railway Corporation's 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge Atjeh Tramway on Sumatra.

## Deaths

11 November - Behiç Erkin First Director General of the Turkish State Railways