January 8

Events

19th century

• 1863 – Central Pacific Railroad holds groundbreaking ceremonies in Sacramento, California, for a route that will form the western half of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States.
• 1889 – The Polybahn, a funicular railway in Zürich, Switzerland, opens.
• 1891 – Following a bankruptcy, the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railroad is sold at foreclosure to become the basis for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway.

20th century

• 1902 – Low visibility in the tunnels under Manhattan caused by the air pollution of the steam locomotives used at the time leads to an accident killing 17, providing the impetus for New York to mandate the use of electric locomotives to replace steam power in the tunnels.
• 1937 – A West Seattle streetcar of the Municipal Street Railway falls off the Spokane Street trestle, killing three and injuring many more.
• 1956 – The last regular passenger train is run along the Bathgate and Coatbridge Railway route between Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland.
• 1970 – Santa Fe Railroad operates the last run of the Grand Canyon Limited passenger train.
• 1982 – Amtrak reintroduces the Cardinal passenger train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
• 1999 – Control of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway is officially transferred from Canadian Pacific Railway to RailAmerica.

21st century

• 2001 – Ottawa's O-Train system begins remodeling projects at the Carling and Greenboro stations.
• 2005 – Etxebarri, the furthest eastern point, and Sestao stations on Metro Bilbao in Spain open.
• 2007 – The Atlantic Coast Line, Cornwall, is reopened after recovery efforts to clear a landslide that occurred the previous December.