Portal:Trains/Did you know/Main page, 2020

2020

 * ... that 200,000 children were evacuated via the Piccadilly line during World War II?
 * ... that in 1875, streetcars in Santa Barbara, California, were drawn by mules?


 * ... that artwork at Alewife station includes curved benches, neon art, and depictions of the namesake fish (pictured)?


 * ... that the wreck of the train ferry Pere Marquette 18 (pictured) was discovered in Lake Michigan 109 years after she sank?
 * ... that Blue and Red are proposed to meet at Boston's Charles/MGH station?
 * ... that the State-of-the-Art Car was designed to run on portions of five different subway systems?
 * ... that the recording of "Waiting for a Train" introduced Jimmie Rodgers's trademark train whistle?
 * ... that Hounslow West is the only station on the London Underground to be step-free for manual-wheelchair users only?


 * ... that Kolkata, the smallest by area of India's six A-1 cities, has the country's largest suburban rail system by track length and number of stations (one pictured)?
 * ... that the Red Caboose Motel has the largest privately owned collection of railroad cabooses in the world?
 * ... that a one-legged engineer rode the escalators at Earl's Court tube station on their first day of operation to reassure passengers of their safety?
 * ... that India's first metro, the Kolkata Metro, was first proposed in 1919 but became operational only in 1984?
 * ... that the New York City Subway's E train has been nicknamed the "Homeless Express" due to its large ridership of homeless people?


 * ... that it took 190 litre of paint to complete the livery of the Indian locomotive class WDG-4G (pictured)?
 * ... that the Great Northern School District is named for a railroad?
 * ... that streetcars on the Ipswich Street line ran on both Boylston Street and Boylston Street?
 * ... that the Portland Streetcar's Loop Service enabled the production of the first U.S.-built streetcars in nearly 60 years?
 * ... that the New York City Subway's 7 train has been nicknamed the "International Express" due to the ethnic diversity of communities on its route?
 * ... that the Medford branch had 21 daily round-trip passenger trains in 1906, but carried just a single carload of fish in 2010?
 * ... that it took three years to construct a subway line to 86th Street in New York City, and another nine years to extend it by one stop to 95th Street?
 * ... that an extension of the New York City Subway to Broad Street station cost three times the normal price of construction at the time, due to its location in the Financial District?
 * ... that the unlit tunnel at Salem station was "happily known as the 'Kissing-Bridge of the rail line?
 * ... that the New York City Subway stations at 9th, 25th, 59th, and Union Streets, as well as Prospect Avenue, were opened with a competition between two trains heading to Coney Island?
 * ... that when introduced in 1974, the British Rail Passenger Timetable cost 50p (the equivalent of £10 today) and its 1,350 pages provided times for the entire year?
 * ... that a new platform was built at the Bowling Green station in Manhattan after it became overcrowded just four years after opening?
 * ... that after the demolition of much of the elevated Myrtle Avenue Line, service on New York City's B54 bus route was increased by 700 percent?
 * ... that the 145th Street station in Manhattan was slated to be replaced with another subway station in the 1960s, but remained open following protests?
 * ... that despite overcrowding at the Nostrand Avenue station in Brooklyn, two of its entrances remained closed for several decades?
 * ... that a shortened route for the proposed Brooklyn–Queens Connector streetcar, announced in 2018, would be more expensive than the original plan?
 * ... that Canberra MRT station was designed with a nautical theme to reflect Singapore's historical role as a British naval base?
 * ... that some Taiwanese train tickets are collected because the combination of station names is considered to be auspicious?
 * ... that Palo Alto station was styled after a streamlined passenger train?
 * ... that a documentary and a board game have been made about the New York City Subway's 14th Street Tunnel shutdown?
 * ... that New York City Subway riders could get their clothes dry cleaned at the Church Avenue station?
 * ... that before the opening of a new subway line, passengers at the 169th Street station in Queens had to wait just to get to the platform during rush hours?
 * ... that the MAX Light Rail system in Portland, Oregon, includes North America's deepest transit station, at 260 ft below ground?
 * ... that British Rail's Automatic Train Protection system was estimated to cost £11 million per life saved, more than the £4 million per life to be considered good value for money?
 * ... that before its closure, locals near St Johnston railway station relied heavily for income on Irish customs officers trying to catch smugglers heading for Londonderry station?


 * ... that the Seattle Center Monorail began operating 58 years ago today and still uses its original trains (example pictured)?
 * ... that Union Station in Walpole, Massachusetts, was the site of the last semaphore signals in New England?
 * ... that the Apache Powder Company used a fleet of fireless locomotives to prevent accidental explosions?
 * ... that the Rockville Centre train crash was one of two Long Island Rail Road crashes in 1950 which collectively killed more than 100 people?
 * ... that students from eight school districts in the region of Wenatchee, Washington, created public artwork for Columbia Station?
 * ... that when Eureka Iron & Steel Works produced the first steel rails in the United States in 1865, it marked the beginning of the American steel industry?
 * ... that New York City's Grand Central Terminal was built at its current location because of a prohibition of steam trains in Lower Manhattan?