Events January events January 28 - Sofia Metro Line 1 entered into service. February events February 11- The Illinois Central Railroad was purchased by the Canadian National Railway but maintained independent operations for the next seventeen months before being integrated into the CN. February 14 – Yaoundé train explosion – A freight train passing through Yaoundé, Cameroon, collides with another freight; some tank cars carrying fuel oil are ruptured in the derailment. The oil is ignited by a lit cigarette causing a flash fire and an explosion when the flames reach the tank cars, killing 120 people. February 20 – The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad files an application with the Surface Transportation Board to build new railroad track to haul coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. March events March 6 – The Jyväskylä rail accident occurred in Jyväskylä, Finland, when an express train from Turku bound for Joensuu via Pieksämäki derailed. Of the 300 on board, the driver and nine passengers were killed, and 94 were injured. April events April 1 – British trainload freight operator EWS takes over rail operations of National Power. April 4 – The Fatuha train crash in India was caused by the removal of fishplates leading to the packed Howrah–Danapur express jumping tracks, killing at least 11 people. April 27 – Spain's Madrid Metro opens the section between Esperanza and Mar de Cristal on Line 4. June events June 3 – The Eschede train disaster, the worst railroad accident in German history, occurs when a wheel on the high-speed IntercityExpress breaks; the derailed train's forward momentum caused it to slam into a bridge pier which increased the damage to the train and caused a higher injury toll than would otherwise have occurred. June 6 – The majority of Conrail's railroad assets are split between CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. June 19 – The government of Panama relinquishes control of the Panama Railway to the Panama Canal Railway Company, a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern. June 23 – Road-rail (dual gauge) Jamuna Bridge opened, connecting the previously isolated east and west networks of Bangladesh Railway. July events July 11 - Expansion of LRT STAR Line from to , in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in preparation for the 1998 Commonwealth Games. August events August 1 - Malaysia's second metro line, the LRT PUTRA Line (), begins partial service from to . September events September 12