Railtours officially changes its name to Rocky Mountaineer Vacations. October 21 – The first railroad conductors graduate from British Columbia Institute of Technology's 32-week course. October 22 – Canadian National Railway (CN) announces that it will open shipping offices in Shanghai and Beijing; the office will advertise CN's shipping abilities to North American destinations, especially on the Pacific coast. October 27 – The North American rail labor union Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees votes to merge with the Teamsters. October 29 - The Manila Line 2 commenced full commercial operations by opening the remaining segment from Legarda Station up to Recto Station. November events November 1 – Amtrak discontinues the Palmetto south of Savannah, Georgia, replacing rail service to several towns in western Central Florida with Amtrak Thruway bus service. The Pennsylvanian west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is also discontinued, with the rest merged into the Keystone Service and Three Rivers lines. November 3 – Progressive Rail leases former Wisconsin Central Railway track in northern Wisconsin and begins operations on the line under its subsidiary railroad, Wisconsin Northern Railroad. November 8 – Canadian National, Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern announce an operating agreement to speed shipments between eastern Canada and the eastern United States. November 20 - NoMa-Gallaudet University Station (formerly New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University), the first "in-fill" station to be built between two existing stations, is opened on the Washington D.C. Metro Red Line. November 23 – The new Wisconsin Northern Railroad begins operations on leased Union Pacific Railroad (formerly Chicago and North Western Railway) and Canadian National Railway (formerly Wisconsin Central) tracks. December events December 4 – Second phase of the Hiawatha Line opens, connecting Minneapolis, Minnesota to MSP Airport and the Mall of America in Bloomington December 12 SNCF disallows smoking on all French TGV trains. Swiss Federal Railways begins the first phase of implementing its Rail2000 plan to improve service. December 13 – Bombardier president Paul Tellier announces his retirement. December 17 – The last X'Trapolis train enters service with Connex in Melbourne, Australia. December 18 - The WMATA Blue Line is extended from Addison Road-Seat Pleasant to Largo Town Center in Lake Arbor, Maryland. The extension, totaling 3.2 miles (5.2 km) adding the Morgan Boulevard and Largo Town Center Stations, is the first WMATA project to go beyond the Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway) in Prince George's County. December 21 Siemens receives an order to