system, serving the airport, opens. September – Remaining rail traffic in Nicaragua suspended. October events October – Ferrocarriles de Cuba purchases its first six-axle GE diesel locomotives (mostly GE C30-7 models) secondhand from Mexican railroads. October 3 – Canadian Pacific Corporation divests itself of its five major subsidiaries, spinning off Canadian Pacific as an independent company. October 7 – Railtrack, in England, is placed under legal administration by Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport, effectively renationalizing the system. October 9 – Canadian National (CN) purchases Wisconsin Central for US$1.2 billion, giving CN a direct rail link to Chicago, Illinois. November events November 19 – The Surface Transportation Board releases the final Environmental Impact Statement on Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad's plan to expand into Wyoming's Powder River Basin. December events December 11 – Seven members of the Communauté des chemins de fer européens leave to form European Rail Infrastructure Managers. December 15 – The Downeaster, a passenger train operated by Amtrak, begins regularly scheduled passenger service between Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine. December 17 – MARC extends passenger service to Frederick, Maryland. Accidents January 27 – The Gerogery level crossing accident occurred in Gerogery, Australia and killed five people in a car. February 28 – Selby rail crash – A rail accident in Selby, England, leaves 10 dead and 82 injured. March 27 – The Pécrot rail crash was a rail accident in the village of Pécrot, Belgium, that killed 8 people. July 18 – Howard Street Tunnel fire in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States July 21 – Four passenger cars on the Mangalore Mail commuter train heading for Chennai derail while crossing the Kadalundi River near Calicut, India, killing 57 people. See: Kadalundi River rail disaster. August 10 – The 2001 Angola train attack killed 252 when UNITA rebels derailed a train in Dondo, Angola. August 19 – The Udarata Menike express passenger service from Kurunegala to Alawwa, Sri Lanka, derails on newly installed track, killing 15 passengers in what has come to be known as the Kurunegala train crash. October 31 – A broken rail on the SNCF in France derails a TGV train travelling at 130 km/h (80.8 mph), but only six minor injuries result. November 15 – Two Canadian National trains collide head-on in Andersonville, Michigan (northwest of Detroit). December 23 – An incorrect brake application on a CSX local train that had stopped