Events January events January 1 – The Korean National Railroad in South Korea is split into the Korea Railroad Corporation, branded as Korail, which will operate trains, and Korea Rail Network Authority (KR), which maintains the tracks. January 5 – The metre-gauge Brünig railway line of the Swiss Federal Railways and the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg railway line merge to form the Zentralbahn. January 12 – General Motors announces that it has agreed to sell Electro-Motive Diesel to a consortium led by Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. January 29 – Singapore's third LRT Line, Punggol LRT Line, is opened. February events February 25 – Bombardier is awarded a contract to build 361 passenger cars for a new Chinese rail line to Lhasa, Tibet; due to the destination's altitude the cars will include special UV-filtering glass and a unique oxygen enriching system. February 26 – AVE Class 102 trains enter regular operation on the Madrid-Zaragoza-Lleida line. March events March 2 – Citing disputes in paid leave policies, around 200 BNSF dispatchers walk off the job for nearly three hours, causing traffic delays over the entire system from Chicago to the Pacific coast. March 14 – Canadian Pacific purchases 35 new Green Goat hybrid locomotives, becoming the first railroad to order this type of locomotive. April events April 1 – All former BC Rail systems and operations are fully integrated into those of the purchasing railroad, Canadian National. – Kansas City Southern Railway completes its controlling interest purchase of TFM; Vicente Corta is named interim CEO of TFM. April 7 – Railways Act 2005 (UK) provides for abolition of Strategic Rail Authority. April 13 – The transport ministry of Bulgaria issues the first freight transport license to a private company, Bulgarian Railroad Company, to operate on the nation's rail network. April 28 – Swiss engineers blast through the last section of rock on the first bore of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel project under the Alps. See also Swiss finish drilling world's longest overland tunnel May events May 3 – The Iranian president Mohammad Khatami leads the ceremony inaugurating passenger rail service between Mashhad and Bafq, Iran. May 26 – Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) announce that they have agreed to purchase the railroad operations of Rail Management Corporation (RMC). G&W will pay US$243 million in cash and assume $1.7 million in company debt to gain control of 14 short line railroads from RMC across the