31 – Chicago Transit Authority's Brown Line capacity expansion project completed. 2020 February – Construction begins in the Republic of the Congo on a planned of new railway lines connecting Brazzaville to Ouésso and Djambala to Pointe-Noire. Accidents June 22 – Washington Metro accident occurs when two afternoon southbound Metrorail trains on the Red Line are in a rear-end collision between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations in Northeast Washington, D.C., United States, killing eight passengers and the operator of the rear train, trapping several occupants, and injuring up to 100 more. The most serious accident in the Metro's history. August 21 – span of Iarnród Éireann's Broadmeadow viaduct, carrying the main line to Belfast about 13 km north of Dublin and just north of Malahide, collapses due to scour. November 16th - Unit 29026 was derailed near Wicklow when it collided with a landslip blocking the line. Industry awards Japan Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club 2009 Blue Ribbon Award: Odakyu Electric Railway 60000 series MSE EMU 2009 Laurel Prize: Toyohashi Railroad T1000 series tramcar and Keihan Electric Railway 3000 series "Comfort Saloon" EMU North America 2009 E. H. Harriman Awards Awards presented by Railway Age magazine 2009 Railroader of the Year: 2009 Regional Railroad of the Year: Wisconsin and Southern Railroad 2009 Short Line Railroad of the Year: United Kingdom Train Operator of the Year Deaths related to rail transport January 10, 2009 – Jean Pelletier, chairman of VIA Rail 2001–2004, dies (b. 1935). February 20, 2009 – James I. C. Boyd, British railway historian, dies (b. 1921). References