1908 in rail transport

Events

January 28 – Florida's Railroad Commissioners adopt rule number 12 of the state's general operating rules for railroads within the state; the rule mandates that railroad companies are required to immediately report by telegram any train wreck within the state beyond a simple derailment that involves injury or death to any person and follow up the telegram within five days with a full written report.

April 8 - The Chicago "L" Stock Yards branch serving the Union Stock Yards is opened.
April 20 – A rear-end collision in Melbourne, Australia, called the Sunshine train disaster, kills 44 and injures around 400.

June 23 – The Denver & Interurban begins operations using some electrified lines of the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf. The UPD&G and the D&I are both owned by the Colorado and Southern Railway.
June 30 – Last day steam trains can operate south of the Harlem River in New York City.
June – The distinctive 'bar and circle' design of station nameboards are introduced on the London Underground.

July 1
* Public inauguration of Midland Railway Lancaster–Morecambe–Heysham electrification system, the first overhead wire scheme on a passenger railway in England.
* Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad begins service between Michigan City and South Bend, Indiana.
July 8 – Construction begins on the Belt Line Railway of Toronto in Hull, Ontario.
July 9 – The Prussian state railways South Bridge (Cologne) collapses during construction.
July 10 – Thamshavnbanen, the first electrified railway in Norway, opens.
July 14 – Shinpei Goto steps down as president of the South Manchuria Railway.

September 1 – Hejaz Railway opens from Damascus, Syria, to Medina, Saudi Arabia, on the Arabian Peninsula.
September 23 - Yokohama Railway Line, Higashi-Kanagawa of Yokohama to Hachioji route officially completed in Japan.

October 1 - The Hofpleinlijn, the first electrified railway in the Netherlands, opens between Rotterdam Hofplein and Scheveningen, of which the part until The Hague exists today as part of Rotterdam Metro line E.

November 1 – The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway introduces the Southern Belle passenger train between London and Brighton.
November – Following experiments, the Great Western Railway of England begins to introduce Automatic Train Control on its main lines.

December 18 – Great Northern Railway (U.S.) completes construction of the line between Great Falls and Billings, Montana.
December 19 – Korekimi Nakamura begins his term as the second president of South Manchuria Railway.

The Soo Line acquires a majority interest in the Wisconsin Central Railway.
Prussian P 8 Class 4-6-0 steam locomotives introduced; around 3,700 are eventually built to this design.