HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:


Rapid transit

A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleration. It uses passenger
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...
s operating singly or in
multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train cont ...
trains on fixed rails. It operates on separate
rights-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
from which all other vehicular and foot traffic are excluded (i.e. is fully
grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...
from other traffic). It uses sophisticated signaling systems, and high platform loading. Originally, the term ''
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
'' was used in the 1800s to describe new forms of quick urban
public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
ation that had a
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
separated from street traffic. This set rapid transit apart from
horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...
s,
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
s, streetcars, omnibuses, and other forms of public transport. A variant of the term, ''mass rapid transit (MRT)'', is also used for metro systems in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
. Though the term was almost always used to describe rail transportation, other forms of transit were sometimes described by their proponents as rapid transit, including local ferries in some cases. The term ''
bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
'' has recently come into use to describe bus lines with features to speed their operation. These usually have more characteristics of light rail than rapid transit.


Metro/subway

Metros, short for metropolitan railways, are defined by the International Association of Public Transport (L'Union Internationale des Transports Publics, or UITP) as urban guided transport systems "operated on their own right of way and segregated from general road and pedestrian traffic. They are consequently designed for operations in tunnel, viaducts or on surface level but with physical separation in such a way that inadvertent access is not possible. In different parts of the world, Metro systems are also known in English as the underground, the subway or the tube. Rail systems with specific construction issues operating on a segregated guideway (e.g. monorail, rack railways) are also treated as Metros as long as they are designated as part of the urban public transport network." Metropolitan railways are used for high capacity public transportation. They can operate in trains of up to 10 cars, carrying 1800 passengers or more. Some metro systems run on rubber tires but are based on the same fixed-guideway principles as steel wheel systems.
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
,
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
,
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
,
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
,
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
, and
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
all have metro (from the word metropolitan where "metro" means "mother" and "politan" means "city") systems which are called metro in French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Dutch, and Russian. Subway used in a transit sense refers to a
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
heavy rail system that goes underground. The term may refer only to the underground parts of the system, or to the full system. ''Subway'' is most commonly used in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and the English-speaking parts of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, though the term is also used elsewhere, such as to describe the
Glasgow Subway The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the fourth-oldest underground rail transit system in Europe after the London Underground, Liverpool's Mersey Railway and the Budap ...
in Scotland, and in translation of system names or descriptions in some Asian and Latin American cities. In some cities where ''subway'' is used, it refers to the entire system; in others, only to the portions that actually are underground. Naming practices often select one type of placement in a system where several are used; there are many ''subways'' with above-ground components, and on the other hand, the Vancouver SkyTrain and
Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid t ...
include underground sections. Historic posters referred to Chicago's Red &
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
lines (then called the State Street & Milwaukee/Dearborn lines) as "the subway lines".


Light metro

Medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit.


Sub-surface subway

Some light rail / street car lines that have underground sections that are referred to as subway are often sub surface subways. Notably, Boston's Green Line and the
Newark City Subway The Newark Light Rail (NLR) is a light rail system serving Newark, New Jersey and surrounding areas, operated by New Jersey Transit Bus Operations. The service consists of two segments, the original Newark City Subway (NCS), and the extension ...
, each about half underground, originated from fully surface streetcar lines. Also, the
Buffalo Metro Rail Buffalo Metro Rail is the public transit rail system in Buffalo, New York, operated by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA). The system consists of a single, light rail line that runs for most of the length of Main Street ( New ...
is referred to as "the subway", while it uses light rail equipment and operates in a pedestrian mall downtown for half of its route and underground for the remaining section. Sometimes the term is qualified, such as in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, where trolleys operate in an actual subway for part of their route and on
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of di ...
s for the remainder. This is locally styled '' subway-surface''. When the Boston subway was originally built, the ''subway'' label was only used for sections into which streetcars (trams) operated, and the rapid transit sections were called ''tunnels''. Also, in some countries, ''subway'' refers to systems built under roads and the informal term ''tube'' is used for the deep-underground tunnelled systems (such as London's
Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are ...
) – in this usage, somewhat technical nowadays and not used much in London, ''underground'' is regardless the general term for both types of system.


Other Definitions of Subway

Bus subways are uncommon but do exist, though in these cases the non-underground portions of route are not called subways. Until March 2019,
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
had a bus subway downtown in which diesel-electric hybrid buses and light rail trains operated in a shared tunnel. The hybrid buses ran in electrical-only mode while traveling through the tunnel and overhead wires power the light rail trains which continue to operate in the tunnel. Bus subways are sometimes built to provide an exclusive right-of-way for
bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
lines, such as the MBTA Silver Line in Boston. ''Subway'', outside the US, and especially in Europe, often refers to an underground pedestrian passageway linking large road interconnections that are often too difficult or dangerous to cross at ground level. In Canada, the term ''subway'' may be used in either sense.


Underground and tube

The usage of '' underground'' is very similar to that of subway, describing an underground train system. In
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
the colloquial term ''tube'' now refers to the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...
, and is the most common word used for the underground system; and it is used by Transport for London the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system throughout Greater London. However, strictly speaking, it should only refer to those deep lines which run in bored circular tunnels as opposed to those constructed near to the surface by 'cut-and-cover' methods. The
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
metro system is known as the
Glasgow Subway The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the fourth-oldest underground rail transit system in Europe after the London Underground, Liverpool's Mersey Railway and the Budap ...
or colloquial as "the subway". The word ''metro'' is not usually used in London or Glasgow to refer to those cities' metros, but it is used in and around
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
to refer to the Tyne and Wear Metro.


Overground

In the UK, the term ''overground'' was created in 2007 by Transport for London to refer to a mainly above-ground
suburban rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...
network serving
Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...
, the London Overground, which took over Silverlink Metro routes. (via archive.org). Confusingly, the term ''overground'' is also used to refer to National Rail networks within London generally, or any non-London Underground rail service in everyday speech


U-Bahn and S-Bahn

The term ''metro'' is not usually used to describe metro systems in German-speaking areas (Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland), instead using the term '' U-Bahn''—a shortening of ''Untergrundbahn'', meaning "underground railway"—and
S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...
—an abbreviation for the German "''Stadtschnellbahn''" or just "''Schnellbahn''" (fast city train, fast train) the more common English translation, suburban train. So for example in Berlin, the mostly underground system is known as the
Berlin U-Bahn The Berlin U-Bahn (; short for , "underground railway") is a rapid transit system in Berlin, the capital and largest city of Germany, and a major part of the city's public transport system. Together with the S-Bahn, a network of suburban tra ...
and it is integrated with the mostly above-ground system, known as the
Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area ''Berliner Stadt-, Ri ...
. The Frankfurt U-Bahn is an important exception, the system being really a light rail transit system with underground sections. Hamburg S-Bahn fulfills all criteria for heavy rail inside the state and city of Hamburg, but some lines go beyond the state border into the state of Niedersachsen and there the S-Bahn runs with lower train frequency. The same applies also to the S-Bahn and U-Bahn in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the only exception that the word "Metro" is used instead of "U-Bahn", and "S-tog" instead of "S-Bahn". (The Danish word "S-tog" applies to the trains (''tog''), rather than the tracks as in Germany; "S-tog" means "S-train".) Otherwise, the S-Bahn of Berlin and the S-tog of Copenhagen are very similar with the exception of the size. In Switzerland, where there is only one underground railway system in Lausanne, the term metro is generally used, due to the influence from the French language. In Sweden, the metro of Stockholm is called "Tunnelbana" or "T-bana" which refers to the fact that the trains often run in tunnels. The same applies to Norway and the "T-bane" of Oslo.


Elevated and overhead

''Elevated'' is a shorthand for
elevated railway An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
, a
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
built on supports over other rights of way, generally city streets. The term ''overhead'' tends to be used in Europe. The names of elevated railways are sometimes further abbreviate it to El or L. Some examples include: *
Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid t ...
The best known elevated transit system in the United States. * Vancouver SkyTrain An automated rapid transit system that is mostly elevated. *
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...
A combination of the old IRT and BMT rapid transit systems that had built or leased numerous elevated lines throughout the entire city. New York "El's" are the oldest ones in the United States, dating from 1869. Today, the majority of "El" lines in New York are in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, and
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
. Most "El's" in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
were torn down in the 1940s and 1950s, some replaced by subways. *
Liverpool Overhead Railway The Liverpool Overhead Railway (known locally as the Dockers' Umbrella or Ovee) was an overhead railway in Liverpool which operated along the Liverpool Docks and opened in 1893 with lightweight electric multiple units. The railway had a numbe ...
This was the United Kingdom's only true elevated railway, although the London and Greenwich Railway of 1836 was constructed on a brick viaduct for the greater part of its length. *
SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...
's Market–Frankford Line is elevated except for the portion running through Center City and University City, and is sometimes referred to as the "El". *The Manila LRT Line 1 in Manila, Philippines, is an elevated railway, made operational in 1984 and the country's first urban rail transit since Manila tram service ended in 1944, during the Japanese occupation of the city. *The
BTS Skytrain The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain ( th, รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส '' TS'), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a ...
is an elevated rapid transit system in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
, Thailand, which was officially opened on 5 December 1999 by Princess
Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, The Princess Royal and Princess Debaratana Rajasuda ( th, มหาจักรีสิรินธร, ; ; born April 2, 1955), formerly Princess Sirindhorn Debaratanasuda Kitivadhanadulsobhak ( th, สมเ ...
. It now consists of 34 stations and 2 lines. * Sydney Metro Monorail was an elevated monorail through the CBD of Sydney from the
bicentenary __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated i ...
in 1988 until its dismantlement in 2013.


Heavy rail

The term ''heavy rail'' has different meanings in different parts of the world.


Europe


Austria, Germany, Switzerland

The German complementary term is '' Vollbahn'' and the opposite '' Kleinbahn''. These terms were defined to distinguish different axle loads and connected construction rules. Today the term ''Vollbahn'' is not common and ''Kleinbahn'' is used for narrow-gauge lines.


United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, ''heavy rail'' refers to conventional railways forming part of the national network, including commuter,
intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
,
high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
,
regional rail Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...
and freight services, as distinct from metro, light rail and
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
lines,
people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
s, and similar.


North America

In North America, the
American Public Transportation Association The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit group of approximately 1,500 public and private sector member organizations that promotes and advocates for the interests of the public transportation industry in the United S ...
defines a heavy-rail system as an electric railway with the capacity to handle a heavy volume of traffic. The term is often used to distinguish it from light rail systems, which usually handle a smaller volume of passengers. In North America, ''heavy rail'' can also refer to
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
, when referring to systems with heavier passenger loadings than light rail systems, but distinct from
commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
and intercity rail systems. It is characterized by high-speed, passenger rail cars running in separate rights-of-way from which all other vehicular and foot traffic are excluded. Such passenger rail cars are almost always electrically driven, with power either drawn from an
overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...
or an electrified
third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...
.


Asia

In the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, the North–South Commuter Railway has been described by
Philippine National Railways The Philippine National Railways (PNR) ( fil, Pambansang Daang-Bakal ng Pilipinas and es, Ferrocarril Nacional de Filipinas) is a state-owned railway company in the Philippines which operates one commuter rail service between Metro Manila a ...
general manager Junn Magno as a ''heavy rail metro'' line. Although the use of ''heavy rail'' also refers to rapid transit as with American parlance, it is characterized as electrified passenger rail services that use 8- or 10-car trains.


International

''Heavy rail'' term according
International Union of Railways The International Union of Railways (UIC, french: Union internationale des chemins de fer) is an international rail transport industry body. History The railways of Europe originated as many separate concerns, and there were many border chang ...
(UIC) refers to both freight rail and passenger rail (commuter, regional, intercity and high-speed) other than large-capacity metro.


At-grade urban rail transit


Tram, streetcar, trolley

The terms ''tram'', ''streetcar'', and ''trolley'' refer to most forms of
common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...
rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...
transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
that run entirely or partly on streets, providing a local service and picking up and discharging passengers at any street corner, unless otherwise marked. While
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
or ''tramway'' are widely used worldwide, the term used varies in different
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...
s of
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
, with ''streetcar'' and ''trolley'' most commonly used in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
(''streetcar'' being more common in the western and central part of the continent and ''trolley'' in the eastern part), while ''tram'' predominates in Europe and elsewhere. Tram is a British word, cognate with the
Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...
, and the Dutch , meaning the "shafts of a
wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is ma ...
". From this the term "tram" was used in the coal mines of Scotland and Northern England for a coal cart running on rails, and by extension to any similar system of trackway. Streetcar is an American word derived from "street" + "car", where "car" is used in the sense of a vehicle running on rails, i.e. railway car. The first American streetcars, introduced around 1830, were
horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...
s, and this type of streetcar became ubiquitous because very few of the streets in American cities were paved. Mechanical versions, pulled by
cables Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
, were introduced around 1870. Electric streetcars were introduced in the 1880s and soon replaced the horse-drawn streetcar in cities across the United States. Trolley is an American word derived from the electric current pickup mechanism in early systems. The first successful electric streetcars in the United States used a system devised by Frank J. Sprague, in which a spring-loaded
trolley pole A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" (electrified) overhead wire to the control and the electric traction motors of a tram or trolley bus. It is a type of current collector. ...
pushed a small trolley wheel up against an overhead wire to collect electricity for the motors. Although not the first overhead collection system, it was far more reliable than its predecessors, and eventually became used by almost all streetcars. Some authorities believe that the vehicle became known as a ''trolley car'' because it reminded people (particularly on the West Coast) of a boat
trolling for fish Trolling is a method of fishing where one or more fishing lines, baited with lures or bait fish, are drawn through the water. This may be behind a moving boat, or by slowly winding the line in when fishing from a static position, or even sweep ...
. Others believe it derived from a dialect word for a wheeled cart. In the U.S. the word ''tram'' frequently refers to a special-purpose bus used as a shuttle (and often not designed for use on public roads), such as for parking lot shuttles at theme parks and major events or transportation within theme parks. Other common North American English meanings of the term ''tram'' include aerial cable cars and short-distance, rubber-tired
people-mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
s (such as at certain airports). Tourist buses that have been given the appearance of a vintage streetcar (i.e. trolley-replica buses) are most commonly referred to, ambiguously, simply as ''trolleys'' by the companies or entities operating them or selling them, but may be referred to as trams or streetcars.


Historical systems

Specific terms for some historically important tram technologies include ''
horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...
'', '' heritage streetcar'', and '' cable car''. Heritage streetcar (also known as heritage trolley or vintage trolley) is an American term for streetcar systems that use vehicles that were built before 1960, or modern replicas of such vehicles. Cable car is an American word for a passenger rail vehicle attached to a moving cable located below the street surface and powered by engines or motors at a central location, not on board the vehicle. There are cable cars operating in numerous cities, such as
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
.


Light railway

A ''light railway'' is a
British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadl ...
term referring to a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail". These lighter standards allow lower costs of operation at the price of slower operating speeds and lower vehicle capacity. They were permitted under the Light Railways Act 1896 and intended to bring railways to rural areas. The London
Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...
, has more
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
style features than would be typical of ''light rail'' systems, but fits within the U.K. ''light railway'' definition.


Light rail

A light rail transit (LRT) system is an
urban rail transit Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, ...
system with a "light" passenger capacity compared to heavy rail and metro systems. Its operating characteristics are that it uses
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...
s, called light rail vehicles (LRVs), operating singly or in short
multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train cont ...
trains on fixed rails in a right-of-way that is not necessarily
grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...
from other traffic for much of the way. Light rail vehicles are almost always electrically driven, with power usually being drawn from an
overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...
rather than an electrified
third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...
, though a few exceptional systems use
diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s (DMUs) instead as a cheaper alternative to an electrically driven light rail system. The phrase '' light rail'' was coined in the 1970s during the re-emergence of
streetcars A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...
/
trams A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...
with more modern technology. It was devised in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA; the precursor to the
Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administratio ...
) to describe new streetcar transformations which were taking place, and was a translation of the German word Stadtbahn. However, instead of the literal translation of ''city rail'', UMTA used ''light rail'' instead. In general, it refers to streetcar/tram systems with rapid transit-style features. It is named to distinguish it from '' heavy rail'', which refers to
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
systems as well as heavier
regional rail Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...
/ intercity rail. A few systems such as
people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
s and
personal rapid transit Personal rapid transit (PRT), also referred to as podcars or guided/railed taxis, is a public transport mode featuring small low-capacity automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guideways. PRT is a type of automated guideway ...
could be considered as even "lighter", at least in terms of how many passengers are moved per vehicle and the speed at which they travel.
Monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
s are a separate technology. Light rail systems can typically handle steeper inclines than heavy rail, and
curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...
s sharp enough to fit within street
intersections In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...
. They are typically built in urban areas, providing frequent service with
multiple-unit train Multiple-unit train control, sometimes abbreviated to multiple-unit or MU, is a method of simultaneously controlling all the traction equipment in a train from a single location—whether it is a multiple unit comprising a number of self-powered ...
s or single cars. The most difficult distinction to draw is that between light rail and streetcar/
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
systems. There is a significant amount of overlap between the technologies, and it is common to classify streetcars/trams as a subtype of light rail rather than as a distinct type of transportation. The two general versions are: # The traditional type, where the tracks and trains run along the streets and share space with road traffic. Stops tend to be frequent, and little effort is made to set up special stations. Because space is shared, the tracks are usually visually unobtrusive. # A more modern variation, where the trains tend to run along their own
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
and are often separated from road traffic. Stops are generally less frequent, and the passengers are often boarded from a platform. Tracks are highly visible, and in some cases significant effort is expended to keep traffic away through the use of special signaling, and even
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
s (or grade crossings) with gate arms. :At the highest degree of separation, it can be difficult or impossible to draw the line between light rail and
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
, as in the case of
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's
Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...
, which would likely not be called ''light rail'' were it not for the contrast between it and the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...
. Many light rail systems – even fairly old ones – have a combination of the two, with both on-road and off-road sections. In some countries, only the latter is described as ''light rail''. In those places,
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
s running on mixed right of way are not regarded as light rail, but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams. However, the requirement for saying that a rail line is "separated" can be quite minimal – sometimes just with concrete "
buttons A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood ...
" to discourage
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...
drivers from getting onto the tracks. There is a significant difference in cost between these different classes of light rail transit. The traditional style is often less expensive by a factor of two or more. Despite the increased cost, the more modern variation (which can be considered as "heavier" than old streetcar systems, even though it's called ''light rail'') is the dominant form of new
urban rail transit Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The
Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administratio ...
helps to fund many projects, but as of 2004, the rules to determine which projects will be funded are unfavorable toward the simpler streetcar systems (partly because the vehicles tend to be somewhat slower). Some places in the country have set about building the less expensive streetcar lines themselves or with only minimal federal support. Most of these lines have been "heritage" railways, using refurbished or replica streetcars harkening back to the first half of the 20th century. However, a few, such as the Portland Streetcar, use modern vehicles. There is a growing desire to push the Federal Transit Administration to help fund these startup lines as well. Light rail is generally powered by electricity, usually by means of overhead wires, but sometimes by a live rail, also called third rail (a high voltage bar alongside the track), requiring safety measures and warnings to the public not to touch it. In some cases, particularly when initial funds are limited,
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...
-powered versions have been used, but it is not a preferred option. Some systems, such as AirTrain JFK in New York City, are automatic, dispensing with the need for a driver; however, such systems are not what is generally thought of as light rail, crossing over into
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
. Automatic operation is more common in smaller
people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
systems than in light rail systems, where the possibility of grade crossings and street running make driverless operation of the latter inappropriate.


Very light rail or ultra light rail

Very light rail or ultra light rail is a term for light rail with more modest initial requirements than typical light rail. Parry People Mover which is grade-separated, low passenger capacity (maximum 35 standing) powered by LPG with no overhead lines, has been described as ultra light rail. The proposed
Coventry Very Light Rail Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) is a light rail tram system proposed to operate in Coventry, England. The system has been promoted as being the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. When finished, it will also be the first tram network to o ...
which is at-grade, low passenger capacity (60-70 people), battery powered so no overhead lines also falls into this category. A Very Light rail vehicles is described as vehicles weighing less than 1 tonne / m3.


Interurban

In the U.S., ''
interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...
'' (German ) refers to a higher-speed streetcar (tram) line – i.e. electrical railcars or trains which run both between the cities or towns (often in
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...
environments) on their own right-of-way, and through the city streets as trams. In the U.S., some interurban railcars constructed in the period 1900–1930 ran at extremely high speed for its time. Essentially, the classic interurbans were the light-rail lines of the day. Several advanced innovations – like streamlining,
wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
research and lightweight constructions – have their origin on the interurban scene, or were early adopted by companies like
J. G. Brill Company The J.G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars,Young, Andrew D. (1997). ''Veteran & Vintage Transit'', p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. interurban coaches, motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars in the United States for almost ...
, Cincinnati Car Company, and St. Louis Car Company. The fastest interurbans had a maximum service speed at 145–150 km/h, and an average speed including stops at above 80 km/h. The Cincinnati–Toledo route of Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad was . A few interurbans like
Philadelphia and Western Railroad The Philadelphia and Western Railroad was a high-speed, third rail-equipped, commuter-hauling interurban electric railroad operating in the western suburbs of the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is now SEPTA's Norristown High Speed ...
adapted to high speeds with double-track, absolute block signalling and without
grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
s. Others ran at (too) high speed on single-track right-of-way without block signalling – and experienced disastrous wrecks. The classic U.S. interurbans are all but gone, with two of the remaining ( Norristown High Speed Line ,
IRT Dyre Avenue Line The IRT Dyre Avenue Line (formerly the IND Dyre Avenue–East 174th Street Line) is a New York City Subway rapid transit line, part of the A Division. It is a branch of the IRT White Plains Road Line in the northeastern section of the Bronx, n ...
) having been upgraded to
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
specifications, and a third system (Cleveland's
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
and
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...
Lines) now considered to be light rail. The
South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport ...
, which runs from
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
's
Millennium Station Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Terminal; sometimes called Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a major commuter rail terminal in the Loop (downtown), Chicago. It is the northern terminus of the Metr ...
to
South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
, has been converted to modern electric rapid-transit operation on the dense corridor between Chicago and
Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along th ...
but still runs essentially as an interurban through several small towns between Gary and South Bend. Los Angeles has a light-rail system whose lines sometimes follow the routes of the area's interurbans, although this revival commenced decades after the original interurban ceased service. The European interurbans, like the Silesian Interurbans (Tramwaje Śląskie S.A.; German ''Schlesische Straßenbahn'') and Belgium's Coastal Tram, were (and are) more like conventional tramways, as their names indicate. Interurbans sometimes used freight railways rather than building their own track. In
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, ''interurban'' refers to long-distance commuter trains such as the routes between Newcastle and Sydney, between Brisbane and Gympie, or between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Some interurban trains may operate from where suburban lines end, such as Southern Higlands services between Campbelltown and Goulburn, or between Ipswich and Rosewood. These do not have the features of "intercity trains" in other parts of the world, such as booked seats and meal services, but are bare commuter trains. They are properly called interurban rather than intercity, although New South Wales refers to its interurban services as "intercity" trains and Victoria refers to theirs as "regional" trains.


Tram-train

Tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This al ...
s are railcars or trains which run like trams (streetcars) in city streets, and on heavy rail tracks out to the suburbs or between the cities. Usually, this requires two current systems (German ''Zweisystemstadtbahn'', ''Stadtbahn'' with two systems), both the tram voltage (600 or 750 V DC) and the heavy rail high voltage (in Germany, 15 kV AC). The vehicles must also be adapted to the heavy rail's signalling system. This transit mode combines the tram's availability with stops in the street, and the heavy rail's higher speed. They are often faster than most rapid transit (metro) systems. The first system was opened in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
in 1992. Their top speed is often 100 km/h, in Kassel as much as 114 km/h. This transit mode is a rebirth of the interurban.


Regional and commuter rail

Regional rail (also called metropolitan rail, commuter rail, or suburban rail) is an electric or diesel propelled railway for urban passenger train service consisting of local short-distance travel operating between adjacent cities and towns, or between a central city and adjacent suburbs, using either
locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
hauled or
multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train cont ...
railroad passenger cars. Regional rail usually provides rail services between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs in the way
inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...
does. Regional rail operates outside major cities. Unlike Inter-city, it stops at most or all stations. It provides a service between smaller communities along the line, and also connections with long-distance services. Alternative names are "local train" or "stopping train". Examples include the former BR's
Regional Railways Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''. Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...
, France's
TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno o ...
(''Transport express régional'') and Germany's
DB Regio DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. DB Regio AG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and there part of the DB Regio bu ...
services. Regional rail operates throughout the day but often at low frequency (once per hour or only a few times a day), whereas commuter rail provides a high-frequency service within a conurbation. Regional trains are usually all seated and provide luggage space, although they seldom have all the amenities of inter-city trains such as a buffet or
dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that do ...
. Since their invention, the distinction between regional and long-distance rail has also been the use of
multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train cont ...
propulsion, with longer distance trains being
locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
hauled, although development of trains such as the
British Rail Class 390 The British Rail Class 390 ''Pendolino'' is a type of electric high-speed passenger train operated by Avanti West Coast in the United Kingdom, leased from Angel Trains. They are electric multiple units using Fiat Ferroviaria's tilting train ...
have blurred this distinction. Shorter regional rail services will still usually be operated exclusively by multiple units where they exist, which have a shorter range and operate at lower average speeds than services on Inter-city rail networks. Not using a locomotive also provides greater passenger capacity in the commuter role at peak periods.
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...
, during sectorisation, did once create a "
Regional Railways Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''. Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...
" subsidiary, however this was so named to differentiate it's 'all other regions' lines from the other sectors
Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the net ...
, which heavily focused on commuters services to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
terminal stations but operated rail services across the South East region, and the
Inter-City Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...
sector which operated long-distance services.
Commuter rail in North America Commuter rail services in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis, primarily for sho ...
refers to urban passenger train service for local short-distance travel operating between a central city and its suburbs. Such rail service, using either locomotive-hauled or self-propelled railroad passenger cars, is characterized by multi-trip tickets, specific station-to-station fares, and usually only one or two stations in the central business district. It does not include heavy rail, rapid transit, light rail, streetcar, tram, or intercity rail service. Some commuter rail systems do link nearby cities, e.g. Boston and Providence (
MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network i ...
) or Baltimore and Washington (
MARC Train MARC (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) is a commuter rail system in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and operated under contract by Alstom and Amtrak on track owned ...
). The national passenger rail provider,
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
, uses the term ''Regional'' to distinguish its slower trains on the
Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, ...
from its ''
Acela The ''Acela'' ( ; originally the ''Acela Express'' until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, inclu ...
'' high-speed express service. The term
regional railroad In the United States, a regional railroad is a railroad company that is not Class I, but still has a substantial amount of traffic or trackage (and is thus not a short line). The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has defined the lower boun ...
refers to second-tier freight lines.


Intercity, corridor, and long-distance

The Inter-City was a British named train, introduced in 1950, but the term
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
was adopted by
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...
in 1966 as a
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
-name for its long-haul express passenger services. Since then, the terms Inter-city or intercity have been widely adopted to refer to express passenger train services that cover longer distances than commuter or regional trains. In the U.S., "corridor" services refer to routes connecting relatively nearby cities, where one city can be visited from another without staying overnight. "Long-distance" refers to routes which cover vast rural distances.


Other types of rail transit

Automated guideway transit An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more dr ...
refers to guided transit vehicles operating singly or in multi-car trains with fully automated control (no crew on transit units). Service may be on a fixed schedule or in response to a passenger-activated call button. Automated guideway transit includes personal rapid transit, group rapid transit, and people mover systems.
Personal rapid transit Personal rapid transit (PRT), also referred to as podcars or guided/railed taxis, is a public transport mode featuring small low-capacity automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guideways. PRT is a type of automated guideway ...
(PRT), also called personal automated transport (PAT), is a public transportation concept that offers on-demand, non-stop transportation, using small, independent vehicles on a network of specially built guideways.
People mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
or automated people mover (APM) systems are fully automated, grade-separated mass transit systems which serve a relatively small area such as an airport, downtown district or theme park. The term "people mover" has become generic for the type of system, which may use technologies such as
monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
, duorail,
automated guideway transit An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more dr ...
or
maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
.
Monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
means a system of guided transit vehicles operating on or suspended from a single rail, beam, or tube. Usually they operate in trains. Monorails are distinguished from other types of elevated rail system by their use of only a single beam, and from light rail and tram systems by the fact they are always grade-separated from other vehicles and pedestrians. Suspension railway is a form of elevated monorail where the vehicle is suspended from a fixed track (as opposed to a cable used in aerial tramways), which is built above street level, over a river or canal, or an existing railway track.


Service type


Local service

Means trains stop at every station on a route. For light rail vehicles operating on city streets as trams or streetcars, local service is analogous to local bus service, where stops are every block or two apart.


Regional service

Regional passenger trains may be classified as either slow or stopping trains, or else limited-stop or semi-fast or
express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...
trains, where not all stations and stops are served. For example, a pair of closely spaced trains may both stop at the most heavily used stations. For lesser-used stations, the first train stops at alternate stations, while the following train stops at the stations missed by the first train.


Express service

Means trains operate for long distances without stopping, skipping some stations between stops. This speeds up longer trips, especially in major urban areas. In major cities, express trains may have separate tracks for at least part of their routes.


Passenger boarding


Street-level boarding

Used primarily by light rail and tram lines that stop on the street rather than at stations. No platforms are used, the passengers walk up steps into the vehicles. For wheelchairs, a retractable lift or ramp is required to gain access to the vehicle.


Low-level platforms

Generally about above track level and are used primarily by some commuter rail and light rail and tram/streetcar rail systems. Wheelchairs can board low-floor vehicles directly from the platform, but high-floor vehicles require retractable lifts or ramps.


High-level platforms

Generally above track level and are used primarily by heavy rail, automated guideway, and some commuter rail lines. Only high-floor vehicles can be used, but wheelchairs can board directly from platforms if vehicle floors are level with the platform.


Rail terminology with regard to speed


Conventional rail

Generally, the speed range for conventional rail is or less. The vast majority of local, regional, and express passenger trains, and almost 100% of freight trains are of this category. Countries that do not make distinction between conventional rail and higher-speed rail can have the maximum speeds of conventional rail up to with the systems that can operate at the speeds higher than that be classified as
high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
. For the countries with higher-speed rail classification, the maximum speeds of conventional rail can vary which may go up to such as in Canada.


Higher-speed rail

Generally, the speed range for higher-speed rail is between and . The higher-speed rail can operate at top speeds that are higher than conventional rail but the speeds are not as high as those in the high-speed rail services. These services are provided after improvements to the conventional rail infrastructure in order to support trains that can operate safely at higher speeds. There is no globally accepted standard in the speed ranges for this classification. Local and regional jurisdictions may have their own definitions. For example, a definition in
North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wo ...
has a wide range of speeds between and . A planned construction in Thailand, called medium-speed rail, has the top speeds of . In some cases the term higher speed rail would sound incorrect to define a train travelling below a high speed since higher is greater than high. Therefore, the word higher speed rail would sound correct to refer to a train at a speed between 300 and 500 km/h (i.e. greater than the high speed of 200–300 km/h).


High-speed rail

Generally, the speed range for high-speed rail is between and . There is no globally accepted standard separating high-speed rail from conventional railroads; however a number of widely accepted variables have been acknowledged by the industry in recent years. Generally, high-speed rail is defined as having a top speed in regular use of over . Although almost every form of high-speed rail is electrically driven via overhead lines, this is not necessarily a defining aspect and other forms of propulsion, such as diesel locomotives, may be used. A definitive aspect is the use of continuous welded rail which reduces track vibrations and discrepancies between rail segments enough to allow trains to pass at speeds in excess of . Track radius will often be the ultimate limiting factor in a train's speed, with passenger discomfort often more imminent than the danger of derailment. Depending on design speed, banking, and the forces deemed acceptable to the passengers, curves often exceed a 5 kilometer radius.
Tilting train A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide ab ...
s have been developed for achieving greater comfort for passengers, so higher speeds are possible on curvy tracks. Although a few exceptions exist, zero grade crossings is a policy adopted almost worldwide, with advanced switches utilizing very low entry and frog angles. Magnetic levitation trains fall under the category of high-speed rail due to their association with track oriented vehicles; however their inability to operate on conventional railroads often leads to their classification in a separate category. In the United States, the
federal law Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many ...
has used the term "high-speed rail" as the rail services with "reasonably expected to reach sustained speeds of more than 125 miles per hour 00 km/h since 1998. In 2009, the
United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
created a vision plan for national high-speed rail network with conflicting definitions by describing the lowest speed range of the high-speed rail systems as "Emerging HSR" with top speeds between and This created confusion in terminology and the media started to differentiate the " higher-speed rail" from the high-speed rail. Some state-level departments of transportation and council of governments now use different sets of definitions. For examples, North Central Texas Council of Governments uses the definition of the speeds over , and
Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...
and
Oklahoma Department of Transportation The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma secretary of transpor ...
use the speeds of or more to define high-speed rail. These agencies have a separate category for higher-speed rail which can be a wide range of speeds between and .


Very high-speed rail

Generally, the speed range for very high-speed rail is between and . The term is used for the fastest trains introduced after 2000, exceeding 300 km/h. Shanghai Transrapid is one example, with a line speed of 430 km/h.


Ultra high-speed rail

Generally, the speed range for ultra high-speed rail is between and . A number of both technological and practical variables begin to influence trains in the vicinity of 500–600 km/h. Technologically, the limitations are by no means beyond reach, however conventional trains begin to encounter several physical obstacles, most notably track damage and
pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...
limitations. It is important to note that the current world record for rail vehicles is held by the
TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
V150 set on 15 April 2007 at , and conventional trains may indeed eventually reach into ultra high-speeds. However, this test has shown that speeds over 500 km/h are unrealistic for regular usage; it wears down the material too much. Based on current and foreseeable technology, these speeds will more than likely be reached predominantly by
maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
trains. The two most prominent maglev trains are the Transrapid with a maximum speed of and the Japanese
MLX01 The SCMaglev (superconducting maglev, formerly called the MLU) is a magnetic levitation (maglev) railway system developed by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and the Railway Technical Research Institute. On 21 April 2015, a manned sev ...
, which holds the world land speed record for rail vehicles at . Trains faster than will exceed the speed of most propeller-driven aircraft. Regardless of technological parameters, the track for such a train and anything faster would more than likely require turn radii of significantly higher proportions than current dimensions, essentially preventing anything but a direct line between terminals. Such trains are extremely unlikely in the current or near future.


Greater than 1000 km/h (621 mph)

Depending on the aerodynamic design of the vehicle and various ambient atmospheric conditions, a train would begin to exhibit
transonic Transonic (or transsonic) flow is air flowing around an object at a speed that generates regions of both subsonic and supersonic airflow around that object. The exact range of speeds depends on the object's critical Mach number, but transoni ...
airflow in the vicinity of Mach 0.8 (988 km/h) and higher. From a modern perspective, this is essentially the realistic maximum speed of trains as they are known today. This is because the Prandtl-Glauert singularity would cause catastrophic damage to the vehicle as the sound waves reflected off of the ground, potentially blasting the train into the air. The only trains that could exceed this speed significantly are vactrains.


Rail terminology with respect to railway track gauge

Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to the standard
track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...
where the distance between the inside edges of the rails of the track is (see the list of countries that use the standard gauge).
Narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struct ...
s have track gauges of between and . They are cheaper to build and operate, but tend to be slower and have less capacity. Minimum gauge railway have a gauge of less than and are primarily used as
industrial railway An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British ra ...
s rather than for passenger transit. However many
miniature railways A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by Diesel engine, d ...
use this type of gauge.
Broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...
railways use a track gauge greater than . Examples include , and .


Comparison of types


See also

* Glossary of rail transport terms * Glossary of Australian railway terms *
Glossary of New Zealand railway terms This is a list of jargon commonly used by railfans and railway employees in New Zealand. B ; Blue Rattlers : ADK class on the Auckland suburban network ; Blue Streaks : Three NZR RM class 88 seater railcars renovated for a fast service ...
* Glossary of North American railway terms * Glossary of United Kingdom railway terms


References

{{Public transport Glossaries of rail transport *