A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

vehicle designed to

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

consisting of a single

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

(or carriage, car, unit), with a driver's cab at one or both ends. In its simplest form, a "railcar" may also be little more than a motorized railway handcar,

draisine A draisine () is a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure. The eponymous term is derived from the German inventor Baron Karl D ...

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar with an automotive engine. It shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels (2 axles) on a fixed base instead of on bogies. O ...

. Some railway companies, such as the Great Western, termed such vehicles "

railmotor Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it. Steam railcars ...

s" (or "rail motors"). Self-powered railcars were once common in North America; and termed Doodlebugs. Self-propelled passenger vehicles also capable of hauling a train are, in technical rail usage, more usually called "

rail motor coach A motor coach (international usage) or motorcar (US usage) is a self-propelled passenger rail vehicle also capable of hauling a train. With multiple unit train control, one operator can control several "motor coaches", possibly even combined wit ...

es" or "motor cars" (not to be confused with the motor cars, otherwise known as automobiles, that operate on roads).

Alternative use

In Australia, the term is sometimes also used as an alternative name for the small types of

multiple unit A multiple-unit train (or multiple unit (MU)) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more Coach (rail), carriages joined, and where one or more of the carriages have the means of propulsion built in. By contrast, a locomotive-hauled ...

which consist of more than one coach. This can be the case in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

when referring to any

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 ...

(DMU), or in some cases

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

(EMU). In North America the term "railcar" has a much broader sense and can be used (as an abbreviated form of "railroad car") to refer to any item of hauled rolling-stock, whether

passenger coaches A passenger railroad car or passenger car (American English), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (British English and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (Indian English) is a railroad car that is designed to ca ...

goods wagon Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon types ...

s (freight cars).

Services

Railcars are economic to run for light passenger loads because of their small size, and in many countries are often used to run passenger services on minor railway lines, such as rural railway lines where passenger traffic is sparse, and where the use of a longer train would not be

cost effective Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a moneta ...

. A famous example of this in the United States was the Galloping Goose railcars of the

Rio Grande Southern Railroad The Rio Grande Southern Railroad (reporting mark RGS, also referred to as "The Southern") was a 3 ft gauge railways, 3 ft (914 mm) Narrow gauge railways, narrow-gauge railroad which ran in the southwestern region of the United States, US s ...

, whose introduction allowed the discontinuance of steam passenger service on the line and prolonged its life considerably. Railcars have also been employed on premier services. In

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, although railcars were primarily used on regional services, the Blue Streak and

Silver Fern ''Alsophila tricolor'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori language, Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into Ne ...

railcars were used on the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...

between

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and offered a higher standard of service than previous carriage trains. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the '' Savannahlander'' operates a tourist service from the coastal town of

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Forsayth Forsayth is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Etheridge, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Forsayth had a population of 107 people. Geography Forsayth is in Far North Queensland approximately by road from Cairns. The t ...

, and Traveltrain operates the ''

Gulflander The ''Gulflander'' is a passenger train operated by Queensland Rail on the isolated Normanton to Croydon line in the Gulf Country of northern Queensland, Australia. History Steam locomotives were used until 1929. By that stage railm ...

'' between Normanton and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

in the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also ca ...

of northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Propulsion systems

Steam

William Bridges Adams William Bridges Adams (1797 – 23 July 1872) was an English locomotive engineer, and writer. He is best known for his patented Adams axle – a successful radial axle design in use on railways in Britain until the end of steam traction in 1 ...

built steam railcars at

Bow, London Bow () is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, it became part of the County of L ...

in the 1840s. Many

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

railway companies tried steam

rail motors A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or 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 coac ...

but they were not very successful and were often replaced by push-pull trains.

Sentinel Waggon Works Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd was a British company based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire that made steam-powered lorry, lorries (steam wagons), railway locomotives, and later, diesel engined lorries, buses and locomotives. History Alley & MacLellan ...

was one British builder of steam railcars. In

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, M. A. Cabany of

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

designed steam railcars. His first was built in 1877 and exhibited at a Paris exhibition. This may have been the

Exposition Universelle (1878) The 1878 Universal Exposition (, ), also known as the 1878 Paris Exposition, 1878 World Fair, or 1878 World Expo, was a world's fair held in Paris, French Third Republic, France, from 1 May to 10 November 1878, to celebrate the recovery of Franc ...

. The steam boiler was supplied by the

Boussu Boussu (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. As of January 1, 2006, Boussu had a population of 20,058. The total area is 20.01 km2, which gives a population density of 1,002 inhabitants per km2. T ...

Works and there was accommodation for First, Second and Third-class passengers and their luggage. There was also a locker for dogs underneath. Fifteen were built and they worked mainly in the Hainaut and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

districts. The Austro-Hungarian

Ganz Works The Ganz Machinery Works Holding is a Hungary, Hungarian holding company. Its products are related to rail transport, power generation, and water supply, among other industries. The original Ganz Works or Ganz ( or , ''Ganz companies'', formerly ...

built steam trams prior to the First World War. The Santa Fe Railway built a steam powered rail car using a body by

American Car and Foundry ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...

, a Jacobs-Schupert boiler and a Ganz power truck in 1911. Numbered M-104, the experiment was a failure, and was not repeated.

Petrol

In 1904 the Automotor Journal reported that one railway after another had been realising that motor coaches could be used to handle light traffic on their less important lines. The North-Eastern railways had been experimenting “for some time” in this direction, and Wolseley provided them with a flat-four engine capable of up to for this purpose. The engine drove a main dynamo to power two electric drive motors, and a smaller dynamo to charge accumulators to power the interior lighting and allow electric starting of the engine. The controls for the dynamo allowed the coach to be driven from either end. For further details see

1903 Petrol Electric Autocar The 1903 Petrol Electric Autocars were built by the North Eastern Railway in 1903 at their carriage works in York, England. These were powered by petrol engines which generated electricity for two traction motors which were mounted on the bogi ...

. Another early railcar in the UK was designed by James Sidney Drewry and made by the Drewry Car Co. in 1906. In 1908 the manufacture was contracted out to the

Birmingham Small Arms Company The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand tool, hand, po ...

. By the 1930s, railcars were often adapted from truck or automobiles; examples of this include the

Buick Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...

- and

Pierce-Arrow The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive Luxury vehicle, luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manuf ...

-based Galloping Geese of the

, and the

Mack Truck Mack Trucks, Inc. is an American truck manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its present name in 1922. Since ...

-based "Super Skunk" of the

California Western Railroad The California Western Railroad , AKA Mendocino Railway, popularly called the Skunk Train, is a rail freight and heritage railway, heritage railroad transport railway in Mendocino County, California, United States, running from the railroad's h ...

Diesel

While early railcars were propelled by

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

and

petrol Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...

engines, modern railcars are usually propelled by a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

mounted underneath the floor of the coach. Diesel railcars may have mechanical (

fluid coupling A fluid coupling or hydraulic coupling is a hydrodynamics, hydrodynamic or 'hydrokinetic' device used to transmit rotating mechanical power.

and

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

), hydraulic (

torque converter A torque converter is a device, usually implemented as a type of fluid coupling, that transfers rotating power from a prime mover, like an internal combustion engine, to a rotating driven load. In a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the ...

) or

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

( generator and

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric vehicle, electric or hydrogen vehicles, or electric multiple unit trains. Traction (engineering), Traction motors are used in electrically powe ...

s) transmission.

Electric

Electric railcars and mainline electric systems are rare, since electrification normally implies heavy usage where single cars or short trains would not be economic. Exceptions to this rule are or were found for example in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Some vehicles on

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

and

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

systems, like the

Red Car The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

of the

Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

, can also be seen as railcars.

Battery-electric

Experiments with battery-electric railcars were conducted from around 1890 in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. In the US, railcars of the Edison-Beach type, with nickel-iron batteries were used from 1911. In New Zealand, a battery-electric Edison railcar operated from 1926 to 1934. In Ireland, the

Drumm Battery Train The Drumm Battery Train was an Irish battery electric multiple unit developed in the 1930s which ran successfully in service on the Dublin to route. The train's batteries were charged via an overhead pickup at the turnaround station. The tr ...

used nickel-zinc batteries on four 2-car sets between 1932 and 1946 on the coastal and

Harcourt Street railway line The Harcourt Street Railway Line () was a railway line that ran from '' Harcourt Street'' in Dublin through the southern suburbs to Bray. It was one of the Dublin and South Eastern Railway's two northern main lines, the other being the coastal ...

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

used lead–acid batteries in a railcar in 1958. Between 1955 and 1995 DB railways successfully operated 232

DB Class ETA 150 The accumulator cars of Class ETA 150 (Class 515 from 1968) were German railcars used extensively by Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) for 40 years. They ran on both main and branch lines. By comparison with the Uerdingen railbus, the railc ...

railcars utilising lead–acid batteries. As with any other

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-boa ...

, the drawback is the limited range (this can be solved using

overhead wires An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union of Railways for the tec ...

to recharge for use in places where there are not wires), weight, and/or expense of the battery.

Old-generation railcars

NoELB Steam Railcar.jpg, Steam railcar for the narrow gauge

Niederösterreich Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which has been the capital of ...

ische Landesbahnen (DE), built by Komarek of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1903 NYC-Railbus.jpg, An early petrol-engined rail omnibus on the

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

railroad Weitzer ACSEV hybrid railmotor.jpg, Weitzer petrol electric railcar, 1903, French & German components, Austrian producer in Hungarian, now Romanian Arad McKeen car 2.jpg,

McKeen railmotor The McKeen Railmotor was a 6-cylinder self-propelled railcar or railmotor. When McKeen Company of Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., first unveiled the car in 1905, the McKeen was among the first engines with a distillate-fueled motor. Revisions to the M ...

, 1904, futuristic design, early international success, unsolvable gear problems Triebwagen 802.jpg, Narrow gauge railcar in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, in 1967 NZR RM class Standard 01.JPG, Standard railcar RM 31 in the

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

at Pahiatua station of the

Wairarapa Line The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connecting the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line at Woodville, New Zealand, Woodville, ...

White railcar.jpg,

White Motor Company White Motor Company (later renamed White Motor Corporation and commonly known as White) was an American car, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic la ...

railcar in the collection of the

Railtown 1897 State Historic Park Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, and its operating entity, the Sierra Railway, is known as "The Movie Railroad." Both entities are a heritage railway and are a unit of the California State Park System. Railtown 1897 is located in Jamestown, ...

Jamestown, California Jamestown is an unincorporated community in Tuolumne County, California, United States. Formerly a California Gold Rush town, Jamestown was designated a California Historical Landmark on March 16, 1949. It is the home of Railtown 1897 State H ...

GWR No.22 AEC Diesel Railcar at Didcot Great Western Railway Centre (7882166846).jpg, GWR diesel railcar, collection of the

Great Western Society Didcot Railway Centre is a railway museum and preservation engineering site in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. The site was formerly a Great Western Railway engine shed and locomotive stabling point. Background The founders and commercial backers ...

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, located south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Historically part of Berkshire, the town is noted ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

File:Lužná u Rakovníka, motorový vůz M 131.1238.jpg,

ČSD Czechoslovak State Railways (''Československé státní dráhy'' in Czech language, Czech or ''Československé štátne dráhy'' in Slovak language, Slovak, often abbreviated to ČSD) was the state-owned railway company of Czechoslovakia. T ...

Class M 131.1

New-generation DMU and EMU railcars

Beinwil am See Seetalbahn 2003-06-25 4528

A new breed of modern lightweight aerodynamically designed diesel or electric regional railcars that can operate as single vehicles or in trains (or, in “multiple units”) are becoming very popular in Europe and Japan, replacing the first-generation

railbuses A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar with an automotive engine. It shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels (2 axles) on a fixed base instead of on bogies. O ...

and second-generation DMU railcars, usually running on lesser-used main-line railways and in some cases in exclusive lanes in urban areas. Like many high-end DMUs, these vehicles are made of two or three connected units that are semi-permanently coupled as “married pairs or triplets” and operate as a single unit. Passengers may walk between the married pair units without having to open or pass through doors. Unit capacities range from 70 to over 300 seated passengers. The equipment is highly customisable with a wide variety of engine, transmission, coupler systems, and car lengths.

Institutional/regulatory Issues

Contrary to other parts of the world, in the United States these vehicles generally do not comply with

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce railroa ...

(FRA) regulations and, therefore, can only operate on dedicated rights-of-way with complete separation from other railroad activities. This restriction makes it virtually impossible to operate them on existing rail corridors with conventional passenger rail service. Nevertheless, such vehicles may soon operate in the United States as manufacturers such as

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

and

ADtranz Adtranz was a multi-national rail transportation equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the US. The company, legally known as ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation, was created in 1996 as a joint venture between ABB and Daim ...

affirm they may be able to produce FRA-compliant versions of their European equipment.

Existing systems

Light regional railcars are used by a number of railroads in Germany, and also in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. * Sprinter in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California * Line 2 in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada *

CapMetro Rail CapMetro Rail is a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) system that serves the Greater Austin area in Texas and is owned by CapMetro, Austin's primary public transportation provider. The Red Line is CapMetro's f ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

A-train is a series of business simulation video games developed and published by Japanese game developer Artdink in Japan. The first game in the series was published in 1985. The first release in the United States was ''Take the A-Train II'', publis ...

Denton County, Texas Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton, Texas, Denton. The county, which ...

* SEPTA Cynwyd Line in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

* Ferrovia Trento-Malè in the region of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

* Ferrovia della Val Venosta in the province of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

, Italy ''(→ Italian language version)'' * Ramal Talca-Constitución in the region of Maule,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Manufacturers

Models of new-generation multiple-unit and articulated railcars include: *

Alstom Coradia LINT The Alstom Coradia LINT is an Articulated car, articulated railcar of the Alstom Coradia family manufactured by Alstom since 1999, offered in diesel and hydrogen fuel models. The acronym ''LINT'' is short for the German ''"leichter innovativer Na ...

Bombardier Talent The Talent is a multiple unit light train manufactured by Bombardier that was developed by Waggonfabrik Talbot in Aachen shortly before the company was acquired by Bombardier in 1995. The name ''Talent'' is an acronym in German for ''TALbot L ...

Metrovagonmash Metrowagonmash, also Metrovagonmash (), is an engineering company in Mytishchi, Russia. Metrowagonmash (MWM) is one of the leading enterprises in Russia operating in the field of transport machine building. It specializes in development, designing ...

Siemens Desiro The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of Diesel multiple unit, diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens, Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, ...

Stadler FLIRT Stadler FLIRT (, ) is a passenger multiple unit trainset made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. The baseline design of FLIRT is an electric multiple unit Articulated car, articulated trainset that can come in units of two to twelve cars with two t ...

Stadler GTW The Stadler GTW (, ) is an articulated railcar for local transport made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. History The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn near Bern, Switzerland was looking for a lighter train model to replace its aging fleet, so tha ...

Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 The Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 is the first widely used, new-generation, diesel railcar in Germany and Czech Republic for local railway services. Its most characteristic feature is the trapezium-shaped window frames. The Regio-Shuttle is classified ...

Multiple-unit and articulated railcars

When there are enough passengers to justify it, single-unit powered railcars can be joined in a

multiple-unit A multiple-unit train (or multiple unit (MU)) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined, and where one or more of the carriages have the means of propulsion built in. By contrast, a locomotive-hauled train has all ...

form, with one driver controlling all engines. However, it has previously been the practice for a railcar to tow a carriage or second, unpowered railcar. It is possible for several railcars to run together, each with its own driver (as practised on the former

County Donegal Railway The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee operated an extensive narrow gauge railway system serving County Donegal, Ireland, from 1906 until 1960. The committee was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1906, which authorised the joint pur ...

). The reason for this was to keep costs down, since small railcars were not always fitted with multiple-unit control. There are also articulated railcars, in which the ends of two adjacent coupled carriages are carried on a single joint bogie (see ''

Jacobs bogie Jacobs bogies (named after Wilhelm Jakobs, 1858–1942, a German Mechanical engineering, mechanical Railway engineering, railway engineer) are a type of Rail transport, rail vehicle bogie commonly found on Articulated car, articulated railcars an ...

'').

Railbuses

A variation of the railcar is the

: a very lightweight type of vehicle designed for use specifically on lightly used railway lines and, as the name suggests, sharing many aspects of their construction with those of a road

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

. They usually have a bus, or modified bus, body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of running on bogies. Railbuses have been commonly used in such countries as the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. A type of railbus known as a Pacer based on the

Leyland National The Leyland National is an integrally constructed British step-floor single-decker bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries – the National Bus Com ...

bus was still widely used in the United Kingdom until withdrawal in 2021. New Zealand railcars that more closely resembled railbuses were the Leyland diesel railcars and the Wairarapa railcars that were specially designed to operate over the

Rimutaka Incline The Rimutaka Incline was a , gauge railway line on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa side of the original Wairarapa Line in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The ...

between Wellington and the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

region. In

, where they were often called Rail Motors, railcars were often used for passenger services on lightly used lines. In France they are known as

autorail The French word Autorail describes a single powered railcar capable of carrying passengers. While the concept faded for a while, it has been introduced with a new range of vehicles for both standard and metre gauge lines. Many autorails from the ...

s. Once very common, their use died out as local lines were closed. However, a new model has been introduced for lesser-used lines. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, after the cessation of their mainline passenger service,

BC Rail The British Columbia Railway Company , commonly known as BC Rail, is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial ...

started operating a pair of railbuses to some settlements not easily accessible otherwise. In

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the

Mytishchi Mytishchi ( rus, Мыти́щи, p=mɨˈtʲiɕːɪ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Mytishchinsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which lies 19 km northeast of Russia's capital Moscow o ...

-based

Metrowagonmash Metrowagonmash, also Metrovagonmash (), is an engineering company in Mytishchi, Russia. Metrowagonmash (MWM) is one of the leading enterprises in Russia operating in the field of transport machine building. It specializes in development, designing ...

firm manufactures the RA-1 railbus, equipped with a Mercedes engine. As of summer 2006, the

Gorky Railway The Gorky Railway (Горьковская железная дорога) is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Nizhny Novgorod (formerly known as Gorky, hence the name). The railway network serves nine federal subjects of the R ...

planned to start using them on its commuter line between

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

and

Bor Bor may refer to: Places Populated places * Bor (Tachov District), a town in Plzeň Region, Czech Republic * Bor, Petnjica, Montenegro * Bor, Russia, the name of many inhabited localities in Russia * Bor District, a district in Serbia ** Bor, Se ...

."Railbus RA-1 in Nizhny Novgorod"
on the site "Public Transportation in Nizhny Novgorod" File:Baureihe 798 752-2.jpg,

Uerdingen railbus The Uerdingen railbus (German: ''Uerdinger Schienenbus'') is the common term for the multiple units which were developed by the German firm of Waggonfabrik Uerdingen for the Deutsche Bundesbahn and private railways after the Second World War. Th ...

in Germany File:Railbus 79964 at York Railfest.JPG, Two axle British Rail Railbus in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England File:Tren - Tecnópolis.JPG, An Argentine

TecnoTren TecnoTren is an Argentine manufacturer of railbuses. Its products are designed to be very low-cost vehicles intended for use in rural parts of the country where railway privatisation and the subsequent deterioration of the network left small rur ...

railbus

Road–rail vehicles

The term ''railbus'' also refers to a dual-mode

that can run on streets with rubber tires and on tracks with ''retractable'' train wheels. The term ''rail bus'' is also used at times to refer to a road bus that replaces or supplements rail services on low-patronage

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

s or a bus that terminates at a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

(also called a train bus). This process is sometimes called

bustitution A rail replacement bus service uses buses to replace a passenger train service on a temporary or permanent basis. The train service that is replaced may be of any type such as light rail, tram, streetcar, commuter rail, regional rail or heavy r ...

Parry People Movers

A UK company currently promoting the railbus concept is

Parry People Movers Parry People Movers Ltd. (PPM) was a small British manufacturer of lightweight railcars that use flywheel energy storage for traction, allowing electric systems to operate without overhead wires or third rails. The company built one prototype ...

. Locomotive power is from the energy stored in a

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device that uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy, a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, a ...

. The first production vehicles, designated as

British Rail Class 139 British Rail Class 139 is the TOPS classification for PPM60 model lightweight railcars built by Parry People Movers, for use on the British rail network. The class were originally built in 2008 for operation on the Stourbridge Town branch line f ...

, have a small onboard LPG motor to bring the flywheel up to speed. In practice, this could be an electric motor that need only connect to the power supply at stopping points. Alternatively, a motor at the stopping points could wind up the flywheel of each car as it stops.

Draisine

The term "railcar" has also been used to refer to a lightweight rail inspection vehicle (or

). File:Metrotrolley.jpg, Battery electric MetroTrolley for rail use (for ultrasonic rail flaw detection) File:USFSRailcarWilliams5171.JPG, In its simplest form, an American speeder - with motor unit detachable by hand File:ATSFRailcarFairmontM-19-5173.JPG, With some weather protection, including mountable canvas side curtains

References

External links

Rail Motor Society (NSW, Australia)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081110150600/http://www.railmotorsociety.org.au/ , date=November 10, 2008
Stadler Rail

North American Railcar Operators Association
Multiple units