Double-decker Coach
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A bilevel car (
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
) or double-decker coach (
British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
and
Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the Variety (linguistics), varieties of English language, English used in Canada. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or ...
) is a type of rail car that has two levels of passenger accommodation as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity (up to 57% per car in extreme cases). The use of double-decker carriages, where feasible, can resolve capacity problems on a railroad, avoiding other options which have an associated infrastructure cost such as longer trains (which require longer station platforms), more trains per hour (which the signalling or safety requirements may not allow) or adding extra tracks besides the existing line. Double deck trains are claimed to be more energy efficient, and may have a lower operating cost per passenger. A bi-level car may carry up to about twice as many as a normal car, if
structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...
and
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
s permit, without requiring double the weight to pull or material to build. However, a bi-level train may take longer to exchange passengers at each station, since more people will enter and exit from each car. The increased dwell time makes them most popular on long-distance routes which make fewer stops (and may be popular with passengers for offering a better view). Double deck cars may not be usable in countries or on older railroad systems with low
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
, most notably the majority of the British railway network. In some countries such as the UK new lines are built to a higher than the existing
structure gauge A structure gauge, also called the minimum structure outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of s ...
to allow the use of double-deck trains in future.


History

Double deck carriages date to at least as early as the second half of the 19th century. In France several hundred ''voitures à impériale'' with seats on the roof were in use by the
Chemins de fer de l'Ouest The Chemins Company is a dietary supplement manufacturer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company, founded in 1974 by James Cameron, became embroiled in a series of criminal investigations in 1994 after a woman died and more than 100 other ...
,
Chemins de fer de l'Est The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (, , CF de l'Est), often referred to simply as the Est company, was an early France, French railway, railway company. The company was formed in 1853 by the merger of ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Pari ...
and by 1870, having been in use for over 2 decades; the upper deck was open at the sides with a light roof or awning covering the seats. In the 1860s, M.J.B. Vidard introduced two-storied carriages on the Chemins de fer de l'Est, with a full body, windows, and doors; the same design lowered the floor of the lower storey to keep the center of gravity low. Vidard's carriages had a total height of with the head height in the lower part of the carriage only ; the carriages had a capacity of 80 persons (third class) in a 2 axle vehicle of 13 tons fully loaded. The first all-steel '' Chemins de fer de l'État bilevels'' are an early example of split-level cars. The
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...
placed bilevel
Gallery cars The Gallery Car is a bilevel rail car, originally created by the Pullman Company as the Pullman Gallery Car. It has had five total different manufacturers since its creation, including Budd, St. Louis Car Company, Amerail, Nippon Sharyo and ...
in commuter service in the Chicago area in 1950. These were successful, and led to the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...
introducing long-distance
Hi-Level The Hi-Level was a type of Bilevel rail car, bilevel intercity railroad passenger railroad car, passenger car used in the United States. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars; a sleeping car variant was considered but never pr ...
cars on Chicago–
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
''
El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...
'' streamliner in 1954. In 1968, the four experimental double-deck power cars entered service in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
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 ...
, enabling the first fully double-deck
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 ...
passenger train in the world.


Typical design

The double-deck design usually includes lowering the bottom floor to below the top level of the wheels, closer to the rails, and then adding an upper floor above. Such a design will fit under more
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
s,
tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
s and power wires (
structure gauge A structure gauge, also called the minimum structure outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of s ...
). For cost and safety, this design also minimizes car height (
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
) and lowers the centre of gravity. Depending on train station platform heights, three designs can be used for entry – high platforms require use of a "split level" car design, where the doors are located on a middle level, with access into the upper or lower level branching off – with stairs or ramps going both up and down (sometimes this configuration includes a section of seating at the middle level in the entry section, with double levels only in part of the lengths of the car). For low train station platforms, a "two-floor" design with level entry onto the lower floor is used. Occasionally a third, very tall "two floors over-wheel" design is used. This is a traditional single floor car "with a second story" design which, when using a low platform, requires steps up to a traditional floor height and then internal stairs up to the upper floor.


Platform height and floor height issues

There are four important height measurements above the railhead: platform height, traditional floor height, downstairs floor height and upstairs floor height. Platform height determines the level entry height for wheeled objects, such as luggage, strollers, wheelchairs and bicycles. Platform height is ideally standardized across all stations the train serves. Traditional rail car floor height matters for end doors connecting to existing single floor rail cars. Downstairs or lowest floor height is primarily determined by the thickness of the beams connecting the span between the wheels and bogies (trucks) of a rail car. The upstairs floor or highest floor height is above the lowest floor and must fit under bridges and tunnels. Level entry floor height must match the platform height. Hopefully either the traditional or downstairs floor height already matches the platform height. Despite the name "bilevel" or "double-decker", for maximum compatibility the rail car will have up to four different floor heights. High platform design (Using outside steps to avoid having a level entry from the platform) is troublesome.


Common low-platform design

Most low-platform double-decker trains have level entry onto the lower level of the car, allowing wheelchair access. There are two-floor heights (upstairs and downstairs) in these "bilevel" cars. There is a staircase between floors inside the car. Connecting doors between cars are either at the (higher) upper floor or at an intermediate level over the bogies. In the former case, connecting directly to a single level car causes drag and connecting door problems. In the western USA, cars are of the upper-level-connection type. They use low-platform stations, because the traditional single floor trains all had exterior entry steps to maximize flexibility (emergency and temporary stops) and minimize infrastructure costs. There are no examples of two-floor platforms, so there are no platform doors on the upper floor. Car roof lines lengthwise are flat for connecting doors to the upstairs of bi-level cars. A Pullman-Standard / Bombardier Amtrak Superliner car is tall.


Uncommon very tall design

There are several very tall bilevel cars (e.g. the
Colorado Railcar DMU The Colorado Railcar DMU is a diesel multiple unit train that was manufactured by Colorado Railcar from 2002 to 2008. The DMU was offered in single-level and Bilevel rail car, bi-level versions. The DMU was discontinued after Colorado Railcar sh ...
is tall). They typically are described as a traditional rail car with a second story. Most of these cars serve low platforms so they have exterior steps up to the traditional "over-wheel" floor height e.g. US . End doors connect at the traditional height of existing rolling stock. Some cars have upstairs end doors as well. Many of these cars also include outside balconies on either the upper or lower level. Upstairs and downstairs connect by interior stairs. These cars can fit most able people, but lack level entry. On almost all these cars the upper level consists of a full-length glass dome. Some cars are self-propelled
multiple units 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 ...
so using traditional floor heights appears fixed. In towed cars, it is possible to lower the downstairs floor between the wheels/bogies so that level entry is possible with more than of added headroom and interior steps from that floor to the traditional floor.


Operators


Argentina

In 2005,
Emprendimientos Ferroviarios Emprendimientos Ferroviarios S.A. (Emfer) was an Argentine rail rolling stock manufacturer based in San Martín, Buenos Aires. The company also remodelled and repaired rail vehicles and had previously manufactured rolling stock for the Sarmiento ...
(Emfer),
Trenes de Buenos Aires Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) (In English: Trains of Buenos Aires) was a private company that operated commuter rail services over the broad gauge Sarmiento and Mitre lines of Buenos Aires. The company, owned by Claudio and Mario Cirigliano, als ...
(TBA (Trains of Buenos Aires)),
National Institute of Industrial Technology The National Industrial Technology Institute (), commonly known as INTI, is an Argentine federal agency in charge of the developing of Industrial technology. It was created in 1957. See also * INTA, National Agricultural Technology Institute of ...
and the Argentine National Government subscribed to a framework agreement to start the national designing and construction of bi-level electric trains. This was decided due to the overwhelming and increasing number of passengers using the gauge urban
Sarmiento Line The Sarmiento line is a broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, run by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos since 11 September 2013. The line is part of Domingo Sarmiento Railway, running trains departing from Once ...
, serving the centre and east of
Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires (, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of B ...
. The first prototype was released in 2005, but mass-production only started in mid 2008. In 2013, these coaches were retired from the line and replaced with new CSR Electric Multiple Units, though it remains unclear if the Emfer trains will be moved elsewhere in the country. In 2010, Emprendimientos Ferroviarios and Trenes de Buenos Aires presented non-engined double-decker coaches for a diesel interurban link between
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
and Mercedes city. Attending to different technical needs, the new coaches have only two simple non-automatic doors in the ends (instead of the two electric double doors in the middle) and were designed for low platforms. For 2020, a public tender was launched by Trenes Argentinos to recover these double-decker coaches, for inter-urban and long-distance services, equipping them with reclining seats, USB inputs and other amenities.


Australia

In 1964,
Tulloch Limited Tulloch Limited was an Australian engineering and railway rolling stock manufacturer, located at Rhodes, New South Wales. History In 1885, Robert Tulloch founded Phoenix Iron Works in Pyrmont, New South Wales, Pyrmont. In 1913 the business was in ...
built the first double-decker trailer cars for use in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. They ran with single deck electric motor cars. After the success of the trailers, Tulloch built four experiment double decker power cars in 1968. From 1972, more double decker multiple units were constructed by
Comeng Commonwealth Engineering, often shortened to Com-Eng, later known as Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams. History Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Common ...
and Goninan. These are now known as the S sets. All electric suburban and interurban trains in
Greater Sydney Greater Sydney is the most populous metropolitan area in Australia and Oceania. Located in the state of New South Wales, it encompasses the City of Sydney (the state capital), its neighbouring local government areas and surrounding regions. I ...
are now double deck, though the
Sydney Metro Sydney Metro is a fully automated rapid transit rail system in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It currently consists of the Metro North West & Bankstown Line, running between Tallawong and Sydenham and consisting of 21 stations on of t ...
uses single deck carriages. All double deck carriages have two doors per side per carriage, with a vestibule at each end at platform height. The Sydney double deck commuter trains are high. The
Public Transport Corporation The Public Transport Corporation (PTC) was a Victoria State Government owned Public-benefit nonprofit corporation, statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services. The ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
ordered a prototype Double Deck Development and Demonstration train in 1991, a modification of the Tangara design used in Sydney. It suffered frequent breakdowns and spent long periods out of use. It was withdrawn in 2002 and scrapped in 2006.


Austria

Historically, bilevel cars were implemented in 1873 and were in use until
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1993, the railway company ''Graz-Köflacher Bahn'' started to use 15 cars for suburban transport around the city of
Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
. In 1997, the national railway company
ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways ( , formally or () and formerly the or ''BBÖ'' ), now commonly known as ÖBB (), is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group i ...
ordered 120 bilevel cars for the use in Eastern
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and Vienna metropolitan area.


Canada

Canada's national passenger railway company,
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...
, does not currently operate any bilevel coaches in its fleet, apart from the
dome car A dome car is a type of railway Passenger car (rail), passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a Coach (rail), coach, lounge c ...
s used on some long-distance services. These coaches include two levels over part of the length of the vehicle. The
Ontario Northland Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency (Ontario), provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming ...
operates a bilevel dome car on its
Polar Bear Express The ''Polar Bear Express'' is a Canadian passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Northern Ontario. Service was introduced in 1964. While designated as a passenger train, the Polar Bear Express also carries freight and is eq ...
service with two levels along the entire length of the vehicle. The
Bombardier BiLevel Coach The BiLevel Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently built by Alstom and previously by Bombardier, Hawker Siddeley Canada, the Canadian Car and Foundry (Can Car), and the UTDC. Used by North American commuter rail operators, they feat ...
was originally designed by Hawker-Siddeley Canada for the GO Transit commuter rail network in southern
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. It is now used by 14 different railway operators across North America, including all three of Canada's commuter rail systems. All train services operated by
GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
and
West Coast Express The West Coast Express is a Commuter rail in North America, commuter railway serving the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It is owned and operated by the region's transit authority, TransLink (British Columbia), TransLink. ...
use Bombardier BiLevel coaches, while Montreal's Exo trains use a mix of Bombardier Bilevel, Bombardier MultiLevel and various single-level coaches. The private rail tour company
Rocky Mountaineer The Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail-tour company based in Vancouver that operates luxury scenic trains on four rail routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Colorado, and Utah. History Via Rail Canada The Rocky Mountaineer concept was creat ...
uses bilevel full-length dome cars built by Colorado Railcar.


China

The first bilevel train for
China Railway China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the China, People's Republic of China. China Railway operates passenger and freight Rail transport in Chi ...
s was built by Sifang in 1958 as Dongfeng diesel multiple unit, consisting of two locomotives and four bilevel coaches. After withdrawing Dongfeng DMU from use in 1982, China Railways redeveloped double-decker trains, the first of which rolled out from
Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works CRRC Nanjing Puzhen () is a Chinese railway rolling stock manufacturer, based in Puzhen, Nanjing city. It is a subsidiary of CRRC. Nanjing Puzhen has supplied trains to Shanghai Metro Line 3 and Nanjing Metro in partnership with Alstom. Ind ...
in 1987 as SYZ25 and SRZ25. The carriage designations of bilevel cars in China start with "S", abbreviating "double-decker" () in Chinese. Current models of double decker trains include the , and . Most bilevel cars in China were built by
Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works CRRC Nanjing Puzhen () is a Chinese railway rolling stock manufacturer, based in Puzhen, Nanjing city. It is a subsidiary of CRRC. Nanjing Puzhen has supplied trains to Shanghai Metro Line 3 and Nanjing Metro in partnership with Alstom. Ind ...
, while some bilevel coaches were built by
Changchun Railway Vehicles CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer and a division of the CRRC. While the CRV emerged in 2002, the company's roots date back to the establishment of the Changchun Car Company in 1954. The company b ...
. The types of bilevel cars including bilevel
hard seat The hard seat () or semi-cushioned seat, abbreviated YZ, is a train seat that is the cheapest class of seating in China Railway. It is available on non- high-speed trains. The term "hard seat" comes from the hard, wooden seats of regular passen ...
(SYZ), bilevel soft seat (SRZ), bilevel
hard sleeper The Hard Sleeping car, sleeper (, abbreviated YW), is a passenger rail transport in China, passenger railway compartment class in the People's Republic of China. Hard sleeper is a class on most Z-series trains, Z-series, T-series express trains a ...
(SYW), bilevel
soft sleeper The soft sleeper (), abbreviated RW or WR (CRH), is a passenger railway compartment class in the People's Republic of China. Soft sleeper is the main class on most Z-series express trains, and are grouped in several carriages as part of slower ...
(SRW), Bilevel
dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a passenger railroad car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. These cars provide the highest level of service of any rai ...
(SCA) and bilevel soft seat-baggage
combine car A combine car in North American parlance, most often referred to simply as a combine, is a type of railroad car which combines sections for both passengers and freight. Most often, it was used on short lines to carry passengers and their luggag ...
(SRZXL). Bilevel coaches are mainly used for regional services in China, like
Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...
Dali Dali or DALI may refer to: Art and popular culture * Dali, a location in ''Final Fantasy IX'' * ''Dali'' (Dalida album) (1984) * ''Dali'' (Ali Project album) (1994) * Espace Dalí, Salvador Dalí's permanent exhibition in France Religion ...
Lijiang Lijiang ( zh, s= ), formerly romanized as Likiang, is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of and had a population of 1,253,878 at the 2020 census whom 288,787 lived in the built-up area (metro) ...
intercity trains in
Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
and
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...
Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao (; zh, s=秦皇岛, link=no) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population d ...
express train in
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
. Additionally, a cross-railway bureau double-deck train service is provided between
Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
and
Baoji Baoji ( zh, s= , t= , p=Bǎojī; ) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a ...
(via
Beijing West railway station Beijingxi (Beijing West) railway station (), colloquially referred to as ''West Station'' (), is located in western Beijing's Fengtai District. Opened in early 1996 after three years of construction, it was the largest railway station in As ...
).


Czech Republic

České dráhy České dráhy (English: ''Czech Railways''), often shortened to ČD, is the major Rail transport, railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services. The company was established in January 1993, shortly after ...
operates 83
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 ...
s of Class 471 manufactured by Škoda Vagonka, which was a subsidiary of
Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation Akciová společnost, a.s. is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of vehicles for public transport, including Tram, trams, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, and Bus, buses. The company was formerly a divisio ...
and locomotive-hauled trains which was also used on the non-electrified routes around
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
.


Denmark

In
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 ...
, DSB began running
Bombardier Double-deck Coach The Double-deck Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently manufactured by Alstom, which acquired Bombardier Transportation in 2021 (and before that by Adtranz and DWA/Waggonbau Görlitz) used by various European railways and Israel Railw ...
es in 2002. The coaches are used on Regional services on
Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
.


Finland

In
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, VR began operating double-deck day cars in 1998. They are Finnish-designed and manufactured by Transtech in
Kajaani Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...
. Each car has two entrances on the lower level of the middle section, allowing level entry from station platforms at the modern Finnish standard height of . The end sections of each car – and the inter-car connections – are at mid-level. VR introduced its first double-deck
sleeping cars The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...
on 1 February 2006. The two-bed cabins on the upper deck have toilets and showers while cabins on the lower deck use shared ones. Double-deck driving-trailers were introduced during late 2013 and
restaurant car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a passenger railroad car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. These cars provide the highest level of service of any rai ...
s in early 2014. The double-deck cars are designed for running at higher speeds than ordinary passenger cars – up to , although the upper limit was later reduced for trains entering tunnels. The cars are frequently operated in all-double-deck
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
trains (known as IC2) with at-seat
power supply A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, electric current, current, and frequency to power ...
for
laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...
s and wireless LAN internet connection.


France

The
Chemins de fer de l'État The Administration des chemins de fer de l'État (, "State Railway Administration"), often referred to in France as the Réseau de l'État (, "State Network"), was an early state-owned French railway company. History The company was establishe ...
in France ran '' voitures à 2 étages'' split level double-deck suburban coaches from 1933. Its successor, the
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
, has been running VB2N double-decker coaches since 1975; VB2N were introduced from 1975 as a replacement of the État cars. SNCF began running double-deck RER trains in 1982, followed by
RATP The RATP Group () is a French state-owned enterprise (EPIC) that operates public transport systems primarily in Paris, France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under the name (). Its logo represents the Seine's meandering path th ...
in 1995. And since 1996,
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
runs double-deck TGV cars on heavily used high-speed services, such as on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille line. Many
suburban rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
,
regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...
and high-speed services are operated by double-deck
DMUs 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 ...
,
EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the ...
,
coaches 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 ...
and TGV. The
TGV Duplex The TGV Duplex is a French high-speed train of the TGV family, manufactured by Alstom, and operated by the French national railway company SNCF. They were the first TGV trainsets to use bi-level passenger carriages with a seating capacity of ...
are the fastest double-decker trains in the world with a commercial top speed of 320 km/h. Specially tuned trainset 4402 also holds the world speed record for conventional trains, reaching 574.8 km/h in 2007. The French
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
dictates that the double-deck cars have a maximum height of . Doppelstocktriebwagen of the ''Deutsche Bahn''


Germany

The
East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...
railway company '' Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR)'' implemented the first bilevel cars in 1974 for interurban lines. After the
revolutions In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elemen ...
in Eastern Europe, the
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
the new founded national railway company ''
Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...
'' took over the DR bilevel cars and started to order high numbers of bilevel cars for regional and interurban traffic.


Hong Kong

MTRCL and formerly KCRC operate double-decker carriages with the KTT train sets on its cross-boundary route between
Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...
and
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
. These cars were manufactured in Japan by
Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works, and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945, they produce rolling stock f ...
. The "Ktt" cars were used to serve between the
Hung Hom Hung Hom (, ) is an area in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Including the areas of Whampoa, Tai Wan, Hok Yuen, Lo Lung Hang and No. 12 Hill are administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of ...
and
Lo Wu Lo Wu () is an area in North District, New Territories, Hong Kong. It lies on the border between Hong Kong and mainland China, specifically the Luohu District of Shenzhen in mainland China. The area is most notable as the location of the most ...
stations from January to May 1998, before the electrification of
Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway Guangshen railway or Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway ( zh, s=广深铁路 or 广深线), historically known as the Chinese section of the Kowloon–Canton railway ( zh, s=广九铁路华段) in 1911–1949, is a railway in Guangdong province in t ...
. The "Ktt" cars have lower bottom floor than the ordinary single-deck cars serving on the same pair of tracks.


India

In
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, the
Sinhagad Express The Sinhagad Express is an Intercity Express train which plies daily between the cities of Pune and Mumbai in India. It is operated by the Indian Railways and comes under the Central Railway zone. It is one of the six point-to-point express ...
was the first train to operate with double-decker carriages, followed by other trains on the
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
-
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
route like the
Deccan Queen The 12123 / 12124 Deccan Queen is a daily Indian passenger train service operated by the Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways connecting the cities of Mumbai and Pune. Introduced on June 1, 1930, the Deccan Queen was India's "first supe ...
and the
Deccan Express The ''Deccan Express'' is an express train that leaves daily at 3:15pm, plying between the cities of Pune and Mumbai in India, a distance of 192 km and at 7 am from Mumbai to Pune. Services The Deccan Express was launched much earlie ...
, although double-decker service on these routes was later discontinued. In 1979, the
Flying Ranee The 12921/12922 ''Flying Ranee'' is a superfast express train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between (MMCT) and (ST) in India. It is a daily service. It operates as train number 12922 from Surat to Mumbai Central and as train number ...
, a passenger train between
Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...
and
Mumbai Central Mumbai Central (formerly Bombay Central, station code: MMCT) is a major railway station on the Western line, situated in Mumbai, Maharashtra in an area known by the same name. It serves as a major stop for both local and intercity trains with ...
on the Western Railway became the first superfast train to use double-deck cars. The first air-conditioned double-decker service was introduced in 2011 on the Howrah–Dhanbad Double Decker Express between
Howrah station Howrah railway station (also known as Howrah Junction) is a railway station located in the city of Howrah, of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, West Bengal, India. It is the largest and busiest railway complex in India, as well as one of the busie ...
in
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
and
Dhanbad Junction Dhanbad Junction railway station, station code DHN, is a railway station of the Indian railway serving the city of Dhanbad, the headquarters of Dhanbad district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the largest railway station in Jharkhand, ...
in
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
which was subsequently followed by Delhi Sarai RohillaJaipur, Ahmedabad–Mumbai Central, Chennai CentralBangalore, Anand Vihar (New Delhi)Lucknow, Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam–Tirupati and Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak TerminusMadgaon double decker expresses.


Israel

Israel Railways Israel Railways Ltd. (, ''Rakevet Yisra'el'') is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Israel Railways network consists of of track. All its lines are standar ...
began running
Bombardier Double-deck Coach The Double-deck Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently manufactured by Alstom, which acquired Bombardier Transportation in 2021 (and before that by Adtranz and DWA/Waggonbau Görlitz) used by various European railways and Israel Railw ...
es in 2001. The coaches were manufactured in
Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
, Germany, and form the vast majority of its passenger fleet as of 2021. Later, a Desiro HC by Siemens has been introduced to Israel Railways. Desiro HC has 2-floor coaches in the middle of the train, while the first and the last coaches are single-floor. The train operates mainly on the Herzlia–Jerusalem electrified line (via Tel Aviv) as of 2022.


Italy

In the 1970s, with the rise of mass commuting to the big cities the
Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned enterprise, state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate service ...
have found themselves having to quickly increase the capacity of their services with Carrozze Due Piani Tipo 1979 based on French VB2N (see :it:Carrozza Due Piani). Today, double-decker coaches are also in use by private railway companies
Ferrovie Nord Milano 450px, Map of the main branch of the FNM lines. FNM operates also the Edolo.html" ;"title="Brescia-Edolo">Brescia-Edolo railway in eastern Lombardy, not shown in map. Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM S.p.A.) is an Italian public transport company: the ...
and
Ferrovie del Sud Est Ferrovie del Sud Est (FSE) is a railway company in Apulia region, Italy. The company operates in the ''comuni'' south of Lecce and in the provinces of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto. The company also operates bus lines. In August 2016 its network was ...
. The types of double-decker train is circulating today in Italy are: ''Rock'' (''Caravaggio'')'', Vivalto'', '' TAF'', '' TSR''.


Japan

In Japan, double-decker trains are used either to show better scenery, or to increase seat capacity. In
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
area commuter trains, double-decker cars are generally used as ''Green Cars'', the cars with better accommodations than the regular commuter cars. The first Japanese double-decker train appeared in 1904. It was Type 5 train of Osaka City Tram. The
Kintetsu Railway , referred to as and officially Kinki-Nippon Railway, is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railw ...
20100 Series EMUs were built in 1962 and designed for school excursion. Sightseeing trains that feature double-decker carriages include the
JR Shikoku 5000 series JR, J. R. or Jr. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' J R'', a 1975 novel by William Gaddis * J. R. Ewing, a ''Dallas'' television character * JR Chandler, an ''All My Children'' television character * ''Jornal da Record'', a Brazilian news ...
,
Keihan 8000 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) limited express train type operated by the private railway operator Keihan Electric Railway in Japan since 1989. Formations , the fleet consists of ten eight-car trains, formed as follows with four motore ...
, JR Central
371 series The was an electric multiple unit (EMU) train operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Japan between 1991 and 2014. Originally used on ''Asagiri (train), Asagiri'' limited express services in conjunction with Odakyu Electric Ra ...
, and
Odakyu 20000 series RSE The (Resort Super Express) was an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated between 1991 and March 2012 by the private railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway on ''Asagiri (train), Asagiri'' limited express services in Japan. Operation ...
. The first JNR/JR double-decker trains were 200 series Shinkansen and 100 series Shinkansen, for Shinkansen lines. JR East introduced the
215 series The was a bilevel suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in the Kantō region of Japan from 1992 to 2021. Design The trains were built jointly by Hitachi and Nippon Sharyo. The trains ...
double-deck EMUs for ''
Home Liner is the generic name given to limited-stop commuter train services operated by railway companies in Japan, which require the purchase of a supplementary or in addition to the base fare ticket. The supplementary ticket guarantees passengers a seat ...
'' services in 1992. JR East also introduced
E1 Series Shinkansen The was a high-speed Shinkansen train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan from July 1994 until September 2012. They were the first double-deck trains built for Japan's Shinkansen. They were generally, along with their ...
and
E4 Series Shinkansen The was a high-speed Shinkansen electric multiple unit train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. They were the second series of completely Bilevel rail car, bi-level Shinkansen trainsets to be built in Japan (the oth ...
for its Shinkansen Lines; the trains are doubled decked to increase their capacities. This includes JR West
285 series The is a sleeper electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated jointly by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) on the overnight '' Sunrise Izumo'' and '' Sunrise Seto'' limited express service ...
EMUs for ''
Sunrise Izumo The is an overnight sleeping car train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) since July 1998. Operations The ''Sunrise Izumo' ...
''/''
Sunrise Seto The is an overnight sleeping car train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), West Japan Railway Company (JR West), and Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) since July ...
'' and JR East E26 series cars for ''
Cassiopeia Cassiopeia or Cassiopea may refer to: Greek mythology * Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda), queen of Aethiopia and mother of Andromeda * Cassiopeia (wife of Phoenix), wife of Phoenix, king of Phoenicia * Cassiopeia, wife of Epaphus, king of Egy ...
'' services.


Russia

In 2012, a prototype double-decker rail carriage was made at the TVZ Tver Carriage Building Factory for the RZD
Russian Railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...
company. This prototype carriage is a
sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...
with four-berth compartments and a total capacity of 64 passengers.
Russian Railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...
ordered double-decker sleeper carriages from
Transmashholding CJSC Transmashholding () is the largest manufacturer of locomotives and rail equipment in Russia and after merging with LocoTech service the fourth largest engineering company in the field of transport technology globally. The company incl ...
for the Adler-Moscow train service. they were expected to be delivered in time for the 2014 winter Olympics in
Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from  – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...
. RZD offers low platforms for Moscow-Adler route. On 27 October 2017,
Aeroexpress Aeroexpress Ltd. () is the operator of airport rail link services in Russia. It is founded in 2005 and is owned by Russian Railways (50%), TransGroup AS (25%), Iskander Makhmudov (17.5%), and Andrei Bokarev (7.5%). Until 2012, the company only ...
began operating ESH2 motor-car (locomotive-less) high-speed double-decker trains developed by the Swiss company Stadler on the routes MoscowDomodedovo Airport and MoscowVnukovo Airport. From November 2019, the trains were transferred to the OdintsovoSheremetyevo Airport route (OdintsovoBelorussky railway Station in the MDC mode).


Slovakia

ZSSK operates 19
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 ...
s of Class 671 and 10 push-pull units of Class 951 manufactured by
Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation Akciová společnost, a.s. is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of vehicles for public transport, including Tram, trams, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, and Bus, buses. The company was formerly a divisio ...
. These trains mostly operate services between
Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...
and
Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...
(Žilina – Trenčín, Žilina – Košice, Košice –
Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...
and some others) and around
Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
(between
Kúty Kúty, (; ) is a village and municipality in Senica District in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. History The village was first mentioned in 1392 under the name Kuth. And in 1498 as Kwhty. Kút is equal to Corner - a distant place in the b ...
and
Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...
). As of 2016 some of units 951, usually with locomotive of class 350 (Škoda 55E), are used at international train service on
Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
( SK) –
Břeclav Břeclav (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. Located at the Czech-Austrian state border and near the Czech–Slovak state border, it is an important railway hub. Administrative divis ...
( CZ) main line.


Spain

Since 2021 the Bi-Level SNCF High Speed Trains “Ouigo España” operates. There are also some double-decker commuter trains (Class 450) nicknamed Vessels.


Sweden

SJ AB SJ is the primary passenger train operator in Sweden. A wholly List of government enterprises of Sweden, state-owned company operated for-profit under market conditions, SJ operates various services across Sweden. SJ's operations include High-spee ...
operates 43 double-decker EMUs built by
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 designated class X40. The EMU comes in a two-coach version and a three-coach version. The trains are mainly used in regional trains in the areas around lake
Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...
and in the trains between
Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...
and
Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...
. It has a maximum speed of and is equipped with
wireless internet Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided mediu ...
. From 2019 onwards, the bilevel
Stadler KISS The Stadler KISS is a family of bilevel rail car, bilevel electric multiple unit commuter trains developed and built since 2008 by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. As of 2016, 242 KISS trainsets comprising 1,145 cars have been sold to operators in el ...
(known as DOSTO in Sweden) has also been used in the Mälardalen and
Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...
regions of Sweden, and since 2023, has operated the same train sets in the
Bergslagen Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since t ...
region. Between 1966 and 1990, SJ used DMUs of class Y3 with double-decker end cars and normal cars in between. Due to the distinct humps on the endcars, it was nicknamed "the camel".


Switzerland

Double-decker commuter trains are used by the
Zürich S-Bahn The Zurich S-Bahn () system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, ...
. Three types of trains are used, an older type consisting of an electric locomotive with double-decker cars, and
Electric Multiple Units 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 ...
where the motors are on board the car. From 2010 onwards, a third type – the
Stadler KISS The Stadler KISS is a family of bilevel rail car, bilevel electric multiple unit commuter trains developed and built since 2008 by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. As of 2016, 242 KISS trainsets comprising 1,145 cars have been sold to operators in el ...
– has entered service. The
Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...
also operate the
IC 2000 The IC 2000 is a Bilevel rail car, double-deck push-pull train, push-pull train in Switzerland and is run by Swiss Federal Railways, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) as part of its InterCity#Switzerland, InterCity service. Top speed is 200&n ...
double-decker passenger coaches in most of Switzerland for high speed
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
and
InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...
services. After massive delays, they are introducing the
Bombardier TWINDEXX The Double-deck Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently manufactured by Alstom, which acquired Bombardier Transportation in 2021 (and before that by Adtranz and DWA/Waggonbau Görlitz) used by various European railways and Israel Railw ...
from 2019 on. Both these high speed trains feature passages on the upper level only, which makes them incompatible with single level coaches, IC2000 are however still used in combination with single level coaches during rush hours.


Ukraine

In 2012, as part of preparation for
UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
,
Ukrainian Railways The Public JSC Ukrainian Railways or PAT 'Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ)' () is a state-owned joint-stock company administering railway infrastructure and rail transport in Ukraine; a monopoly that controls the vast majority of the railroad transporta ...
bought two EJ675
EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the ...
manufactured by
Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation Akciová společnost, a.s. is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of vehicles for public transport, including Tram, trams, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, and Bus, buses. The company was formerly a divisio ...
. These trains are used on inter-regional services. They were discontinued for modernization and redesigning in 2019. The two units were brought back to service in 2022 and currently run on the Kyiv–Lutsk line.


United Kingdom

In 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 ...
, due to the small
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
, the railway system cannot easily accommodate double-deck trains. A modest attempt at double decking was made in 1948 on the Southern Railway with the two trains of the Bulleid 4DD class. Although innovative, with stepped compartments where the bottoms of the upper seats are above the heads of the people on the lower level but the feet of the people above are not, the loading gauge severely restricted their use and they were removed from service in 1971. Research by DCA concluded that double-decker trains were practical within the UK loading gauge and proposed a design for Crossrail in 2006, however the design was not taken forwards.
Double-decker tram A double-decker tram or double-deck tram is a tram that has two levels or decks. Some double-decker trams have open tops. Double-deck trams were once popular in some European cities, like Berlin and London, throughout the British Empire count ...
s, taller than the railway loading gauge, were common in British cities. When trams were replaced between the 1930s–1960s, their replacement would be double-decker buses.


United States

Bilevel passenger rail cars used in the United States are manufactured by Bombardier (now
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 ...
), Kawasaki,
Colorado Railcar Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad railroad car, rolling stock—railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products came in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US ...
(today
US Railcar US Railcar is a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock, including passenger cars, and diesel multiple units. It was formed in 2009, and is the successor company to Colorado Railcar after that company shut down in December 2008. History US Railc ...
), and several others, with the former two having produced the majority of the high platform "split level" commuter rail cars in use in the northeastern states.
Colorado Railcar Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad railroad car, rolling stock—railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products came in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US ...
produced bilevel DMUs and
Ultra Dome The Ultra Dome is a bilevel dome coach manufactured by Colorado Railcar for various operators between 1988–2007. Colorado Railcar, and its predecessor Rader Railcar, constructed a total of 44 cars. All 44 were purchased by touring companies in ...
passenger cars. Colorado Railcar cars measure in height and have steps that enter to a lower deck that is above the rail. Other designs, including
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
made by
Colorado Railcar Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad railroad car, rolling stock—railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products came in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US ...
, Budd,
Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
, Bombardier and others have an entrance on the lower deck rather than an intermediate level.
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
Superliners are double-decker cars of this variety, with the entrance a step or so up from the lowest
station platform A railway platform is an area in a train station alongside a railway track providing convenient access to trains. Almost all stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms. Grand Central Terminal in Midto ...
level, or at the level of slightly higher platforms, and allow passage from car to car on the upper level. Some operators in the United States use a specific design of bi-level car known as a "gallery car" (see
below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...
).


Long-distance trains

Most of
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's intercity passenger trains operating to points west of Chicago use Superliners, as do select trains east of Chicago, like the
Capitol Limited The ''Capitol Limited'' is a temporarily discontinued daily Amtrak train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, running via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Service began in 1981. On November 10, 2024, Amtrak temporarily combined the ''Capitol Limit ...
and
Auto Train ''Auto Train'' is an scheduled daily train service for passengers and their automobiles operated by Amtrak between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando, Florida, Orlando). ''Auto Train'' is the only mot ...
. In addition,
Alaska Railroad The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad that operates freight and passenger trains in the state of Alaska. The railroad's mainline runs between Seward, Alaska, Seward on the southern coast and Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, near the center of ...
operates passenger trains with a mix of traditional passenger equipment and large fleets of
Colorado Railcar Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad railroad car, rolling stock—railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products came in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US ...
Ultra Domes (sometimes as many as 15 in one train) owned by several major cruise ship lines.


Northeastern United States

Most passenger rail lines in the Northeast have a
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
that can only accommodate cars or less in height. This is due to
structure gauge A structure gauge, also called the minimum structure outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of s ...
restrictions such as
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
s and
tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
s that are too low, and may also have electrified lines overhead. Nevertheless, commuter railroads such as the
Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...
,
New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...
,
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...
, and
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 in ...
all use bilevel railcars built to unique designs to clear specific
structure gauge A structure gauge, also called the minimum structure outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of s ...
problems on those systems. The bilevels used on LIRR, MARC, and MBTA were built by Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., while the bilevel cars used by NJ Transit were built by Bombardier. Recently
Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem Company, often referred to as Hyundai Rotem (), is a South Korean manufacturer of railway rolling stock, railway signalling, defense products and plant equipment. It is a member of Hyundai Motor Group and has presence in more than ...
has built additional new cars of a similar design for MBTA. In each of these agencies' bilevel cars, two levels are present between the trucks of the car. At each end, stairs lead from both levels to a common floor which is located at standard height over the trucks. All LIRR bilevel passenger rail cars have two wide quarter-point doors on each side, for high level platforms only. The bilevel cars used by NJ Transit and Exo have four doors on each side, two quarter-point doors at high level platform height and one at each end vestibule, with traps used to reach low level platforms. The bilevel cars used by MBTA have side doors with traps at each end vestibule. MARC operates both of the latter two types of cars. The Superliners used for many Amtrak intercity services do not fit in these systems. Single-deck
Viewliner The Viewliner is a single-level railroad car type operated by Amtrak on most long-distance routes operating east of Chicago. The first production cars, consisting of an order of 50 sleeping cars, entered service in 1994. From 2015–2016, 70 Vi ...
s and Amfleet IIs are used instead.


California

Due to the typically-generous clearances on California railroads due to freight railroads expanding clearances to accommodate double-stacked containers, bilevel cars are common in the state. The
California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
owns 88 California Cars, which are based on the Superliner body shell, but with high-density interiors suitable for corridor trains. These cars, along with 39 owned directly by Amtrak, are dedicated to state-subsidized
Amtrak California Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak regional rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...
routes including the San Joaquin,
Capitol Corridor The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, California, San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, California, Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two ...
and
Pacific Surfliner The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is Amtrak's third-busiest service (exceeded in ridership only ...
routes. The Surfliner also serves Amtrak's California lines. Metrolink, which serves Southern California, has 137 active
Bombardier BiLevel Coach The BiLevel Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently built by Alstom and previously by Bombardier, Hawker Siddeley Canada, the Canadian Car and Foundry (Can Car), and the UTDC. Used by North American commuter rail operators, they feat ...
es (Sentinel Fleet) and 137
Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem Company, often referred to as Hyundai Rotem (), is a South Korean manufacturer of railway rolling stock, railway signalling, defense products and plant equipment. It is a member of Hyundai Motor Group and has presence in more than ...
bi-level cars (Guardian Fleet).
Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...
in the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...
uses both Bombardier BiLevels and
Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock, Heavy equipment, heavy equipment, Diesel generator, generator, Special-purpose entity, special purpose vehicle and bridge manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its ...
gallery cars. From 2024, bilevel
Stadler KISS The Stadler KISS is a family of bilevel rail car, bilevel electric multiple unit commuter trains developed and built since 2008 by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. As of 2016, 242 KISS trainsets comprising 1,145 cars have been sold to operators in el ...
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 ...
s will run on the newly electrified network.


Florida

Southeast Florida's
Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, Broward Count ...
commuter service between Miami and West Palm Beach uses the
Bombardier BiLevel Coach The BiLevel Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently built by Alstom and previously by Bombardier, Hawker Siddeley Canada, the Canadian Car and Foundry (Can Car), and the UTDC. Used by North American commuter rail operators, they feat ...
and
Rotem Commuter Cars Rotem Commuter Cars are a series of multi-level passenger rail cars for commuter rail operations. They are manufactured by Hyundai Rotem. Hyundai Rotem began marketing commuter rail cars in 2006 to compete with rail car manufacturers in North Am ...
.
SunRail SunRail is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida, area. Services began on May 1, 2014. The system comprises 17 stations along a former CSX Transportation line connecting Volusia County and Osceola County through Downtown Orla ...
, which serves the Greater Orlando area, also uses Bombardier BiLevel coaches.


Illinois

Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
has a large fleet of gallery cars, and
Highliner II The Highliner is a bilevel electric multiple unit (EMU) railcar. The original series of railcars were built in 1971 by the St. Louis Car Company for commuter service on the Illinois Central Railroad, in south Chicago, Illinois, with an additio ...
gallery
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 ...
s (EMUs). The NICTD South Shore Line fleet also includes very similar gallery EMUs. Chicago does not have the loading gauge problems that affect passenger rail lines in most northeastern states because it has very few railroad tunnels for the lines of these passenger trains except for a brief distance in the city. In January 2021, the Metra board approved the purchase of 200 of a new design of multilevel car from
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 ...
, with options for up to 300 more. Former Metra coaches were operated by a number of other agencies in the first two decades of the twenty-first century; as of 2021, they are still used for
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
's
WeGo Star The WeGo Star , formerly the Music City Star, is a commuter rail service running between Nashville and Lebanon, Tennessee. The service uses the existing track of the Nashville and Eastern Railroad. The line stops at seven stations: Riverfront ...
(formerly branded as the Music City Star).


Massachusetts

The
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 in ...
is the public agency responsible for operating most
public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
services in
Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...
. Its
MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...
system currently uses 277 bilevel passenger cars made by Kawasaki and
Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem Company, often referred to as Hyundai Rotem (), is a South Korean manufacturer of railway rolling stock, railway signalling, defense products and plant equipment. It is a member of Hyundai Motor Group and has presence in more than ...
.


New Mexico

The
New Mexico Rail Runner Express The New Mexico Rail Runner Express (Association of American Railroads, AAR reporting mark NMRX) is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico. It i ...
utilizes Bombardier BiLevel cars on its route from
Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...
to
Belen, New Mexico Belén (; ) is the second most populated city in Valencia County, New Mexico, the United States, after its county seat, Los Lunas. The population was 7,360 as of the 2020 Census. Belén is Spanish for Bethlehem. It gained the nickname "Hub Ci ...
.


Virginia

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksbur ...
operated 13 Kawasaki bi-level cars between 1999 and 2008, after which they were sold to
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...
(these cars were originally procured as an option on MARC's larger order). From 2001, VRE also operated a number of ex-Metra
Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
gallery cars. These were all gradually replaced by new
Sumitomo The is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. I ...
/
Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock, Heavy equipment, heavy equipment, Diesel generator, generator, Special-purpose entity, special purpose vehicle and bridge manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its ...
gallery cars between 2006 and 2018.


Utah

FrontRunner ''FrontRunner'' is a Commuter rail in North America, commuter railway operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) that runs along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from Ogden Central station in central Weber County, Utah, ...
commuter rail, operated by the
Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Park City, U ...
to connect multiple cities along the
Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a major metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from Santaquin in the south to Pleasant View in the n ...
, utilizes Bombardier BiLevel Coaches.


Other countries


Asia

In
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, the
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
-
Hashtgerd Hashtgerd () is a city in the Central District of Savojbolagh County, Alborz province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is west of Tehran. Demographics Population At the time of the 2006 National Census ...
suburban commuter line is served with electric push-pull hauled trainsets with double-decker carriages manufactured by Wagon Pars in Iran. In the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, bilevel
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 ...
s ran on the '' Tranvias'' of
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
. These were push–pull trains carried by lightweight steam locomotives. There were also double-deck sleeping cars used on the ''Bicol Express'' until 2014. In South Korea, ITX-Cheongchun, the express train of Korail uses double-decker cars along with single-decker ones. In Vietnam, the train operated by Vietnam Railways between Saigon and Phan Thiet occasionally carries double deck carriages to fulfil extra demand.


Europe

In Germany, Bombardier Double-deck Coach, Bombardier's double-deck rail cars are also used extensively on suburban trains by the Deutsche Bahn, DB. The same rail cars serve some of the routes on the
Israel Railways Israel Railways Ltd. (, ''Rakevet Yisra'el'') is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Israel Railways network consists of of track. All its lines are standar ...
network, hauled by diesel locomotives and include electric generators housed in the control car. Belgian latest models (M6 and NMBS/SNCB M7 railcar, M7 cars) also belong to the Bombardier double deck family while the older M5 are based on the French VB2N. In the Netherlands, there are two types of double-deck trains in use, the NS VIRM, VIRM and the NS DD-AR, DDZ. The VIRM, is an example from the Netherlands, of High platform (split level) double-decker multiple units. It is one step up from the station platform to the entrance, and from there seven steps upstairs or four steps downstairs. There are two retired types of double-deck trains, the DDM-1 and the NS DD-AR, DD-AR who were retired from regular service on 15 December 2019. DDZ trainsets are made of refurbished DD-AR coaches with a six-axle MDDM power car. In Portugal, CP Urban Services and Fertagus use double-deck trains around Lisbon in commuter rail services. In Spain, several lines of Cercanías (Renfe's commuter rail service) use double-deck trainsets. In Romania, some regional trains use bilevel cars. Over 200 bi-level cars were imported from Waggonbau Görlitz starting with the early 1980s.


Gallery cars


Design

Because the two levels are separate on most bi-level cars, there is a physical limitation on a single Conductor (railroad), conductor, as it can be difficult for them to check and sell tickets to passengers on the two levels. Gallery cars feature upper levels, which are "mezzanine (architecture), mezzanines" or "balconies" running along both sides of the car, with an open area between them. The split balcony enables conductors walking along on the lower level to easily reach up and punch or validate tickets of the passengers seated on the mezzanine level. Passengers can place their tickets in clips along a lengthwise panel, located slightly above the conductor's head and within easy reach. The conductor can then check all tickets and move to the next car. Most gallery cars have four separate galleries with four separate stairwells to the main level (one gallery on each side, split in the middle by the central vestibule). These stairwells are adjacent to the central vestibule where the exterior doors are situated. There is typically a low first step at the vestibule entrance to the car, which is above the head of the rail. However, Highliner, Metra Electric Highliner (now retired) and Highliner, Highliner II have high-level entrances for the high-level platforms on that line. Highliner, NICTD South Shore Line Bi-Levels are similar to the Metra Highliner IIs but have entrances at the end of the rail car opposite the cab with a stairwell and trap doors for low-level platforms.


Manufacturers and operators

The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy was the first railroad to receive gallery cars, built by the Budd Company#Railroads, Budd Company in 1950. In total, 141 cars of this design were delivered to the CB&Q (and its successors) between 1950 and 1978. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, Milwaukee Road ordered a revised design of gallery car from Budd in 1961, and production ran until 1980. Over 250 of this design were produced, including a small batch for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Rock Island Line. Most of these Budd gallery cars are still in service with
Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
. The design was also licensed to Canadian Vickers, who built 9 cars for Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian Pacific in 1970 for commuter service in Montreal. In 1955, the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, Chicago and North Western ordered 16 gallery cars from the St. Louis Car Company. Unlike the stainless steel Budd cars, these cars have smooth, painted steel bodyshells. Further orders were built by
Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
between 1956 and 1970, with minor revisions to the design, including a Control car, cab car variant from 1960 onwards. Over 250 were built for the C&NW, Rock Island Line and their successors, a small number of which remain in service. After initial retirement from Metra in the late 1990s, many of these cars were acquired by other commuter rail agencies across the United States, including (among others) FrontRunner, UTA FrontRunner,
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...
,
WeGo Star The WeGo Star , formerly the Music City Star, is a commuter rail service running between Nashville and Lebanon, Tennessee. The service uses the existing track of the Nashville and Eastern Railroad. The line stops at seven stations: Riverfront ...
and
Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksbur ...
. Southern Pacific Transportation Company, Southern Pacific also acquired 46 Pullman-Standard gallery cars for the Peninsula Commute service in San Francisco in three orders: 1955, 1957 (built by American Car and Foundry Company, American Car and Foundry to Pullman-Standard designs) and 1968. To replace the Southern Pacific gallery cars,
Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...
acquired new gallery cars from
Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock, Heavy equipment, heavy equipment, Diesel generator, generator, Special-purpose entity, special purpose vehicle and bridge manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its ...
in 1985. A second batch followed in 1999-2000. Further orders for this design were placed by
Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
and
Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksbur ...
between 2002 and 2008. Follow-on contracts included options for additional cars, the last of which were delivered in 2020. Morrison-Knudsen#MK Rail, Morrison-Knudsen/Amerail had also built similar gallery cars for Metra between 1992 and 1998, using bodyshells provided by Nippon Sharyo.


Highliner electric multiple unit

The Highliner and Highliner II, along with similar vehicles in the NICTD South Shore Line fleet, are electric multiple units formed of gallery cars. The Highliner I was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1971 for the Illinois Central Railroad, Illinois Central, with additional cars built by Bombardier Transportation, Bombardier in 1978-1979. These were replaced by Highliner II EMUs built by
Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock, Heavy equipment, heavy equipment, Diesel generator, generator, Special-purpose entity, special purpose vehicle and bridge manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its ...
in 2005.


See also

*Autorack ** Double-stack rail transport ** Piggyback (transportation) * Double-decker bus *
Double-decker tram A double-decker tram or double-deck tram is a tram that has two levels or decks. Some double-decker trams have open tops. Double-deck trams were once popular in some European cities, like Berlin and London, throughout the British Empire count ...
* Super Dome (railcar)


References


External links


Double Deck Train in China
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilevel Car Double-decker rail vehicles