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A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a
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 ...
,
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
, or
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of
bus stop A bus stop is a place where Public transport bus service, buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelter (building), shelters ...
s, but because trams operate on rails, they often include
railway platform A railway platform is an area in a train station alongside a railway Track (rail transport), track providing convenient access to trains. Almost all stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms. Grand Cen ...
s, especially if stepless entries are provided for accessibility. However, trams may also be used with bus stop type flags and with mid-street pavements as platforms, in
street running A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as ru ...
mode.


Types of tram stops


Tram stops without platforms

Many tram or streetcar stops, especially on older tram lines street-running on narrower streets, have no dedicated platforms. Instead, stops are located in the middle of the roadway. Passengers need to cross lanes for motor vehicles to board or alight from trams. Examples of systems with this type of stops include: North America * Toronto, ON, Canada: Most stops on all TTC streetcar routes except 509, 510, and 512 * San Francisco, CA, United States:
Muni Metro Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni's light rail lines saw an aver ...
Lines J, K, L, M, and N and cable cars * Philadelphia, PA, United States:
SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...
Routes 11, 13, 14, 15, 34, 36, 101, and 102. * Dallas, TX, United States:
M-Line Trolley The M-Line Trolley (previously McKinney Avenue Trolley) is a heritage streetcar line in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. The trolley line, which has been in service since 1989, is notable for its use of restored historic streetcar veh ...
* New Orleans, LA, United States: St. Charles Streetcar (in
Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
) * Boston, MA, United States: MBTA Green Line E Branch (3 stops) Europe * Berlin, Germany: Berlin Trams * Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Frankfurt Trams * Vienna, Austria: Vienna Trams * Lisbon, Portugal:
Lisbon Trams The Lisbon tramway network () is a system of trams that serves Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. In operation since 1873, it presently comprises six lines. The system has a length of 31 km, and 63 trams in operation (45 historic "Remod ...
Oceania * Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Melbourne Trams (many stops outside CBD) Asia * Hiroshima, Japan:
Hiroshima Electric Railway is a Japanese transportation company established on June 18, 1910, that operates streetcars and buses in and around Hiroshima Prefecture. It is known as for short. The company's rolling stock includes an eclectic range of trams manufact ...
(
Koami-cho station Koami-cho is a Hiroden station (tram stop) on Hiroden Main Line, located in Koami-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima. There are no platforms because of the narrow street. Routes From Koami-cho Station, there are two of Hiroden Streetcar routes. * Hir ...
) * Okayama, Japan:
Okayama Electric Tramway is a transportation company in Okayama City, Chūgoku, Japan. The private company operates tram lines and bus lines. The company and its lines are officially abbreviated as . The company was founded in 1910, while its first tram line was ope ...
(Chunagon and Kobashi stations) * Takaoka, Japan:
Manyosen Takaoka Kido Line is a third-sector electric railway (tram) line in Takaoka, Toyama, Japan. The name Manyosen, which literally translates to ''Manyo Line'', is used to refer to both the company and the name of the tram line they operate. Their head office, depot ...
(Kataharamachi, Yochihisa, Shin-Yoshihisa stations) * Hong Kong SAR: Hong Kong Tramways (6 stops) * Dalian, China: Dalian Tram Route 201 * Kolkata, India:
Kolkata Tram The Kolkata Tram System, is a tram system that serves Kolkata, the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) after Calcutta Tramways Company (C ...
In most jurisdictions, to protect passengers' safety, at stops without a safety zone or designated platform, traffic cannot legally pass a tram or streetcar whose doors are open.


Tram stops with high-level platforms

Several light rail systems have high-platform stops or stations with dedicated platforms at
railway platform height Railway platform height is the built height – ''above top of rail (ATR)'' – of railway platform, passenger platforms at railway station, stations. A connected term is ''train floor height'', which refers to the ATR height of the floor of ra ...
. Reasons for this include systems being created from former
heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...
routes (as in the case of the Metrolink system in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, England), or to provide a more
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
-like commuting experience (such as the Metro Rail system in
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, ...
, California). Such trams also stop at dedicated platform stops on
Stadtbahn (; German for 'city railway'; plural ) is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...
systems in Germany, especially in underground stations in city centres.


Tram stops with mixed-level platforms

Several tram stops have mixed platform heights for various reasons. In
The Hague, Netherlands The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, on tram lines 3, 4, and 34, between Laan van NOI and Leidschenveen stops, platforms feature mixed heights to accommodate both the high-floor Rotterdam Metro line E and the low-floor standard tram vehicles. Some stops in the pre-metro network in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
feature high platforms with cutouts along the edge. This allows passengers to board low-floor trams while maintaining the potential for future upgrade to full-scale metro operations. The cutouts act as access points for low-floor vehicles, ensuring the station can easily transition to a fully high-platform configuration when necessary. The
Muni Metro Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni's light rail lines saw an aver ...
system in San Francisco utilizes high-floor
light rail vehicles Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
(LRVs). To ensure accessibility for wheelchair users, many street-level stations feature ramps for level boarding. Non-wheelchair users, however, access the LRV by climbing the interior steps from the street-level platform.


Tram stops with triangular platforms

Triangular tram stops, where three tracks form a single triangular platform in the middle, are possible due to the shorter length of trams compared to heavy rail trains which does not require an excessively large area. Notable examples of triangular tram stops include platforms 1, 4, and 5 at
Siu Hong stop Siu Hong () is an MTR Light Rail stop in Hong Kong. It is located in the west of Tuen Mun River and east of Siu Hong Court The following is an overview of public housing estates in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, including Home Ownership Scheme ( ...
on the
Hong Kong Light Rail The Light Rail, also known as the Light Rail Transit (LRT), officially the North-West Railway, is a light rail system in Hong Kong, serving the northwestern New Territories, within Tuen Mun District and Yuen Long District. The system oper ...
, and tracks A1, B1, and C1 at Königsplatz on the Augsburg Tram system. Such configuration allows
cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of Interchange station, interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly ...
across three lines as opposed to two on traditional island platforms, increasing the likelihood of convenient cross-platform transfers. However, triangular tram stop layout necessitates three flat junctions immediately at each end of the platform, introducing additional operational complexities and the potential for delays, particularly during periods of heavy tram traffic, as a tram heading in one direction may have to wait for trains heading in another direction to clear the junction before it can cross. In addition, to reach the platforms, trams must make sharp turns, typically by about 30 degrees, which poses issues such as slow speeds and noise.


Sunday tram stops

Not all tram stops are served full-time. In the 1920s, Toronto created Sunday stops in addition to regular stops along its streetcar routes. Sunday stops were only used on a Sunday and, with few exceptions, were always near a Christian church. There were also a few Sunday stops near subway stations that were usable only before 9 am, the Sunday opening time of the subway system. However, the
Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...
decided to close all Sunday stops on June 7, 2015. The TTC found that Sunday stops slow down streetcars making it more difficult to maintain schedules. Also, Sunday stops were also unfair to non-Christian places of worship which never had the equivalent of a Sunday stop. By 2015, most Sunday stops were along current and former streetcar routes.


Tram stops with platform screen doors

The
Dubai Tram The Dubai Tram () is a tramway located in Al Sufouh, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It runs for along Al Sufouh Road from Dubai Marina to the Palm Jumeirah and Al Sufouh. The tram connects with the DMCC and Sobha Realty stations of the Dubai ...
, which opened on 12 November 2014, became the world's first tram system to feature
platform screen doors Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail ...
at its tram stops. Lussail LRT and Tel Aviv Light Rail both have platform screen doors at underground stops.


See also

*
Bus stop A bus stop is a place where Public transport bus service, buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelter (building), shelters ...
*
Street running A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as ru ...
* Train/railway station


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tram Stop Stations, terminals and stops