SYSTEM DESCRIPTIONS
CANADA
SWITZERLAND
UNITED STATES
- San Francisco 2005
URBAN LIGHT RAIL - AN OVERVIEW
Urban light rail-based transportation sytems are among the most efficient, as well as the most environmental friendly, ways of moving people around cities.
First, some definitions. Overall, this means of transportation depends on the following characteristics:
- Vehicles run on steel wheels and on steel rails
- Generally speaking, there is incomplete separation from street and/or pedestrian traffic (there are some LRT systems, such as the Edmonton LRT, that operate entirely on private right of way, however)
- Trains are generally (although not always) powered by electricity, which reaches the engine either from an overhead wire (usual) or from a third rail laid along the surface (occasionally)
- Transportation is within the urban area, or in and out of the periphery
- Service frequency is high
- Speed and passenger carrying capacity are below those that can be achieved by heavy rail (metros/subways and mainline commuter railways)
There are several kinds of urban light rail services, characterized by different kinds of access, speed and other considerations. Here are the most common types:
- Light Rail Transit (LRT)
Mostly on private right-of-way (there may be some limited street service); intermediate speed and passenger capacity; usually (but not always) automated signalling. Typical examples: the London Dockland Railway; Scarborough Rapid Transit in suburban Toronto; the Vancouver Skytrain; the Budapest Centennial Underground (Földalatti) and suburban railway (HÉV) systems.
- Trams/Streetcars
Mostly street running (there may be some private right-of-way service); low speed and low-to-intermediate passenger capacity; manual signalling. Typical examples: the Strassenbahn services in many German and Austrian cities; the Budapest villamos; streetcars in Toronto, San Francisco and Pittsburgh; the trams of Geneva, Amsterdam and Brussels.
- Non-Standard Rail
Rail services using unusual technologies, such as funiculars, cable-cars and monorails. Typical examples: the San Francisco cable cars; the funiculars of Zürich (e.g. the Polybahn), Lugano and Budapest (Fogaskerekű); the monorails of Tokyo, Seattle and Wuppertal.
- Tourist Rail Services
Rail-based services run primarily to serve tourists, either through scenic areas or as a heritage service. To be included here, they still have to transport people from one location to another - museum trams running in a circle do not qualify. Typical examples: the Djurgårdslinjen in Stockholm; the Liliputbahn near the Vienna Prater; the Children's (formerly Pioneer) Railway (Gyermekvasút) in the hills above Budapest; the Douglas Horse Trams and the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man; the streetcars of the Nelson Electric Tramway Society in Nelson, British Columbia (Canada).
Not covered by this definition are heavy rail systems, such as:
- Urban Heavy Rail (Metro, Subway, Underground)
Entirely on private right-of-way (often, although not always, underground); separate from the long-distance rail system; high speed; high passenger capacity; automated signalling. Typical examples: the London Underground; the New York and Toronto Subway; the San Francisco area BART; the Paris, Moscow, Montréal, Washington and Budapest Metro; the Berlin, Munich and Vienna U-Bahn; the Tokyo and Osaka Chikatetsu.
- Regional Rail
Integrated into the long-distance rail system; entirely on private right-of-way; high speed; high passenger capacity; automated signalling. Typical examples: the RER in Paris; the Berlin S-Bahn system; the Yamanote and Chuo lines in Tokyo.
- Commuter Rail
Similar to Regional Rail, but with little or no role in carrying passengers within the city; some services may be quite slow. Typical examples: the extensive rail services around London, Paris, New York and Tokyo.
It is not always easy to categorize a given service. For example, the Metrolink service in Manchester (England) runs as a tram service within the city and as a commuting rail servive when running into the suburbs. It may be best to call it LRT as a compromise.
In these pages, I shall concentrate on urban light rail services. In most cases I will indicate heavy rail-based services as well, but without route numbering details.