What is the definition of “Light Rail” for commuter train service? Sorta sounds like they use lighter weight rail, not intended for freight service.
thansk,
ed
It has nothing to do with rail weight – in fact the common rail size in light rail is 115 lb., which is a common size for medium-tonnage freight service. Nor the weight of the vehicle, which is pretty heavy, too – usually significantly heavier than “heavy rail” vehicles.
The term comes from light passenger loads. The comparison is “heavy rail,” which is a rapid transit system intended for heavy passenger loads, e.g., the Chicago L, Washington Metro, NYC subway system, San Francisco BART. In general light rail does not always have dedicated rights-of-way but makes use of city streets, which greatly limits passenger throughput, whereas heavy rail almost always is 100% dedicated rights-of-way allowing very large passenger throughput.
When the term was invented in the early 1970s there was thought of using “city rail” instead. That doesn’t strike me as any more clear.
RWM
If it’s like the mess in Denver, “expensive toy rail” would apply. (Local papers have been fighting over statement that it isn’t even very “green” in its approach)
Agree with the man with the cape and the “R” on the chest of his creosote stained suit that the term is a misnomer. (takes too many words to accurately describe; which won’t fit into any acronym I can think of)
Hyper-trolley?
In regards to politics and corporate policies I’ve found this to be one of the truest statements ever made, regardless of party or economic affiliations.
http://www.despair.com/idiocy.html
[:-^]
[(-D] One of my customers, who shares my weird sense of humor, gave me a despair.com calender.
I’m of the opinion that the term “light rail” evolved just as a promotional type name. It simply has a nice ring to it.
Our daughter led us to their website, though I get the feeling that this is more like our son-in-law’s sense of humor.
As for light rail, I suspect that there have been some successes somewhere (sounds like Denver’s not one of them). I was pretty positively impressed with the line in St. Louis (which does have its own right-of-way) when we rode it last summer. Why, even East St. Louis looked pretty good near the station where we changed direction!
Referring to the term “light rail” :
-
The rail weight is around 115 lbs - same as medium freight rail.
-
The cars aren’t built to the same crash standards as standard railroad cars. Railroad cars are built to withstand much harder impacts.
-
Light rail cars typically weigh less then, or around the same as standard railroad passenger cars.
Anyone know if there was an actual original definition given when the term was first created, or did they leave it open to cover any new projects that might have appeared?
Minneapolis’s Hiawatha line is a smash hit. Now they’re talking about adding three more lines, IIRC, one headed towards St. Cloud, one headed towards Duluth, and one linking the downtowns (Minneapolis/St. Paul).
What’s additionally scary, is the the bus people (RTD Light Rail) are supposebly being monitored by CDOT (an organization with ZERO trained railroaders) regarding light rail construction.
Brian, the lines to St. Cloud, and Duluth are are regular commuter operations like Metra in Chicago. The Hiawatha and University Ave. lines will use LRVs.
Carl:
I rode the St. Louis system back in 1998 (has it really been 10 years ago?) and was impressed. It sure seemed like a good system with frequent service and a good ride. We rode it out to the airport and back downtown.
ed
A smash hit? By what definition? The people who built it tell us that it is a smash hit because they say it exceeds their expectations. And the local news media are sure panting about it. But it cost a lot of money to build, and for its operation to only break even, taxpayers must add $15 million per year to what it makes in fares. And the number of cars it takes off the roads, as a percentage of the area total is almost immeasurable.
But there are bigger dreams on the drawing board as the University Av. line promises to be an even manlier boondoggle.
It is a very good system, and my wife and I have spent a lot of time riding it for pleasure.
Unfortunately, after the recently finished south county extension, Metrolink, the operator, accused the contractor of taking too long and charging too much. There were lawsuits and countersuits with the result that the contractor was exonerated. This meant that Metrolink had to pay all of the contractors legal fees to the tune of several millions of dollars plus all the costs.
It doesn’t seem likely that there will be any further extensions for a while. Lucky for me as my house lies in one of the projected ROWs.
Thanks, I stand corrected. I think what blurred the image for me was the report that they will all terminate at the same building in downtown Minneapolis.
//shrugs
My impression was based only on conversations with relatives and others in the area, and I certainly enjoy using it when I want to head downtown. It beats negotiating the Swedish interchanges on I-35W and paying for parking.
I understand your impression. For the people who ride it for entertainment, or can actually use the transportation of its route, it is like winning the lottery, considering what they get for what they pay.
It may be an initially big burden on the Minneapolis-area taxpayers now, but I think it will pay off down the road, as areas along the line are redeveloped and gas prices continue to rise. It would seem to me that one aspect of vehicle traffic that likely saw an immediate reduction would have been the traffic between the airport and downtown and the Mall Of America. I’ve also ridden the line on a day that the Twins were playing (and losing)- given its convenient location next to the Metrodome, that southbound trip was Standing Room Only. So, in my mind it’s a great plus for tourism and entertainment.
My wife and I love to head over to Chicago at least once or twice a year just to walk along Michigan Ave. and experience the big city. Half the time we book a room downtown as close to Michigan as we can afford. The other half we get a room in the western suburbs and ride Metra in. The only problem with that is that Union Station is a long walk from Michigan Ave., and making multiple transfers between public transportation modes requires too much planning and forethought on our part, and is therefore somewhat of a pain. I wish they could revamp the EL (sp?) to actually come through or under Union Station somehow- that would really simplify things.
Except I think for one system, every light rail system that has opened in the U.S. has greatly exceeded the number of riders expected. The idea that i
Nothing is ever a good idea until it works for you…