RAIL-BASED URBAN TRANSIT SYSTEMS

The various railway systems developed for urban transit fall into four main groups: trams, light metros, conventional metros or underground railway systems, and suburban or regional express railways. The main characteristics of each group are reviewed, and the authors define the areas for which each system seems best suited for operational reasons (type of service, maximum traffic, commercial running speed). Criteria for selecting a particular system are proposed, a distinction being drawn between standard criteria and elements which cannot be quantified, such as the system's influence on the nation's industrial policy, urban development, public transport administrative structure, physical structure of existing transport systems, and improvement in the quality of life. Details are given of four recent schemes, already operational or in the planning stage: the regional express system in Cairo, the urban service at Abidjan (Ivory Coast), and trams in Curitiba (Brazil) and Nantes (France). (TRRL)

  • Corporate Authors:

    North Oxford Academic Publishing Limited

    242 Banbury Road
    Oxford OX2 7DR,   England 
  • Authors:
    • Marchand, L
    • VEINBERG, J
    • Guittonneau, F
  • Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; Photos; Tables;
  • Pagination: p. 413-430
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00392815
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: Mar 29 1985 12:00AM