OVERVIEW OF EUROPEAN LIGHT RAIL DEVELOPMENT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN NORTH AMERICA

The paper discusses the development of transit planning concepts in Europe as they relate to light rail systems, and shows how these concepts are intertwined with the parallel development of technology and operating techniques. Of particular interest are those areas in which a consensus appears to have developed, such as in the design of vehicles and the treatment of grade crossings and intersections. In the past few years two forms of light rail are becoming discernable. These are typified by the high performance, high investment systems, and by a recent variation which seeks to achieve comparable performance by a low impact, low investment approach, relying heavily on exclusive transit lanes and signal pre-emption.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the 4th Annual Intersociety Conference on Transportation, Los Angeles, California, July 18-23, 1976, see also RRIS 26 148247.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • Fox, G
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Light rail transit; Railroad grade crossings; Technology; Transportation planning; Urban transportation
• Geographic Terms: Europe
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00148264
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper P&P-26 Conf Paper
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 16 1981 12:00AM