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Sharing of Rail Transit Infrastructure by Streetcars and Larger Light Rail Vehicles: Design and Operational Issues

This paper describes how, as light rail transit (LRT) development proceeds in North American cities, transit agencies and planners are evaluating both larger, interurban-type (or light metro-type) light rail transit (LRT) and smaller streetcar operations. A major issue, emerging particularly in the USA, is the potential joint use of running ways – and, in many cases, station platforms – by both larger, faster interurban or semi-metro light rail vehicles and smaller, slower streetcars. Streetcar systems can comprise modern vehicles – typified in the USA by the Skoda/Inekon cars that are deployed in Portland and Tacoma, as well as the Canadian Light Rail Vehicles deployed as streetcars in Toronto – and heritage-style cars (refurbished historic cars, or newly built replicas) running in several cities, such as Dallas’s McKinney Ave. line, Memphis, San Francisco’s F-Line, Kenosha, Tampa, Little Rock, and, most recently, the Girard Ave. line in Philadelphia. Streetcars are typically somewhat smaller and slower than larger, high-performance LRT railcars intended for regional (interurban) or semi-metro-type service, such as those in San Diego (Trolley), Sacramento, Portland (MAX system), Los Angeles (Blue, Green, and Gold lines), Baltimore, Denver, St. Louis (MetroLink), Dallas (DART system), Salt Lake City (TRAX), Hudson-Bergen (New Jersey Transit), Minneapolis (Hiawatha line), and elsewhere. These larger railcars are often called light rail vehicles (LRVs). There are two perspectives to consider: (1) joint, concurrent operations (such as those actually in operation throughout Europe, and planned in Charlotte and Memphis in the USA); and (2) installing infrastructure for streetcar operations with a view to eventual upgrade to interurban or metro-type LRT (as in Tacoma). Clearly, in some cases, joint use of infrastructure (e.g., railway trackage, power-distribution systems, stations) could – and does – yield major capital investment savings – in some cases, possibly making a key difference in terms of cost-effectiveness and helping make LRT options more competitive with bus alternatives, such as “Bus Rapid Transit” ("BRT").

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures; References;
  • Pagination: 6p
  • Monograph Title: Investing Today for a Brighter Tomorrow. Proceedings of the 2006 Rail Conference

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01033502
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 1931594236
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Sep 29 2006 10:37AM