Mass Transit.

[RV1428 0]

Hi, what are the mass transit connections in your (real life, not Simcity) neighbourhoud ?

Post info and pics.

I shall give some examples from my city:

bus

Antwerp has many buslines with old and modern buses. (photo: modern bus.)

tram/streetcar

6 tramlines run trough the city, mostly rails shared with car (photo:  tram/streetcar 24 running trough the center.

pre-subway

Pre-subway is a lightrail network with trams running trough tunnels under the city center and street-level in the suburbs. (photo: pre-subway line 3 at station Meir)

Now it's your turn .

[kawan 6]

Mass transit of Manchester:

Obviously a bus network is present.

Sorry that it's a bit small, no other decent pictures.

Manchester Metrolink, a light rail system.

I know, not much. I usually use a train or bus to the city centre.

[N1_2888 306]

I'm from Vienna. I live in Heiligenstadt which is a part of the 19th district Döbling.

Very close to the place, where I'm living - the tram line "D":

Source: http://www.sehr.org/verkehr/linien/linie.php?linie=D

The station "Heiligenstadt" - bus:

http://xover.mud.at/~tramway/fotokiste/show.php?group=stadtverkehr-austria-fotos&msg=1776

Underground and rapid rail:

http://xover.mud.at/~tramway/fotokiste/show.php?group=stadtverkehr-austria-fotos&msg=8189
_____

EDIT: In Vienna there is also a pre-metro, called "Ustrab":

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Stra%C3%9Fenbahn
But there are no plans to replace it by an underground.

[The_Hutt 11]

Well, some Sacramento stuff. We have a pretty average bus system.

An Orion VII Hybrid.

An older Orion V.

Sacramento also has a pair of light rail lines.

The new CAF trainset.

Some of the older Siemens AG stock.

[CasperVg 374]

Same buses/GLR as in the example here. Ghent, Belgium.

[ledge69 0]

Well my old neighbourhood had no transport cos the UK governemnt don't concern themselves with the country. But in Royal Docks we have 4 DLR stations on two lines (Royal Victoria, Custom House, West Silvertown & Pontoon Dock). We have the London City Airport, the London Underground at Canning Town along with another DLR station. Unfortunatly we lost our River Boat service at Silvertown Pier and last year our rail link which cut out 3 stations (Canning Town, Custom House & Silvertown). We also has two bus routes.

In the future we will get a new DLR line to Stratford/Woolwich and one day possible a Crossrail station.

The area was once a thriving industrial area and had trams and other railways running through but is now fast becoming a large commuter region. It's a penninsula boarderd by the Thames. The only way off one end is by a free ferry but a tunnel is being built under the river to Woolwich.

The Royal Docks, looking towards Canary Wharf and the City.

London City Airport in the middle of King George IV Dock

Custom House DLR station with now closed British Rail platforms to the right.

DLR at Royal Victoria station.

Silvertown for London City Airport station, looking redundant like most suburban stations do. (Probably the most obsure station for an airport as you'd have to walk a mile to get to it) 

Bus station at Cannin Town

Ferry heading to Woolwich from North Woolwich

A train at Canning Town, service now withdrawn these platforms will provide a new DLR service to Woolwich Arsenal station and Stratford International for the Olympics.

[hamsterTK 93]

not a whole lot

the university runs shuttle buses but the town isn't interested in public transit.

There is a very limited bus service run by a regional agency but it is very minimal. There are a few hourly bus routes with unmarked stops catering principally to low wage workers in specific parts of town.

[GreekMan 246]

DLR is a cool system

[2nerdy4u 1]

Dallas has a great system of mass transit called DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit).

Ground/Elevated/Underground Rail

Buses

Map

[MaestroMan 0]

I read that my city (Dublin) has probably the worst infrastructure in Europe. It has a single train line: The DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) that goes along the entire coast from the north to the south of the city, wich hardly does anything for commuters.

  There is also Dublin Bus, wich is always delayed, takes an unbearable time to get to its destination. Eg: 3 miles = 1 hour.

  And a tram system called the LUAS, wich again has one route, not a span of routes that covers the city, like in any other city with a tram system. Well enough ranting from me, but there you have it.

[2nerdy4u 1]

hehe DART in Dublin and DART in Dallas...

I forgot to mention that Dallas has the LRT (light rail transit).

The cars look like the normal rail cars, but these ones are more like trams, whereas the others are much faster.

[12392georgeman 0]

                                                

Im from Chicago and I use the "L" and bus to get to and from school everyday and I have to say for all the complaing people do its runs pretty well and its massive covering everywhere in the city allowing anybody to get anywhere the neeed to go

Typical Subway Stop (Clark/Lake)

  

A map to give you an idea of how massive the L alone is

And an elevated Stop (Damen/Blue Line - O'hare Branch)

And the Bus (22 Clark I Think)

[Duke87 1,070]

Bah. Chicago's subway has nothing on New York's.

www.nycsubway.org

[12392georgeman 0]

Yeah maybe not but Our "L" Kills everone elses

[saltandsauce 0]

now noe new york city had els too els are fun since you at least get a veiw over the city

[RV1428 0]

German mass transit

U bahn and S bahn will come later.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: saltandsauce now noe new york city had els too els are fun since you at least get a veiw over the cityquote>

NYC still has plenty of els, they're just all in the outer boroughs now. All of the older ones in the city itself were torn down decades ago since they were quite nuisance to traffic trying to move underneath them and because they're a source of a lot of loud noise. Chicago still has that El loop downtown, which is admittedly a bit different. Of course, NYC could afford to tear down all those old els since they were superfluous anyway. Our subway was originally two private competing companies (The Interborough Rapid Transit Company, IRT; and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Transit Company, BMT)  plus an independent city-run subway (IND).  Then, in the early 40's both the IRT and BMT went bankrupt and the city took them over and consolidated things all into one system. Naturally, the existence of competition meant that there were more lines than really necessary, and gradually since then the system has actually shrunk in size as many of the old elevated lines were torn down. Some new track has been laid since then, but comparatively it's rather small. It's mostly just small connections between existing lines, the only really sizeable new construction since then is the 63rd street tunnel (which took decades of arguing and litigation before getting completed, and the LIRR connection part of it still isn't complete), and the new Jamaica tunnel (which also took a good 20 years from start to finish).

..and then of course they're the infamous Second Avenue Subway.... which has been planned for a good 70 years now and has yet to have much actually come of it beyond some aborted construction in the early 70's.

The increased level of legal and environmental issues and other red tape contributes greatly to things being so slow nowadays, but there's another problem now, too: the city is much larger and more crowded now than it used to be, and so building anything in it is more challenging. The first underground subway in the city, which ran from city hall to 145th street, was built in only 4 years. The second avenue subway (which is actually a bit shorter), as now envisioned, would take a good 20 years to complete, despite new technology and whatnot. The reason for this is a practical one. Almost all of those original subway tunnels were cut and cover. That is, you ripped up the street, dug the tunnel out, and rebuilt the street back over it. Given how traffic is today, you simply can't do that. As such, the planned tunnels will instead have to be drilled out by giant tunnel boring machines, which by comparison are painfully slow since you have to start from one end and work your way to the other, you can't just dig everything out all at once. The fact that the rock in Manhattan is some of the hardest in the world doesn't help, either. And they only have one TBM, so they can only drill one tunnel at a time. For each phase of the construction, they'll have to drill one tunnel, back the machine all the way back up to the beginning (which, due to the size of the thing, will in and of itself take weeks), move it over and drill the other one. This is also why it'll only be two tracks, no express service. If it'll take 20 years to construct it with two tracks, it'll take almost 40 to construct it with four. And that first subway which took only 4 years? It's a loop between City hall and Brooklyn Bridge, 4 tracks from Brooklyn Bridge to just south of 103rd street, and 3 tracks from 103rd street to 145th street.

...maybe we should go back to building Els, at least in the outer boroughs. It'd certainly be a hell of a lot faster and easier...

[cityspade 0]

You Europeans are blessed with good transit options! Here in Cincinnati, Ohio we have one option (if you can consider only one mode an 'option'):

Behold! The Metro

There is some talk going on about a streetcar(tram) loop for downtown, but as of now its just a lot of hot air.

[RV1428 0]

Here in Antwerp there will be a new tramline in use from 27 october (tram 6).

The line will start at Metropolis cinemas in the north, will go trough Merksem and dive underground under 2060 (north Antwerp) pass the Central station, under the diamond district, Berchem, and olympiadepoort in the south.

It will be tramline number twelve.

[ricb 19]

There are actually still Els in Manhattan. One is the Harlem Valley viaduct on the 7 line, and I believe the seven also rises up to an el just before crossing the Harlem river into The Bronx.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: ricb There are actually still Els in Manhattan. One is the Harlem Valley viaduct on the 7 line, and I believe the seven also rises up to an el just before crossing the Harlem river into The Bronx.quote>

You fail. That's the 1 train, not the 7 train.

Also, I don't exactly count those since a) they're way uptown out of the crowded area and what people would consider "the city" and b) they weren't built as standalone els, but as elevated sections to the new subway system.

The Manhattan Valley viaduct was built because a large sudden dip in the terrain made it simpler to briefly put the line out on an el so it could stay relatively level. So the 1 train is above ground from 122 St to 135 St, with a station at 125 St, in the middle of the valley, almost 60 feet above the street. Likewise, north of here the terrain slopes way up into Washington Heights, but the line still stays rather level, using a drilled/blasted tunnel as opposed to a cut and cover one. At its deepest point (191 St), the line is 180 feet below the street, making it the deepest station in the system. And yet, the next station north (Dyckman St) is right outside of the tunnel portal and on an el at its northern end. The tracks are still at the same level, the ground just sharply dropped off. Following that, the line continues as an el to its norther end, with stations at 207 St and 215 St on Manhattan Island, 225 St on the mainland but still in the borough of Manhattan (there's an interesting story there, look up "Marble Hill" and/or "Harlem River Ship Canal"). and 231 St, 238 St, and 242 St (the northern terminus of the line) in the Bronx. I'm rather familiar with this line since Manhattan College - where I got to school - is right by the northern end of it, so if I'm getting on the subway, that's usually the place.

Look here for pictures and more info.

[Horus_Kol 118]

Adelaide has a mix of mass transit systems... all under the umbrella of TransAdelaide

Obviously, there are the buses - mostly standard vehicles, but a growing number of articulated buses.

Because of the growth of suburbs to the north of the city, the government responded in the 80s with the O-Bahn:

Adelaide Metro are having some problems now because the bus fleet is in need of replacements, and there seems to be some issues about current designs available and the trackway for the O-Bahn...

A lot of people are wondering why we don't just tarmac the whole route.

We also have a single tramline (although it was a lot more extensive 50 years ago) which runs from Glenelg (where the first settlers landed) into the exact centre city, which has been recently extended so it continues to the main rail station on the northern edge of the CBD.

Old tram:

New tram:

And, finally, the train... ahem... network.

It is mostly surface rail, with a few elevated and sunken sections...

Basically, the rail network stars out from a single terminus in the city, meaning that you typically have to travel all the way into the centre in order to get to anywhere that is not directly between you and the city.

Having said that - trains are not usually late, and are not heavily overcrowded like I used to experience in the UK (although the locals seem to think otherwise).

Also, there are numerous issues about the rolling stock on the lines - there was a derailment just outside of the main terminus. Adding more concerns are "software faults" which mean that doors are unlocking and opening while the train is in motion (and they reach 90kph on some stretches).

I think the biggest plus to the network is that, since it is all under a single organisation, prices and tickets are universal. A single trip lasts for 2 hours, and can be used on any combination of vehicles (bus, tram, train) before you reach your destination - this is good for folks on the outer edges of the city, where they may need to get on a bus-train-bus to get to work (it also means that, if you're quick enough, you can get on a train, get to your destination, conduct your business, and return... all on a single trip).

[Please keep all images wuthin the 800 x 600 limit] Marc

[Hyronymus 56]

In The Hague (The Netherlands), my city of residence, there is the oldest tram network of the country. Started in 1864 as a horse tram with eleckrification starting around 1904. In between they had a steam tram between The Hague and Delft. For almost 40 years PCC's were the pride of the The Hague tram company (HTM).

In the 1980's they were gradually replaced by 100 articulated trams, also constructed by La Brugeoiuse et Nivelles (BN) in Belgium (now part of Bombardier). The articulated trams received bogies from put-aside PCC's.

In the 1990's a supplemental series of 47 articulated trams were ordered. Except for their 40cm extra length and swinging doors they are technically similar.

Recently, a mega(lomaniac) transport service took off, with the intention to provide lightrail connections between The Hague, Zoetermeer and Rotterdam. The service is crippled by disaster: wrong steel quality for the rails, wrong slope for the track and failing electronics meant no service on a big part of the line until last monday. The newly ordered lightrail vehicles for this service are splendid though .

At this moment, the HTM maintains a tram (lightrail) service on 11 lines. More about the busses of the HTM later .

[HuskerDude 12]

Since The_Hutt already did Sacramento, I'll do my other part-time neighborhood.

San Francisco is primarily served my The SF Municipal Railway, or MUNI. It operates an extensive system of diesel, hybrid, and electric trolley buses all over the city, but I'm going to focus on the MUNI Metro streetcar/subway system.

A Metro car testing out the then-new T-Third line, connecting the SE portion of the city to the Metro network, also the train you take to get to Giants and 49er games:

An even older picture of a Metro train crossing Church at Market. Church/Market is unique in that it has three stops with the same name, all stacked on top of one another for the surface (J-Church) line, the Subway (K, L, M lines) and the Heritage Streetcar (F) line. This was also my old stop.

A very cool station that I want to try my hand at BATing one of these days. This is the western exit from the Market Street Subway, appropriately called West Portal:

Speaking of the Market Street Subway, Embarcadero Station, at the other end of the tunnel:

BART is a hybrid subway/regional rail service serving SF, the peninsula, and the east bay. In the larger cities it serves (Oakland, SF, Berkeley) it has stops positioned close together with frequent trains and underground stations. As you move out towards the suburbs, it becomes a more traditional suburban commuter rail service, with timed departures and fewer stations.

The aforementioned Heritage Streetcar line, or F-Market. From the Castro to Fisherman's Wharf, a very cool service using vintage PCC and European streetcars from all over the place.

Caltrain, serving the peninsula to San Jose and Gilroy, terminating at 4th St. Station for now, until the Transbay Terminal gets built, and the line is extended underground to the heart of SOMA and the Financial District. There is also work underway to electrify the whole line in preparation for the underground section.

Maybe more later, depending on how slow work is today.

[RV1428 0]

That streetcar looks so American!

[csgcseri 0]

Here are some Mass Transit pics from Budapest

Tram:

Siemens Combino Supra Budapest (2006-2007)

Articulated tram ICS (made in Hungary > Ganz M?vek/Factory 1960s-70s)

Tatra T5C5 ( made in Czeckoslovakia, CDK-Tatra 1980s)

Metro train 81-717 (Made in USSR, Mitiscsi Factory, near Moscow)

Suberban railway (HÉV) train MX/A (Made in German Democratic Republic)

[Sticksboi05 2]

We got the Metro.  Second largest/busiest in the country and the longest escalator in the western hemisphere.

 

[KingTitan 6]

Chicago here also 12392georgeman

SHOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Smarty218 2]

Is that an underground walkway? I've been in that subway. Back when I was visiting some friends.

[____----____ 37]

i'm not gonna say chicago's rapid transit is the best because it's not, NY certainly has us beat there, luckily i have the option of riding metra over the cta where i am which is much better, but for all our drunk riding the L certainly serves it's purpose.