Light Rail

[Sticksboi05 2]

The closest Light Rail to me is the Baltimore Light Rail.

 

A new planned light rail is being constructed in Anacostia(Washington DC-SE).

 

[vester_DK 477]

The link The Terminator posted in the first post to 'Light Rail Now!' is wrong. It's lightrailnow.org

Corrected.

[bobek 0]

Date: 8/20/2005 12:25:53 PM
Author: Sticksboi05

...

A new planned light rail is being constructed in Anacostia(Washington DC-SE).

quote>

The vehicle in the picture appears to be Skoda 10T tram, already in use in Portland and Tacoma. Is it just illustrative sample or will it be used in Anacostia system too? I just ask because I'm from Czech republic and I have some ties with Plzen, where these trams are built...

Some info about the Skoda 10T (.pdf).

[jbridgman 0]

I live in Japan in the suburbs of the city Okayama.

Okayama has a small streetcar network.

Here's a picture showing an older streetcar (full wrap advertisement) and the new LRV we are getting.

http://www.okayama-kido.co.jp/momo/momo-syasinnkann/html/images/img0007.jpg align=baseline>

[halo_lover 1]

Here in Philly we don't really have any light rail, we actually call it what is really is: trolleys! Right now theres a few trolley lines that go into the southwestern part of the city, but the most exciting trolley line is supposed to be reactivated sometime just before labor day (around September 4th I believe). Here is a pic of the trolley:


Basically the city ordered a company to rebuild trolleys like the ones they used to use, and so while this and the other trolleys on the Route 15 (Girard Avenue) line may look vintage, they are actually pretty much brand new.

[slightlyslack 20]

I think I've seen one of those Philadelphia trolleys before--in San Francisco!  On the Embarcadero streetcar line, there are replicas of vintage streetcars from several major cities.

[halo_lover 1]

Date: 8/26/2005 7:05:15 PM Author: slightlyslack I think I've seen one of those Philadelphia trolleys before--in San Francisco!  On the Embarcadero streetcar line, there are replicas of vintage streetcars from several major cities.

quote>

Yeah, you have, because the city of Philadelphia actually sold most/a lot of there trolleys to San Francisco.

[lakeyboy 12]

Here is some pictures I have taken of the new Vermont South Tram Extension for your viewing:
http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/vermontsouthbus1.JPG align=baseline>
Bus Interchange looking west towards the city (notice the bus lane asphalt colour is the same as the US and the Bus Traffic Lights)
http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/vermontsouthtram1.JPG align=baseline>
Tram Interchange (I managed to take this when two trams were at the stop)
http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/insidetram1.JPG align=baseline>
Inside the tram. The little green box with the yellow circle is for validating your metcard (public transport ticket)
http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/vermontsouthtram2.JPG align=baseline>
Another shot of the tram stop. (Notice the countdown timer which lets you know when the tram is going to be here / leave and the timetables on the glass)
align=baseline>
Before the Tram Extension was built (I didn't take this photo)
http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/springvaleroad1.JPG align=baseline>
After the Tram Extension was built (my camera didn't have zoom so it's not as exact as the before pic)

If anyone wants to see more pictures of the extension, reply and I will post up more. I took way more than this.

[slightlyslack 20]

lakeyboy:

Looking at those before-and-after pics, one wonders why so many divided roads in the United States don't have light rail lines or at least dedicated bus lanes running down the middle of them. In a lot of places, the density is certainly there. On the other hand, Australia probably doesn't have hardcore libertarians who think that any transport other than private cars is Communist.

[BarbulaM1 38]

I think most LRT's look almost playful, the way their cars are articulated and how low they are to the ground, the just don't seem to be ment for long mass transit.

The two I have been on however are the two of the larger systems in the US. The DART Light Rail in Dallas uses raised platform trains, which allow more capacity, longer distance and more speed. And the closets one to me now is the RTD in Denver, which is under going a massive expantion plan at this time. But it too uses raised platform trains.

[artdutra04 0]

Looking at those before-and-after pics, one wonders why so many divided roads in the United States don't have light rail lines or at least dedicated bus lanes running down the middle of them. In a lot of places, the density is certainly there.

quote>
If you really want to see efficient use of median strips, look at these pictures of the Las Vegas Monorail system. Only a four foot wide median was needed.




As for SC4BOY's comments, I would say that I disagree. Complaining about how much money is wasted on transit, is drops in the bucket compaired to how much we use for our Interstate Highways. (Highways - Over $33 billion/year, Amtrak - only about $0.5 billion/year). Public transit, of any kind, is needed to sustain our economic, and environmental viabliity. Oil just passed $70 U.S. per barrel. Hybrid gas/electric cars help, but they aren't the solution. A good goal is hydrogen fuel cell cars, but that is at least a decade off.

Alternate energy sources are growing rapidly, especially in Germany and Europe. Using electricity from these sources to power electric trains (whether light rail, heavy rail, monorail, maglev, etc) provides us with a efficient transportation network.

As for the lack of people using transit, that is relative. Since we hardly spend anything on transit, the existing systems lack ridership because they aren't convienent enough. But by investing in transit, we can achieve profitible transit systems. Yes, there actually are profitible transit systems in the United States. The Seattle Monorail operates for a profit every year, and the Las Vegas Monorail was built with only private funds and no gov't subsidies - the first 100% private transit system since the last of the interurban lines in the 1930s.

We can make transit work as a society. We first need to stop the bickering between rapid bus/light rail/monorail about which is better. If we accept that light rail is really good for seperate ROW, low to medium-capacity use; monorail for medium to high-capacity, land-crunched areas; subway for downtown high-capacity areas; and rapid-bus for feeder lines to the fixed-guideway transit stations; and then actually proceed to build the afore mentioned transit in these areas, then we can actually achieve a profitible, efficient, mass transit system. Okay, back to the light rail topic.

They have been trying on and off to build a light rail line in Connecticut from Hartford to Bradley International Airport for some time now. The plan would be to use existing abandoned freight railroad ROW for most of the journey, and the line would be badly needed. So far, it's impossible to get to the airport without your car or bus service. And since our current Governor (M. Jodi Rell) seems to like transit as well. She just signed a transportation bill to buy over half a billion dollars worth of new and additional commuter rail cars, and a new commuter rail line (in additional to our existing ones ) from New Haven to Springfield, MA (which will run through my town) is also in the works.

[rupy 0]

In Vancouver BC the Millenium Line Skytrain runs down the median of Lougheed Hwy and the Expo Line east of Science World.

[Compromise 1]

The nearest light railway I know is the Docklands Light Railway in London. It is currentley been extended to London City Airport. Here are some pictures...

 

width=250 border=2>

 

 

http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/learning/online_resources/ecobus_omnibus/image/1041.jpg width=248>

[trackseventeen 0]

The closest  so-called LRT line to me is SEPTAs (Southeast Penna Trans Authority) Rt 100, The Norristown High Speed Line. This line was privately built in 1905-07 by The Philadelphia & Western Co. from the western border of Phila. to the small hamlet of Strafford in Delaware County Pa.  In 1912 a branch (which quickly became the main line) was built to Norristown because ridership on the Strafford line was to low. I can walk to this line in about 5 minutes, where I can then go either to Norristown, or to The 69th Street Terminal (This Terminal would make a great addition to the BAT line up) where you then transfer to the Market-Frankford El/Subway for a ride to Center City Philadelphia.  I say so called because Light Rail is a relatively new term in the transit world.  To be quite honest there is nothing light about this line, as we know light rail to be.  It is referred to as light rail just to keep it current with transit trends. The first thing that sets it apart from modern light rail is the fact that it collects its current from a third rail, like subways and elevated trains do.  Second,it is totally grade seperated from any other form of traffic (this was unheard of in the days when it was built for a suburaban trolley line).  And also all the stations have raised platforms and pedestrian bridges over the tracks to keep people away from the 3rd rail. Very few if any modern light rail systems incorporate these features.  The ROW was graded so the trains could reach speeds of over 80 miles an hour, which the old BULLET cars regulary did.  See picture of BULLET cars below.  Also something that seperated from a LRT is the fact that the old Norristown Terminal of the line was on an elevated structure over Swede Street, with an elevated station that you had to access by walking through a drug store.  This station has since been closed, and a new station two blocks eastwas built.  This new station is also elevated.  In 1956 the Strafford branch closed and was replaced by bus service.  The line is now over a hundred years old and it still carries close to 15,000 passengers a day.  It was taken over by SEPTA in 1970.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//img_16766.jpg align=baseline>        This is a 160 car otherwise known as A Strafford Car.  They were built in the mid 1920's by the JG Brill Co. in Philly.  After renovations done in the 1930's these cars could reach 70 miles per hour. Notice the high superelevations on the curves to accomodat these speeds.  These cars were finally retired in 1990-91 when the new N5's arrived on the scene.

 

 

 

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//wimg_16763.jpg width=159 align=baseline>https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//wimg_22429.jpg width=150 align=baseline>

 

  Heres three views of the Bullet Cars, that went into service during the mid 1930s.  These cars reached speeds of 90 miles an hour and for a while held the surface speed record of any type of vehicle.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//img_16824.jpg align=baseline>

 

  These type of cars, Ex CTA Elevated cars (CHICAGO) ran briefly on the P&W in the late eighties and early nineties.  Due to the Bullet and 160 series age they starting to have brake failures on a regular basis so SEPTA decided they better supplement the cars quickly.  Although some of the older stock did survive until the arrival of the N5s  these cars became the backbone of the line.

 

 

 

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//img_22427.jpg align=baseline> 

 This is a view of a LibertyLiner.  These were purchased by the Phila. Suburban Trans. Co. also known as the Red Arrow in 1963.  The Red Arrow, Which was another Suburban Co. that also had lines terminating at 69th street; took control of the financially strapped P&W in the late fifties.  Red Arrow bought two of these three car articulated train sets from the recently defunct Chicago&North Shore Lines..  These trains had plush interiors.  The C&NSL served hamburgers on the cars, while Red Arrow served Coffee and donuts in the morning and stiff drinks in the afternoon.  These cars were finally retired in 1979. They were purchased in a n attempt to increase ridership, but frequent breakdowns soon gave them a bad reputation.

 

 

 

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//wimg_24830.jpg align=baseline>This here is picture of the current equipment that now runs on the line.  You can see why it is now referred to as light rail since it resembles other light rail units out there.  These cars starting arriving in 1990 and by 1992 the whole line was being serviced by these cars.

 

 

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//title-philanor.jpg align=baseline>

 

  This is an N5 car crossing the  Schuylkill River Viaduct between Bridgeport and Norristown. This bridge is well over a mile long and is about 100 feet above the water.  The before mentioned elevated into Norristown is an extension of this structure.

 

 

 

All Photos are property of  www.nycsubway.org .  Check them out, thier site is awesome.

 

 

 

[jbridgman 0]

Date: 8/17/2005 10:34:40 PM Author: SC4BOY

a bus system designed to the individual .. maybe with lots of minivans..... rather than (or perhaps in concert with) rail etc has any chance of working in the bigger USA..

quote>

 

Hmmm.....sounds like PRT (personal rapid transit)....

 

The ideal size for a PRT vehicle is 2-3 people....these cars operate on a 100% grade separated network. (The network needs to be a network for this to work....simply installing one line like many cities do with light rail will not work....you need a network, similar to city streets)

 

Its like riding a bus...except that there are no bus routes....you get on a bus and your the only passenger, the only stop is your destination. And since the driver is a computer you can be sure of your safety. (Because the vehicles are computer operated, extremely short headways are possible to you can still have fairly decent capacity)

 

One way the PRT could be used (instead of a city wide network) is as a feeder system for a monorail/light rail/heavy rail station. It allows people out of walking distance to get to the station without using cars.

 

PRT works best with pedestians.

[jbridgman 0]

Date: 8/29/2005 1:42:02 AM Author: BarbulaM1

I think most LRT's look almost playful, the way their cars are articulated and how low they are to the ground, the just don't seem to be ment for long mass transit.

What do you mean long mass transit? In most cities the way the cars are articulated allow very tight turns in the city. Its different from heavy rail. For example in Japan, the minimum radius for heavy rail generally is 300 m (about 1000 ft) but light rail can get around corners as small as 18 m (about 60 feet). Also trains that are low to the ground allow easier boarding from low platforms (sidewalk level) in cities where there is no room to make higher platforms (which are impractical and expensive to place in the middle of a road....just look at the slopes needed to make it barrier-free.

 

Date: 8/29/2005 1:42:02 AM Author: BarbulaM1

The two I have been on however are the two of the larger systems in the US. The DART Light Rail in Dallas uses raised platform trains, which allow more capacity, longer distance and more speed. And the closets one to me now is the RTD in Denver, which is under going a massive expantion plan at this time. But it too uses raised platform trains.

 

Raised platforms do not allow more capacity, longer distance or speed.

 

LRT trains can reach speeds equivalent to heavy rail trains, they just don't travel that fast in city streets, but many do in the suburbs on a private ROW.

 

Capacity and longer distance: how are these connected at all to the platform height?

Capacity is how many people a train can carry, that depends on the size of the train, many light rail vehicles are long and can carry many people. They also operate more often which makes up for smaller vehicles. (For example in my area heavy rail operated every 30 minutes, LRT every 7 minutes....much more convenient.)

 

Longer distance....if you want to travel further faster, you can decrease the stops....LRT can travel very fast already so this really isn't an issue, however, LRT is not a inter city train....for that a connection to a central city rail station and an inter city express train is better suited. In Japan these trains operate at 300 kph or about 180 mph.

 

Random side not on capacity....imagine a 12 car long train operating every 2 minutes in each direction, each car 25 meters long (about 80 ft) total length 300 meters (almost a 1000 ft)....that can carry alot of people.

[jbridgman 0]

Date: 8/29/2005 10:54:16 AM Author: artdutra04  If you really want to see efficient use of median strips, look at these pictures of the Las Vegas Monorail system. Only a four foot wide median was needed.

What do stations look like? I've seen some monorail lines in Japan before and all there stations looked very ugly, gigantic, and out of place over a road...

[Zeddic 3]

What do stations look like? I've seen some monorail lines in Japan before and all there stations looked very ugly, gigantic, and out of place over a road...

quote>
Well, this is one of them. They all have different designs, but you can pretty much decide if they're ugly and gigantic or not... I don't think so. (note: it's still a little bit under construction in this picture, but not anymore)


/Zed

[jbridgman 0]

Not bad! Looks better than what I've seen...also the way they don't have it being a huge solid cloud over the road is nice.

[gosling2003 0]

Date: 8/31/2005 11:49:05 PM
Author: jbridgman

Date: 8/29/2005 10:54:16 AM Author: artdutra04 If you really want to see efficient use of median strips, look at these pictures of the Las Vegas Monorail system. Only a four foot wide median was needed.

What do stations look like? I've seen some monorail lines in Japan before and all there stations looked very ugly, gigantic, and out of place over a road...

quote>

jbridgman, There's a button for what you are doing

[jbridgman 0]

wait, I don't understand what you mean...

1. correct my spelling/grammar mistakes?

2. Combine responses to different posts in one?

3. I have no clue...

 

P.S. I love the pic you post! Very clear/easy to understand.

[Jayayess1190 3]

SEPTA lightrail (trolley) routes are the 10, 11, 13, 34, 36. they run in the city. The suburban trollies are the routes 101 & 102. All trollies from 1980's.

Pictures from   community.webshots.com/ album/85347509mHUQIA/4

City trolley:

 

 

 

Suburban trolley in Media, PA. This is where is ends.

 

[lwood 0]

Date: 8/29/2005 10:54:16 AM Author: artdutra04

Looking at those before-and-after pics, one wonders why so many divided roads in the United States don't have light rail lines or at least dedicated bus lanes running down the middle of them. In a lot of places, the density is certainly there.

quote> If you really want to see efficient use of median strips, look at these pictures of the Las Vegas Monorail system. Only a four foot wide median was needed.

quote>

I love the Vegas monorail.  I think the overroad system is great.  I even put of with the construction headaches while it was being built (I lived very near where you took those pictures).

 

There was an additional plan to extend the system all the way to downtown (The first phase travels from the airport to the convention center with downtown still another couple miles north), but was rejected soon after final projections of riders was given.

 

Last I heard, the system was losing money.  It wasn't really designed as a commuter line, but rather as a transport from the airport to several hotels and the convention center.  With a few of the larger conventions having left recently, most notably Comdex, projections of usage have gone down even more.

 

The other thing I think hurts the Vegas monorail is that it *doesn't* travel along the strip.  Which is what most of the tourists want to see!  I hope they can do something to improve the system and its usage, but I think that without high usage projections, there is little chance of Vegas expanding the system into other than a failed tourist attraction.

 

If its one thing Vegas needs its a good mass transit system.  There is nothing but roads, freeway, and busses going into the strip/I-15 cooridor which is where a good portion of travelling Vegans work.  Even with the freeway expansions they are doing the traffic congestion is projected to be just as bad as it was when they finally decided to do the expansions.  Ugh.

 

Good thing us SimMayors can just whip out our handy-dandy dezone/bulldozer tool and swipe away all those residences and businesses to make room for a brand new spiffy tracked masstransit system!  Yippy!

[cammo2003 20]

Date: 9/4/2005 1:57:34 PM
Author: lwood

Good thing us SimMayors can just whip out our handy-dandy dezone/bulldozer tool and swipe away all those residences and businesses to make room for a brand new spiffy tracked masstransit system! Yippy!

quote>

Yeah, it certainly is alot better. We don't have to deal with NIMBYs in the Sim world.

[theprofessor172 0]

Date: 8/20/2005 12:25:53 PM
Author: Sticksboi05

The closest Light Rail to me is the Baltimore Light Rail.

A new planned light rail is being constructed in Anacostia(Washington DC-SE).

quote>


*gasp* another Baltimoron! I thought I was the only one!

[GoaSkin 2]

What is the difference bethween trams, lightrail and subway?

In Germany, we have:

Strassenbahn: A urban rail-vehicle, mostly 1-2 cars either running in the middle of a street or on traffic lanes. Trams are partially or fully integrated into street traffic, using rails and overhead power lines.

Stadtbahn: Have train lengths up to four cars and aren't usable for rails onto traffic lanes. Sections are using the middle of the street and on road crossings, roads are to cross. A signal system manages it. Many parts of the lines use tunnels or free land. It is designed for smaller distances bethween the stops like on real subways and is mostly used as replacement for subways and trams because you only need one kind of service with tunnels where it's recommended and overground sections where more space is availlable.

U-Bahn: Some as Stadtbahn but more heavy-rail-like. The train length is more comparable with commute trains and the station distances are wider (1-1.5km/ up to one mile). Most parts go in tunnels and the system is too proprietary to go on street level. Overground sections are rare and if there are any, they are either elevated or somehow else cross-free to roads.

Are the three systems comparable with tram, lightrail and subway or is there another difference?

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

Heres mine, the Portsmouth LRT built for the Gosport Borough. Well, the newspaper says its being built anyway....

(tis my map)

 

 

 

http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/PortsmouthLRTmap1.jpg align=baseline>

[rowdychris316 0]

Everyone has forgotten about the oldest light rail and subway in America, BOSTON! Many streetcars lines near the end of the 19th century converged at busy Tremont Street next to Boston Common. In order to alleviate the congestion on the roadway, Boston build a short two-station, four track underground streetcar line. Completed in 1897, the light rail line (today known as the Green Line) was eventually extended into four separate branches that connect with a central subway line which travels through the heart of Boston. More information about the Green Line as well as the rest of Boston's extensive subway system can be found at http://world.nycsubway.org/us/boston/ or http://www.mbta.com.

[GoaSkin 2]

This is the most strange system in the world and the smallest town with it's own subway (less than 5000 inhabitants)

http://www.subways.net/austria/serfaus.htm

[rowdychris316 0]

Everyone has forgotten about the oldest light rail and subway in America, BOSTON! Many streetcars lines near the end of the 19th century converged at busy Tremont Street next to Boston Common. In order to alleviate the congestion on the roadway, Boston build a short two-station, four track underground streetcar line. Completed in 1897, the light rail line (today known as the Green Line) was eventually extended into four separate branches that connect with a central subway line which travels through the heart of Boston. More information about the Green Line as well as the rest of Boston's extensive subway system can be found at http://world.nycsubway.org/us/boston/ or http://www.mbta.com.