Commuter Rail

[GingerBlokey 30]

Essentially in the UK there are 3 types of trains:

Local / Branch Lines:
These run between major hubs and smaller towns to connect to the main system

Commuter Lines:
These connect the big cities to each the suburbs and to London. Mostly found in the South East

Express / InterCity:
Long Distance lines with comfortable trains and few stops between big cities.

Between anywhere more than say 50 miles away from London commuting fizzles out and commuter lines tend to be much less common.

[marryescher 0]

I wish we had commuter trains in Michigan. We dont have any subways either. If you want to get around, you have to go by car, taxi or bus. You cant really commute by bus from one city to another to. Maybe around the suburbs of Detroit, but thats it. You have to have a car, or you are stranded. In downtown Detroit the closes thing to subway we have, is called the People Mover. Its a tiny train with 2 cars, on a track above ground, that just goes around in basicly a circle, stopping at the major buildings. The track is only 2.9 miles total. Well, we are the Motor City, and we like our cars. There is some talk of a commuter train from Ann Arbor to Detroit I think, but there is no money to build it, so its not likely to happen any time soon.

[Liger14 0]

Used to use Metro North when I lived in Mount Vernon.There aren't any commuter rails in Albany.

[slightlyslack 20]

Something that bothers me about Chicago's system is that Union Station, the principal passenger rail terminal in downtown, is not served by any CTA elevated trains.  I think this is also the case for at least one of the other three stations.

But hey, at least it's better than Los Angeles, where the Blue Line (the country's busiest light rail line, connecting Los Angeles to Long Beach) stops two miles short of Union Station.  This means that people who want to go to Staples Center or the huge adjacent convention center can't do a rail-only connection from the suburbs--they can either get on a VERY sketchy city bus, or just drive like most Angelenos resign themselves to doing. *sigh*

[halo_lover 1]

http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/systemmap1.jpg align=baseline>

 

I'll expand on Philadelphia's system a bit.  The two subway lines would be the Broad Street Line and the Market-Frankford El.  The BSL in entirely underground, while the MFE is only a subway from about 40th Street in West Philly (cue Fresh Prince theme) up until around when it gets to the Spring Garden station.  The rest of it is an Elevated line (like Chicago's).  The PATCO line is a subway, and goes across the Ben Franklin Bridge (like the subway line(s) in NYC that do that), although it's owned and operated by the Port Authority.  The Route 100 Line is a mix of a trolley and commuter rail.  I say this because the actual vehicle is basically a trolley, but it runs on it's own, dedicated line.  The route 101, 102, 11, 13, 34, and 36 trolleys are basically just trolleys.  The last 4 actually run underground on the Market-Frankford subway lines from the City Hall Station to around 40th Street (the line there has 4 tracks, 2 are for the subway, 2 for the trolleys).  The main part of our system is the Regional Rail line.  This also has the best service, as it is mainly suburban, and 8 out of 10 of the SEPTA board members are from the suburbs (each county in the region gets 2 representitives, I've heard).  They are basically just commuter rail, and are grade separated in most places.  SEPTA owns all of there track, but leases parts to Amtrak (the parts they lease have 4 tracks, 2 for Amtrak and 2 for SEPTA).  Our three main stations would be 30th Street Station, Suburban Station, and Market East Station.  30th Street is the Amtrak station, and is the most grand, and largest.  It's kinda like Grand Central in NYC.  Suburban Station is right in the middle of our CBD, and it's used mainly by office workers.  It's under a 15 (or so) story skyscraper, and I hear it's kinda like Penn Station in NYC, but less crowded.  Market East Station is underneath The Gallery mall, and is probably the least used of the three stations.  I don't really know much about it.

 

Wow, that was long lol.  But I hope you read it.

[kmoh4346 2]

What along exlaination!!! Good Work

[halo_lover 1]

Thanks. Because you were so nice, I present you with a picture of Suburban Station, which is ironically in the middle of Center City. Actually it was named that because the trains go to the suburbs.

[theblademaster 1]

In holland we have a couple of ways for commuter transport, train, metro, tram, busses and boats.. I'l just stick to trains here


^ The 'Koploper


^ A high speed train


^ A sprinter, train for short disances. this one is quite similar to a metro, but its a little more comfertable.


^ A metro, used in the subway system in Rotterdam

[K_m_H 0]

This saturday it's the premiere for the new commuter trains in Stockholm. Repalcing the oldest models from the 60's. 

 

      Old                        New

 

 

 

If I have time I will go into town to be on one of the premiere trains

                                                 

[GullibleJohnny 0]

Date: 8/8/2005 10:14:35 PM Author: The Terminator

Hmm, it seems like theres Commuter rail connecting all of the UK!, so can one of the brits tell me if it is possible to get commuter train in London and take it to lets say Birmingham? the only american Commuter rail that I know that links two major cities like that is New Jersey Transit(NY&PHilly).

quote>

Helloooo,

yes you can get a commuter train all the way from London to Birmingham!

The intercity line goes from London Euston to Birmingham New Street stations (takes about an hour and a half). this train stops at a few major cities like Coventry, Milton Keynes. These trains are always incredibly busy and usually delayed.

 

The canny people take the commuter trains from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snowhill, both much smaller and quieter stations. They take about 2 hours, but they only stop at little towns like Banbury and Warwick, so they're never packed and you get a much nicer view of the countryside.

Ah the joys of british rail...

[newyorkrunaway1 110]

thats a nice tranist map of philly up there, you can find the intereactive version here : http://www.septa.com

[kefka 3]

yea, there isn't anything in Detroit.  At one point in time it had the most extensive mass transit on the planet.

I think one of the projects in that big transportation bill that was just signed is to build an ann arbor-Detroit commuter rail, which is where the talk is coming from.

[Codythemonkey 0]

Our local commuter train is NJ transit or just new jersey transit

http://railfanning.harpblaster.net/trackside/metuchen/metuchen035.jpg

http://www.viewsof.com/usa/newjersey/millburn/nynj9910mill9.jpg

http://atisweb.njtransit.com/images/rail_map11.jpg

You can click on the links if the pics dont show up but our trains go also along the shore and go to NYC subway systems and PA trains

[halo_lover 1]

The problem with NJ Transit right now is while there ridership is growing fast, they only have one tunnel into Manhattan, and it's already at capacity.

[mikeseith 457]

In south florida we have the Tri-Rail. Otherwise known as Tri-Snail.

[Slowhand 0]

The Houston Metropolitan Rail, often referred to METRO, is a new rail finished in 2004. They are planning to extend it out to Uptown and the Airports.It basically goes from the Reliant Stadium/Texas Medical Center to Downtown.

[slightlyslack 20]

Date: 8/12/2005 12:01:03 PM Author: kefka

yea, there isn't anything in Detroit.  At one point in time it had the most extensive mass transit on the planet.

 

Not quite true--that honor goes to Los Angeles, which had more miles of interurban rail (=light rail) than any other city on Earth, in the form of the Pacific Electric Railway's Red Car system.

 

Contrary to popular belief (e.g.: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), the Red Car was not killed by a General Motors conspiracy, but by its own inefficiency: ridership peaked around 1920 even though Los Angeles' population quintupled between then and when the last Red Car line ceased operation in 1961.  This is mainly because grade-level operation and a lack of signal coordination technology meant that the Red Car had to wait at traffic lights: as a result, as automobile traffic increased, the average speed on busy Red Car lines fell below 10 mph.  That is, as they say, no way to run a railroad.  Pacific Electric itself started using buses on some routes as early as the 1930s because they were cheaper to operate.

Oh, and the system was rarely profitable, either.  It stayed solvent because of the profits from the freight rail business.

[slightlyslack 20]

Slowhand: the Houston Metro is actually a light rail system.  Commuter rail refers to the use of trains on tracks that can accommodate both passenger and freight traffic, e.g. Metra (Chicago), Metrolink (Los Angeles), etc.

I hear the Houston light rail is pretty sexy, though.  I find it pretty pitiful that Los Angeles can't have a system that extensive, but then again, psychotic left-wing pressure groups like our Bus Riders Union probably don't have very much pull in Texas.

[CitySeeker 0]

I would have to say the best commuter rail I've seen is BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)





Click for larger map --> http://ts.sjsu.edu/Commute_Tips/bartsystem.gif

The system goes all around the bay area and they actually have a tunnel going under the bay itself to connect San Francisco to East bay.

I was going through Oakland the other day and I thought it looked so cool with the raised tracks over the rugged industrial landscape and see the sleak BART train glide right over it.

[sebrat13wildcat 5]

Shanghai just got a metro system about 10 years ago, but our commuter rail is OK, nothing on anything like the BART though. Still, I refuse to drive from Pudong all the way to the Bund to go to work, so I take the metro because the traffic in Shanghai is just s***

[kefka 3]

Not quite true--that honor goes to Los Angeles, which had more miles of 'interurban rail' (=light rail) than any other city on Earth, in the form of the Pacific Electric Railway's 'Red Car' system....

quote>

What I meant was that the mass transportation (bus, and street cars, still no commuter rail) could take you anywhere in the city, but your probably right that LA had the most rail.

[Tunafish 48]

Date: 8/13/2005 2:57:55 AM Author: CitySeeker I would have to say the best commuter rail I've seen is BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)   Click for larger map --> http://ts.sjsu.edu/Commute_Tips/bartsystem.gif The system goes all around the bay area and they actually have a tunnel going under the bay itself to connect San Francisco to East bay. I was going through Oakland the other day and I thought it looked so cool with the raised tracks over the rugged industrial landscape and see the sleak BART train glide right over it.

quote>

 

 

And, like i said in my first post- rated number one in the US

[transitbuddie 0]

In San Francisco, we have the Caltrain, a commuter rail system linking the southern suburbs to San Francisco. Caltrain introduced a Baby Bullet train, which is an express train that skips most stops and cuts the travel times in half. From San Francisco to San Jose on the Baby Bullet, it takes a little less than an hour, and in the car it takes about 1:30.
http://www.caltrain.com

Photo of a new Baby Bullet Caltrain

Caltrain map

One of the best commuter rail systems I've been on is the Paris RER and Transilien. There are different commuter rail lines departing from every train station, and the RER lines that cross through the center of Paris (in tunnels). There are double decker trains on most lines and almost all of the lines are electric, instead of diesel. Most of the trains are ontime (except for when the SNCF is on strike). I usually prefer the trains that depart from the train stations rather than the RER lines because the cars are cleaner and the trains are more punctual. http://idf.sncf.com/FR/

Picture of a new RER / Transilien train

RER and Transilien map

[tracer1138 1]

I share our topic starter's facination with commuter rail.  Having recently relocated from Kalamzoo, Mi to Hackettstown, Nj, i must say that New Jersey transit is like a wet dream for me and Penn Station in New York is like a giant orgy.  Commuter rail is indescribably cool... perhaps moreso than subways even.  But i must also echo marryescher's longing for commuter rail in Michigan.  I even went as far as to plan a commuter rail system for detroit myself after studying right of ways, but alas, i am not yet an urban planner nor mayor of detroit.

 

Of course it's important to note that my plan involves the removal of the lodge freeway south of I-94, using the remaining right of way to extend commuter rail into downtown detroit and building the transit hub where Wayne County Commuter College is currently (an area bounded by Fort, Jefferies, 6th street and the Lodge Freeway--expensive eh?)

 

Even with commuter rail in Detroit though, there is no comparison to the Northeast.  I recently took commuter rail from Dover, Nj (north central) all the way to downton philadelhpia completely by train and for about $15. The same trip from Penn Station to Downtown Phila wouldn't have put be further away (at 30th street staion) and would have set me back a minimum of $50 on Amtrak! kudos for commuter rail.  Boston's system is nice as well... 15 minutes from Wincester to North Station (fleet center).

[slightlyslack 20]

I'm not sure if commuter rail would be at all cost-effective in Detroit, given that a much smaller percentage of workers in the Detroit-Ann Arbor MSA commutes to downtown than is the case in less automobile-oriented urban areas like Chicago and New York.  Even if you include New Center, I doubt it's much more than 15% of workers going to central Detroit every day, versus 50% of commuters in New York going to Manhattan and something like 30% of Chicago-area commuters going to the Loop or the adjacent River North area.  Detroit has really hollowed out in the last 40 years and has not had any sort of large-scale commercial development in its downtown (other than the preposterous Renaissance Center) for decades; nor does it have a metro or an especially efficient bus system to carry passengers from a central rail station to areas outside of downtown.  Even assuming a massive change in land use policy, the Detroit metropolitan area isn't going to grow much at all in the next several decades (and may well shrink), raising serious questions about whether a sufficiently large ridership could ever exist to make a commuter rail system viable.

I'm taking a transportation policy class this semester and one of the things I'm learning from the small amount of reading I've done in it so far is that commuter rail, in particular, requires a very specific set of circumstances to be anything approaching financially viable.  I also remember vividly a professor at UC Irvine's Institute for Transportation Studies telling me a year or so back that if the federal government wanted to maximize the efficiency of its transit expenditures, it would put virtually all of its money into New York, leave a little for Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and D.C., and eliminate subsidies for every other transit system in the country.

[bltsandwich 8]

commuter rail i presume is from out of city areas to the main commercial districts? in which case, here in Essex (UK), we have a main line running between Norwich and London (and further no doubt), with branch lines connecting surrounding areas (Southend, Braintree [i live here...] and Sudbury).

I guess that's what you would call the commuter lines. There's no other type of rail in the area until you get to Stratford, which is then Light Rail and Underground in addition to the standard rail system. There's a link from London to Stanport Airstead (figure it out... i just like the way it sounds ) which goes from Liverpool Street station (which is where all these branch lines and LR/Undergound eventually ends up).

 

As someone said before though, there are more than one hub for the trains to London. King's Cross serves mainly the North of the country, Liverpool Street serves mainly the East, Waterloo serves mainly the South, and Paddiongton serves the West of the country down to Cornwall, etc.

 

nice long post for y'all to read...

[marryescher 0]

I found a picture of The People Mover in Detroit, that I talked about in my earlier post. The closest thing we have to a commuter rail in Michigan. You can only commute from your car in a parking lot, to your work nearby.

 

The People Mover has its own website with this catchy tune.

 

http://www.thepeoplemover.com/