Light rail

Light rail transit (LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit characterized by a combination of tram and rapid transit features. While its rolling stock is similar to a traditional tram, it operates at a higher capacity and speed, and often on an exclusive right-of-way. In many cities, light rail transit systems more closely resemble, and are therefore indistinguishable from, traditional underground or at-grade subways and heavy-rail metros.

Utah Transit Authority's TRAX has 50 stations on three lines.
The CTrain is a light rail system operated by Calgary Transit.
The light rail in Tunis, Tunisia, was the first light rail system in Africa.

Los Angeles' expansion of mass transit has been driven in large part by light rail. The L Line is pictured above.

There is no standard definition, but in the United States (where the terminology was devised in the 1970s from the engineering term light railway), light rail operates primarily along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled to form a train that is lower capacity and lower speed than a long heavy-rail passenger train or rapid transit system.[1][2][3][4][5]

A few light rail networks tend to have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail; some of these heavier rapid transit-like systems are referred to as light metros. Other light rail networks are tram-like and partially operate on streets.


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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Light rail, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.