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It can be hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail. A system described as a light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called "light rail" are very similar to rapid transit.
Light rail vehicles (LRVs) generally have a top speed of around 55 mph (89 km/h) though mostly operating at much lower speeds, more akin to road vehicles. Link and pin An obsolete method of coupling rail cars, consisting of manually dropping the coupling pin into the drawbar as the cars joined.
MBTA Kinki Sharyo Type 7 is a type of light rail vehicle owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Since 1986, the MBTA has used the Type 7 on its Green Line light rail network. It is the first rail vehicle for the United States built by Japanese rail vehicle manufacturer Kinki Sharyo. [1] [6] [2] [7]
Many light rail systems – even fairly old ones – have a combination of the two, with both on-road and off-road sections. In some countries, only the latter is described as light rail. In those places, trams running on mixed right of way are not regarded as light rail, but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams.
All of the concepts proposed a longer vehicle than the current Type 8/9 cars, with lengths ranging from 100 to 131 ft (30 to 40 m). The MBTA's final concept for the new cars was a 114-foot (35 m) articulated low-floor light rail vehicle made up of 7 segments, riding on 4 trucks, and equipped with 5 sliding doors on each side. [5]: 30–35
The term "light railway" is generally used in a positive manner. Perhaps the most well-known caricature of a light railway is the film The Titfield Thunderbolt, made in 1953 as many of the light railways and other small branch lines were being closed. Despite the great public affection for these railways, very few were financially successful.
Modern light rail technology has primarily German origins, since an attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle was a technical failure. The renaissance of light rail in North American began in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton , Alberta adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by ...
The SLRVs were designed to both increase passenger capacity and to improve the accessibility of DART's light rail system. [6] Each three-section, articulated SLRV measures 123.5 feet (37,643 millimeters) over couplers , while the maximum train length is four articulated cars coupled together , measuring 494 feet (150,572 mm) over couplers in ...