FAQ Jargon File
David McLoughlin
Want to know what all the terms and abbreviations on this newsgroup
mean? Read this jargon file and you will learn.
Background:
David Hoadley of Melbourne, Australia (hoa...@minyos.its.rmit.EDU.AU)
compiled a regular mtu-t "jargon file" for a lengthy time until he was
unable to continue with it. Following is an updated and expanded
version of his jargon file, using his format. Please do not hesitate
to suggest further updates to David McLoughlin at:
****************
Differing United States and United Kingdom terms explained:
US UK
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
motorman - driver*
conductor - guard
streetcar - tram
subway - underground
underpass - subway**
light rail line - tramway
* but see additional differences: ie in Brisbane Australia, a
"streetcar/tram driver" was always a "motorman", but in Melbourne
even to this day a "tram-driver".
** It might be worth adding that in London, many underpasses do have
entrances to Underground stations.
Relevant German language terms:
Strassenbahn = Tram (but nb, called "tram" in Switzerland, Austria,
Bavaria and some other areas of Germany)
Stadtbahn = Light Rail
S-Bahn = Suburban/heavy rail (U-bahn if underground)
U-bahn = Underground, subway
O-bus (Oberleitungsbus) = trolleybus (but nb, called "trolleybus" in
Switzerland)
and perhaps a few general railroading terms will prove useful as well:
switch - points
ties - sleepers
trucks - bogies
And here is another similar list, found by Robert Schoenfeld in the
RAILROAD mailing list at City University of New York
[RAIL...@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU ] where it appears to have been posted by
Roger Smith [> roger....@virgin.net< ] on May 26 1998:
British & American terminology
British American
Engine driver Engineer
Guard Conductor
Brake van Caboose
Point Switch
Sleeper Tie
Cant Elevation
Signal Box Tower
Shunting Switching
Carriage Coach
Controller Dispatcher
Van/Covered van Box car
Booking Reservation
Cattle wagon Stock car
Cross Meet
Gradient Grade
Length man Track man
Overhead Railway Elevated Railway
Open wagon Gondola car
Platelayer Track layer
Return ticket Round trip ticket
Sole plate Tie plate
On time Morning or afternoon
Guard's van Combine/Baggage car
Luggage Baggage
Loop Passing siding
Incident Cornfield meet/Wreck/Pile-up
Footplate Cab
Livery Color Scheme
Loading Gauge Clearance
Pullman Parlor or Club Car
Restaurant Car Diner
Rake Consist
***********
General Acronyms and other terms Often Mentioned in MTU-T
ADA - 'Americans with Disabilities Act', the law passed in 1990 that
requires all public transit to provide for the disabled by 1997. One
of a series of US civil rights laws that impact on transit operations
and much else.
AFC - Automatic Fare Collection. The first system, for the Illinois
Central Chicago suburban district was (and still is) called ARCS, for
Automatic Revenue Collection System.
ALRT – Automated Light Rapid Transit . A Canadian term used to refer
to the Vancouver Skytrain line and the Scarborough line in Toronto.
ANORAK – UK term for a train spotter. See GUNZEL.
APTA - American Public Transit Association. APTA has a web site with
extensive links and information on US transit systems.
http://www.apta.com
If you know of a URL for your local transit system that isn't already
on their list, please mention it to APTA (there is a mailto: link
there for additions).
BigDon Syndrome © Michael T Greene. <g> Somewhat related to
NIMBYism. Where people along a proposed transit artery are opposed to
its construction due to the possibility that people deemed
"undesirable" may travel to/through their areas.
BRU – Bus Riders’ Union, Los Angeles CA, USA.. An apparently
left-wing organisation which promotes buses for the urban poor in Los
Angeles and opposes rail-based transit projects which are said to
benefit the wealthy.
Cannon Hilling – a tram (streetcar) line in which significant lengths
of the route are on separate tracks in parallel streets. The term is
British and comes from the long-closed Cannon Hill tram route in
Birmingham, UK, where the up and down tracks were in parallel streets
because of the narrowness of the thoroughfares.
CUTA - Canadian Urban Transit Association
DMU - Diesel Multiple Unit. Passenger train with multiple motorised
carriages, not hauled by separate locomotive.
DOO - Driver Only Operation
DRC - Diesel Railcar. Self propelled passenger carriage. May haul a
trailer, but if the trailer has driver's controls then this is more
properly a DMU.
EA - Environmental Assessment - formerly called EIS/AA, for
Environmental Impact Statement/Alternatives Analysis. Generally, as
the environmental impact of a typical transit project is benign, the
more important portion is the Alternatives Analysis. This is from the
National Environmental Policy Act. Today, it's all called Major
Investment Analysis, since ISTEA.
EMU - Electric Multiple Unit. Electric equivalent to DMU.
ETB -- Electric Trolley Bus.
FTA - US Federal Transit Administration - Funds mass transit,
previously the UMTA. See also UMTA.
GUNZEL – a transit, especially train fanatic. GUNZEL. According to Bob
Merchant, editor of the Australian enthusiasts’ journal "Trolley
Wire," the term was first used by Sydney Tramway Museum members in
the early 1960s to describe certain enthusiasts in the state of
Victoria (Australia) who took their hobby a bit too seriously. The
term comes from the film "The Maltese Falcon" in which Elisha Cook
Jnr, played Wilmer, Sydney Greenstreet's twisted gun-slinger (gunsel
in American gangster slang). The film has been described as one in
which there wasn't one decent person in the whole film. The gunsel in
the film was what we would describe today as a "Gunzel", a bit thick
to say the least. Before Puffing Billy (a heritage steam train in the
ranges outside Melbourne) issued their "Gunzel Pass" a few years back,
their president, Phil Avard, checked with the STM as to the meaning of
the word and its origin. Phil, being a bit of a film buff, understood
immediately and the pass was issued. Originally, one did not call a
person a Gunzel to their face as it was a bit derogatory. The term
Gunzel in the Australian sense was first used by Dick Jones, Don
Campbell and Bill Parkinson, all of whom are still members of the STM.
The term has since been picked up by New Zealand, UK and some US
railfans. See also ANORAK.
HOV - High Occupancy Vehicle Lane i.e. a lane reserved for cars with
a high number of occupants (and often buses). ("High" is a loose
term. Sometimes it is HOV-3 meaning 3 or more per vehicle, sometimes
HOV-2, etc.) Sometimes known as a Transit Lane if used exclusively for
buses.
ISTEA- Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (Federal -USA,
1991)
JPB -- Joint Powers Board. A peculiar-to-California form of
cross-jurisdictional local government agency. In the specific context
of transit, ``the JPB'' normally refers to the (San Francisco)
Peninsula Joint Powers Board, which operates the CalTrain commuter
rail service along the San Francisco Peninsula.
LOOT - as in LOOT rail (c.f. light rail). See the separate section at
the end of this FAQ , Section Eight, on "LOOT and all that."
LRT - Light Rail Transit (see LRV)
LRV - Light Rail Vehicle - tram, trolley, streetcar etc. constructed
in the 1970s or later, especially when running on dedicated
(non-street) tracks. A name introduced to try to give the humble
tram/trolley a more upmarket image.
MDBF - Mean Distance Between Failures. The average length a transit
vehicle in a given fleet of vehicles travels before it must be removed
from service for repairs due to failure of a part. A widely-used
indicator of equipment quality and reliability; the longer the MDBF,
the more reliable the class of vehicle (or sometimes, the better the
routine maintenance performed on the class of vehicle).
NARP - National Association of Railroad Passengers (US commuter and
inter-city rail advocacy group)
PCC - advanced high-performance streetcar introduced in North America
in the 1930s to a design by the Presidents' Conference Committee of
US streetcar operators. The design became a classic. More than 5000
were built from 1936-1952 for US and Canadian cities. Also a term
sometimes confusingly (to American eyes) used to indicate a tram built
in Europe using technology that first appeared in the PCC car and was
licensed to other builders. First-generation PCC-cars still operate in
San Francisco (the F-Market line), Boston (the Ashmont-Mattapan "Red"
line), Newark (the "city subway", but not for long as new Japanese
low-floor cars are about to replace them). Many East-European cities,
especially in Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia) still operate
PCC-technology streetcars (see Tatra) as do a few in Western Europe
(ie Marseille France and Brussels, Gent and Antwerpen in Belgium).
Antwerpen and Gent are refurbishing many of their Belgian-built PCCs
for route expansion. The last PCCs in St Etienne in France were
replaced by new low-floor GEC Alsthom-Vevey cars when the tramway was
converted from trolleypole to pantograph operation in the summer of
1998. The Czech company CKD-Tatra remains to this day a builder of
PCC-technology cars, and has recently been supply PCC trucks and
electrical equipment to New Orleans for fitting in new replica Perley
Thomas streetcar bodies for the Riverfront line and the reinstatement
of the old Canal Street line. The last new US PCC car was San
Francisco 1040, delivered in 1952 and still in service on the F-line.
POP - Proof Of Payment system, e.g. a physical ticket to prove you've
paid. Also known as barrier-free access. Tickets are checked on the
vehicles by roving fare inspectors on a random basis but do not need
to be shown at boarding time.
PRT - Personal Rapid Transit. A proposed/experimental system of
driverless cabs operating on a network of off-street guideways.
PRW - Private Right of Way (see ROW)
RDC - Rail Diesel Car (see DRC). Note that, at least in North
American usage, RDC is not a generic term. It refers to a type of DMU
built by the Budd Company (also some other companies under licence)
from 1949 to 1962. There were several different models. They are
capable of running in multi-car trains, so are, by your definition,
DMUs, not DRCs. The term DRC is not in common usage in North America
—Tom Box.
Regiosprinter - diesel light-railcar which looks like a modern
European low-floor articulated streetcar/tram without a pantograph.
Manufactured by Siemens: being promoted in North America as a low-cost
way to introduce light rail on existing railway tracks.
ROW - right of way, as in dedicated off-street tracks for trams,
trains buses, etc.
T2000- Transport 2000 (public transport advocacy group - in Canada,
UK, and a few other nations)
TOC Train Operating Company. (UK) One (or more) of the many
companies set up when British Rail was split up. These are the
companies that the general public is most likely to have any dealings
with.
TPH - Trains Per Hour often used in the UK when talking about line
capacity and signalling systems.
TVM - Ticket Vending Machine
UMTA - US Urban Mass Transportation Administration - formed in 1960s,
replaced by FTA in 1992. See also FTA.
*******************
Frequently mentioned Transport/Transit systems, operators, equipment
suppliers etc.
AATA Ann Arbor Transportation Authority - Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Also known as The Ride.
ACELA -- "Acela" is a term coined by Amtrak for its Boston-New
York-Washington Northeast Corridor services, which will be revamped in
2000 when a new fleet of high-speed tilting trains built by
Bombardier and Alstom are placed in service. The railroad claims the
term is derived from the words "excellence" and "acceleration." The
new trainsets, which will work the "Acela Express" service --the
replacement for the Metroliner -- will be able to run at speeds of 150
mph on the NEC track; their ability to tilt on curves, combined with
an electrification project from New Haven to Boston, will mean that
true high-speed rail service will now be available along the entire
length of the NEC. Existing Amfleet Metroliner equipment will be
refurbished for the "Acela Regional" services, which include local
Boston-New York-Washington trains, Empire Corridor and Keystone
service; the New York-Philadelphia "Clockers" will operate as "Acela
Commuter" with refurbished Amfleet coaches.
AC Transit -- Alameda County (Berkeley and Oakland, California)
operating agency.
ADtranz: European, international manufacturer of rail transit
vehicles, created by the merger of relevant interests of ASEA-Brown
Boveri and Daimler-Benz.
Amtrak (US); manages/runs long-distance passenger train services in
the United States.
Arriva (UK) second largest bus operator in the UK. Also expanding
into mainland Europe and airports. Formed by the merger of Cowie with
British Bus.
ATM (Milano, Italy) Azienda Trasporti Municipali -- Milano, operator
of the extensive municipal transit system of Milano, which includes
one of the largest tram (streetcar) and trolleybus systems in the
world.
BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (San Francisco - Oakland - suburbs, CA,
US). A rapid transit railway serving the Bay area.
BKV Budapest Transportation Agency, Budapest, Hungary. Operates the
tram, bus, trolleybus and subway systems in the Hungarian capital
city.
BMT Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (now part of NYCT) (New York, NY,
US). Still used colloquially as the name for certain lines of the NYC
subway system.
BR British Rail (former) (UK); Obsolete. Formerly the operator of
railways in Britain. Broken up and privatised since the mid-1990s --
split up into 25 TOCs. Often
referred to collectively as National Railways and this term is used on
LU signs and publications.
CalTrain (San Jose - San Francisco, CA, US). CalTrain is the trade
name under which commuter rail service between San Jose and San
Francisco is operated; the name of the agency is the (San Francisco)
Peninsula Joint Powers Board (see JPB in previous section on
acronyms). The name comes from the original operator, CalTrans (a
state government agency).
CATs (lots of them):
CAT Citizens Area Transit-Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
CAT Central Arkansas Transit, Little Rock, Arkansas, US.
CAT Camarillo Area Transit (California, US).
CAT Capitol Area Transit- Harrisburg PA
CATA Centre Area Transportation Authority- State College PA
CAT Capital Area Transit - Raleigh NC
CATA Capital Area Transportation Authority - Lansing Michigan
CATA Cape Ann Transportation Authority - Gloucester MA
CAT Chatham Area Transit - Savannah, Georgia
WestCAT Western Contra Costa Area Transit - Pinole/Hercules/Rodeo
(Bay Area), California.
COTA Central Ohio Transportation Authority-Columbus, Ohio
CTA Chicago Transit Authority (IL, US)
CUMTD (Champaign-Urbana [IL, US] Mass Transit District)
DART Dallas Area Rapid Transit (TX, US)
DART Delaware Area Rapid Transit (DE, US)
DART (Dublin, Ireland). See also "LUAS."
DBAG (Germany) Deutsche Bahn - The German main-line railway system,
a government-owned holding corporation including DB Reise&Touristik AG
(intercity trains), DB Regio AG (regional trains), DB Cargo AG
(freight trains), DB Netz AG (tracks) and DB Station&Service AG
(passenger stations) as well as a few smaller subsidiaries. Formed in
1994 from Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) in West Germany and Deutsche
Reichsbahn (DR) in East Germany. Its mainline electrified tracks are
now being used around Saarbrücken and Karlsruhe for extensions of
urban tramway/
streetcar lines using dual-voltage vehicles.
DLR Docklands Light Railway; London, UK
Egged Local (municipal) and national long distance bus service
(Israel)
ETS Edmonton Transit System (AB, Canada)
FirstGroup (UK) largest bus operator in the UK. Also run UK train
franchises, airports and former China Motor Bus routes in Hong Kong.
Renamed from FirstBus and formed by the merger of the Scottish
Grampian group and the Bristol Badgerline group.
GCRTA Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (OH, US)
GGT (Golden Gate Transit, primarily Marin and Sonoma counties,
California) US.
GO Government of Ontario Transit (Toronto - suburbs, ON, Canada).
Now a misnomer, since the government of Ontario has transferred
responsibility for GO to the regional municipalities in the greater
Toronto area. A name change is highly unlikely, though.
Go-Ahead Another large private UK bus operator. Involved in
Thameslink and Thames Trains franchises.
HSR Hamilton Street Railway (Hamilton, ON, Canada) [now a bus
system, and since the last trolleybus in 1992, only diesel buses]
IND Independent Subway (now part of NYCT) (New York, NY, US). Still
used colloquially as a name for certain lines of the NYC subway.
IRT Interborough Rapid Transit (now part of NYCT) (New York, NY,
US). Still used colloquially as a name for certain lines of the NYC
subway.
KCR (Hong Kong) Kowloon-Canton Railway Co : operator of the
electrified commuter railway line from Kowloon to the border of
mainland China. Also owner and operator of the light rail transit
(LRT) lines based at Tuen Mun in the west of the New Territories.
LACMTA Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CA,
US)
LADOT Los Angeles Department of Transportation-Los Angeles, Ca.
Operators of suburban commuter bus and local DASH circulator services
in the city of Los Angeles. Not to be confused with LACMTA, who
operates most of the local service in L.A.
LBL London Buses Ltd; Now obsolete: planning function has gone
back to LT Buses and the operating function has been privatised to
form 13 separate companies.
LIRR Long Island Rail Road [MTA-LIRR] (New York - suburbs, NY, US).
Operates the commuter railways from Long Island to NYC.
LRT London Regional Transport; Now obsolete. (UK)
LT London Transport; Responsible for all transport in the Greater
London area, including its wholly owned subsidiary, LUL.
LUAS The proposed light rail system for Dublin, Ireland. "Luas" is
Gaelic for "speed."
LUL London Underground Ltd. (UK)
Lynx Orlando, Florida (US)
MARC Maryland Rail Commuter (Baltimore, MD - Washington, DC, US)
MARTA Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (GA, US).
Colloquially called "Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta" (thanks
Sandy!)
MAX - the light rail system of Portland Oregon. Tri-Met refers to the
Light Rail AND Bus system.
MBTA Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (Boston, MA, US),
operates the rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, bus and
trolleybus systems in the Greater Boston area.
MDTA Miami-Dade (formerly Metro Dade) Transit Authority-Miami,
Florida. Operators of bus, subway, and people mover service in Miami.
MET [The] Metropolitan Transit Authority (Melbourne, Vic, Australia
(now PTC; see PTC) . Overseer of the largely privatised suburban bus
system and until recent further moves to privatisation, owner of
Melbourne’s extensive tram (streetcar) and commuter railway system.
See MMTB.
METRA.. Metropolitan Rail, Chicago Illinois USA. . The operating name
of the agency that operates commuter rail service in the Chicago
area, except the South Shore. Metra is a Service Mark. It doesn't
stand for anything. For a couple of years, the designation "Metra
Metropolitan Rail" was used, but the "Metropolitan Rail" was dropped
when "Metra" became well-known. It's been used since 1982. Legally,
it's "Northeastern Illinois Railroad Corporation" (sometimes
Northeastern Illinois Regional Commuter Rail Corporation), or, the
Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority. NIRC
was created in 1978 (with the identical board of directors as the
Regional Transportation Authority) to acquire certain assets of the
bankrupt Rock Island, and later, the bankrupt Milwaukee Road.
METRO - Seattle (WA) (USA) city transit operator.
MMTB (formerly Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board; operator
[1923-1985] of the very large and still-extant tramway system),
Melbourne, Australia. In 1985 the MMTB was replaced by the MTA, later
renamed the PTC. Melbourne’s tramway system would not have survived
the tram-scrapping mania which gripped the English-speaking world in
the 1940s, 50s and 60s without the stubbornly pro-tram policies of the
MMTB, especially its long-time chairman, Major-General Sir Robert
Risson. Risson (chairman 1949-1971) was forceful enough to resist
successfully the continuous calls by Melbourne’s newspapers and
motoring groups through the 1950s and 1960s to follow the rest of
Australia (and the UK, New Zealand and most of the USA and Canada) to
replace the trams with buses. Despite being starved of funds and
forbidden by the Victorian state government to buy new trams or build
new routes from 1956 to 1973, the MMTB kept Melbourne’s trams in
excellent working order despite their advancing age and managed to
continue a farsighted programme of track upgrading until the anti-tram
tide turned and the first of (so-far) 432 new trams entered service in
1975 (the most recent was commissioned in 1994 but 90 more are now on
order) and the first of many new route extensions was constructed in
1977 (the most recent opened in 1999 with several more under way).
MNRR Metro-North Railroad [MTA-MNRR] (New York City, NY, US)
MTA Mass Transit Administration (Baltimore, MD, US)
MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York, NY, US)
MTA Metropolitan Transit Authority (formerly in Boston - see MBTA)
MTA Metropolitan Transit Authority (formerly in Melbourne - see
PTC, Met and MMTB)
MTA (Los Angeles - see LACMTA)
MTDB Metropolitan Transit Development Board-San Diego, California.
This is a regional planning body for San Diego County, but does not
operate bus service directly.
MRT (Singapore) : Mass Rail Transit, the metro (subway) system in the
Republic of Singapore.
MTR (Hong Kong) : Mass Transit Railway, the underground railway system
serving Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the southern tip of the New
Territories.
Muni San Francisco Municipal Railway (CA, US). Operates the
extensive streetcar, trolleybus, cablecar and dieselbus transport
network of the city and county of San Francisco.
MUCTC (old name, now unofficial English equivalent of STCUM - see
STCUM)
National Express (UK) the biggest long-haul bus operator in the UK,
which has branched into urban transit with its May 1999 purchase of
Australia’s National Bus Company, the private firm which operates
various bus routes in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. National Express
also operates a number of British railway lines and manages airports
in Britain and the US.
NFTA Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (Buffalo-Niagara
Falls, NY, US)
NICTD - Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (IN, USA).
This is the agency responsible for operating the South Shore commuter
line into Chicago from South Bend, IN.
NIRC Northern Illinois Rail Corporation (Chicago, IL, US) [Metra]
NJT New Jersey Transit (New Jersey and into New York): serves the
whole state of New Jersey as well as commuter routes into New York
City. NJT also operates routes
into Philadelphia.
NSE Network SouthEast (division of former BR) (London, UK)
Obsolete, and falling into disuse
NYCT New York City Transit [MTA-NYCT] (NY, US)
NYCTA (old name, see NYCT)
NYCDOT -- New York City Department of Transportation. Among other
things, NYCDOT lets contracts to private bus operators for the
operation of additional bus service to supplement the state-owned NYCT
(which is legally forbidden from contracting out).
OC Transpo Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission (ON, Canada).
Operates the bus system of the Ottawa metropolitan area, and
particularly noted for its network of busways.
PATCO Port Authority Transit Corporation (Philadelphia, PA - suburbs
in NJ, US). PATCO is the Philadelphia-Lindenwold via Camden
rapid-transit line operated by the Delaware River Port Authority (nee
the Delaware River Joint Commission). Formed in 1931 by a
Pennsylvania-New Jersey bi-state compact, the DRPA also owns and
operates the Delaware River bridges that connect Philadelphia and
Chester with New Jersey (except for the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, owned
and operated by the Burlington County [NJ] Bridge Commission).
Legislation passed in 1992 by both states gave the DRPA ownership of
the publicly-owned port facilities in Philadelphia and Camden and
overall operating responsibility for all Delaware River port
facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but a dispute over
responsibility for the South Jersey Port Corporation's outstanding
debt has prevented this from being completed.
PACE (Chicago - suburbs, IL, US) Pace is not an acronym, it’s
another Service Mark. It doesn't even stand for anything, unless
you're a fan. . .It's based in Arlington Heights, Ill., should anyone
try to find it.
PATH Port Authority Trans-Hudson (New York, NY - suburbs in NJ, US).
PATH is the rapid-transit service of the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey (nee the Port of New York Authority). Created in 1921
by a New York-New Jersey bi-state compact, the "Port Authority" (as it
is universally called) also operates all of the New York region's
major transportation facilities save two (the railroad stations, Penn
Station [owned by Amtrak] and Grand Central Terminal [owned by the
MTA]). It owns and operates New York's main and satellite intercity
bus terminals and the interstate bridges and tunnels across the Hudson
River and the Arthur Kill. It also operates the area's three main
airports (JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark) and either owns or operates the
commercial shipping terminals and piers along the Hudson and East
Rivers, the Arthur Kill, and in Newark Bay.
PTC Public Transport Corporation (Melbourne, VIC, Australia), the
organisation which oversees the city’s (now largely privatised) urban
transport system and until privatisation successor to the MTA, the
organisation created in 1985 by a merger between the former Victorian
Railways urban commuter railways and the MMTB tramway system.
RATP Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiennes (Paris, France).
Operates the metro trains, buses and now trams in the French capital.
RTA Regional Transit Authority - Chicago, supervision of CTA,
Metra, and PACE
(IL, US)
RTA (Cleveland - see GCRTA)
RTD (i) Regional Transportation District (Denver, CO, US)
RTD - (ii) See SCRTD
SamTrans -- San Mateo County (California) operating agency.
SCRTD - Southern California Rapid Transit District, the predecessor
agency
to LACMTA. LACMTA was created in 1992 by the merger of SCRTD and the
Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.
SEPTA South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
(Philadelphia, PA, US); operator of the extensive subway, elevated,
commuter rail, streetcar, light rail, trolley bus and diesel bus
routes in Philadelphia. Has also been called "Society to Eliminate
Public Transportation Altogether." (Thanks again, Sandy!)
SIRT Staten Island Rapid Transit [MTA-SIRT] (New York, NY, US)
SLO Transit San Luis Obispo Transit, central California coast.
SORTA Southern Ohio Regional Transportation Authority-Cincinnati,
Ohio
SRA State Rail Authority (Sydney - suburbs and long distance, NSW,
Australia). A state government owned authority comprising two
passenger carrying business groups, CityRail which operates the
suburban and interurban rail network, and Countrylink which operates
long distance (and some road coach) services within NSW and interstate
rail services to Melbourne and Brisbane. Previously known as Public
Transport Commission (Rail Division) [1972-1980], Department of
Railways [1932-1970] and New South Wales Government Railways.
Extensive freight services were operated until they were formed as a
separate government-owned business group in
1990(?).
STA State Transit Authority (Sydney and Newcastle - suburbs, New
South Wales,
Australia) - Operates extensive government-owned bus services and
Sydney Harbour ferries. Previously known as Urban Transit Authority
[1980-19xx], Public Transport Commission (Bus and Ferry Divisions)
[1972-1980], Department of Government Transport [1952-1972],
Department of Tram and Omnibus Services [1952], Department of Road
Transport and Tramways [1932-1952], Metropolitan Transport Trust
(Tramways Management Board) [1930-1932], and New South Wales
Government Tramways.
STA State Transport Authority (Adelaide - suburbs, South
Australia) DU-operated suburban rail services, buses, o-bahn [guided
busway] and single tram route - now known as TransAdelaide.
Stagecoach (UK) third largest bus operator in the UK and possibly the
largest in the world. Also run UK rail franchises, airports, buses in
Sweden, Kenya, New Zealand and Portugal and trams in Sheffield.
Stagecoach have recently expanded into Denmark, Finland Australia and
Hong Kong.
STCUM Societe de transport de la Communaute urbaine de Montreal (QC,
Canada) (Montreal Urban Community Transit Corporation).
STO Societe de transport de l'Outaouais (Hull, QC, Canada)
STRSM Societe de transport de la Rive-Sud de Montreal (QC, Canada)
(Montreal South Shore Transit Corporation)
TANK - Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (Serving the Covington
area).
Tatra. CKD Tatra - famous tram (streetcar) building company based in
Prague, Czech Republic. Its original post-war trams were PCC clones
and some of its present models are still heavily based on PCC
technology, especially the distinctive PCC-type trucks still used on
some models. Has recently (1999) manufactured trucks and electrical
equipment for the new replica Perley Thomas streetcars for New
Orleans.
TCAT (Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, Tompkins County, NY).
Until recently, TCAT was made up of three agencies, IT (Ithaca
Transit), CUTransit (Cornell University Transit, although CUTransit
was the official name), and TOMTRAN (Tompkins Transit, although again
TOMTRAN was the official name).
TRAX – the light rail system in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Tri Met (Portland, Oregon, US) operates the world-renowned bus and
light rail system in Portland.
Tri-Rail (FL, US)
TTC Toronto Transit Commission (ON, Canada). Operator of the
extensive subway, bus and streetcar system in Toronto.
VTA - Valley Transportation Authority (Short for Santa Clara Valley
transportation Authority. California USA)
WVB Wiener Verkehrsbetriebe (now Wiener Linien; Wien (Vienna),
Austria); operates the extensive underground railway, S-bahn railway
system, tramway system and bus system in the Austrian capital.
WLB Wiener Lokalbahnen AG (Wien (Vienna), Austria, also known as
"Badner Bahn"). Operates an interurban light rail line out of Wien.
VRE Virginia Railway Express (Washington, DC - suburbs, VA, US)
VTA Valley Transportation Authority-San Jose, California
WMATA Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Washington, DC,
US) Operates the metro and bus services in DC and surrounding suburbs
but note not everywhere. Additional supplemental services are also
provided by local city, county operated bus service.
Yolobus - Bus service operated by the Yolo County Transportation
District (CA) US. Yolo County is immediately to the west of Sacramento
County, and contains the cities of West Sacramento, Davis, Woodland
and Winters. Yolobus operates local service in these cities, along
with connecting bus service. It also operates commuter service into
downtown Sacramento. Yolobus is the local service provider to
Sacramento International Airport. It also operates the "Citylink"
service between the Solano County cities of Fairfield and Vacaville,
and Davis. Yolobus was founded after Sacramento RT decided to drop its
outlying services to save money for building its light rail
system.Davis is the home of Unitrans, which is famous for having
operated old London double decker buses for many years. – Ray Mullins
*************
What is light/heavy/commuter rail etc?
The various modes of fixed-rail transport have attributes largely as
described here. Note that none of these distinctions are cast-iron. T
here are grey areas between all of these modes, and often the best
policy is to call a particular system by whatever its operator chooses
to call it.
Tram/trolley/streetcar:
- street running (exceptions exist, many systems have sections on
private ROW)
- overhead wire current pickup, usually now with a pantograph but
some systems still use trolley poles (eg, Toronto, Philadelphia, Riga,
Calcutta, some Melbourne lines)
- single vehicle or coupled pairs, cars can be either bogie or
articulated
- distance between stops 200 - 300 m
Light Rail
- derived from tram technology (or in truly unfortunate cases,
helicopters; ok the latter is a joke based on the Boeing-Vertol
streetcars built for Boston and San Francisco in the late-70s but then
those streetcars which were built in a helicopter factory by Boeing
were jokes too)
- typically larger and/or articulated vehicles
- generally but not exclusively off-street running in separate ROWs
- overhead wire current pickup via pantograph (exceptions exist, eg
Docklands [London] Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], Norristown [Philadelphia]
are third-rail)
- may be coupled into trains of two or more vehicles
- distance between stations 300 - 500 m, sometimes more
Heavy rail/Rapid Rail/Metro/Subway/Underground/Rapid Transit
- larger and heavier rolling stock - traditional railway heritage
- subway/elevated/at grade railway, but all on dedicated ROW
- grade separated crossings with roads
- 3rd rail or catenary current pickup (for example Hong Kong MTR uses
overhead wire, NYC and London use third rail)
- EMU trains, generally more than 4 carriages/train
- many stations in central city area
- short average distance between stations - 1 km and less
Suburban rail
- combines heavy rail features of both subway/elevated railways and
commuter
rail
- surface lines, most but not all crossings grade separated.
- may have underground sections
- EMU (catenary overhead wire or 3rd rail) or DMU rolling stock
- lines may be shared with freight
- dominantly radial pattern converging on a few central city stations
- moderate service frequencies outside peak times
- distance between stations 1 - 3 km (closer near central city area)
Commuter rail
- surface lines, not all crossings grade separated.
- mainly locomotive-hauled (some EMU or DMU) on traditional railways
- lines may be shared with freight
- serves central-city workers living in outlying towns (and outer
suburbs)
- poor service frequencies outside peak times
- radial pattern converging on one central city station (or very few)
- average distance between stations several km?
Relevant German language terms:
Strassenbahn = Tram (but nb, called "tram" in Switzerland, Austria,
Bavaria and some other areas of Germany)
Stadtbahn = Light Rail
S-Bahn = Suburban/heavy rail (U-bahn if underground)
U-bahn = Underground, subway
---------------
The question of what is meant by "light rail" and heavy rail" comes up
regularly. Here is a further definition from Jim Middleton
<j...@lightrail.SPAMBLOCKcom> :
Definition of "Light Rail"
The terms "heavy rail, "commuter rail" and "light rail" have nothing
to do with car weight - they refer to passenger capacity. According to
the American Public Transit Association Glossary of Transit
Terminology the following definitions apply:
Light Rail - An electric railway with a "light volume" traffic
capacity
compared to heavy rail. Light rail may use shared or exclusive
rights-of-way, high or low platform loading and multi-car trains or
single cars. Also known as "streetcar," "trolley car" or "tramway."
Heavy Rail - An electric railway with the capacity for a "heavy
volume"
of traffic and characterised by exclusive rights-of-way, multi-car
trains, high speed and rapid acceleration, sophisticated signalling
and
high platform loading. Also known as "rapid rail," "subway,"
"elevated
(railway)" or "metropolitan railway (metro)."
Commuter Rail - Railroad local and regional passenger train operations
between a central city, its suburbs and/or another central city. It
may
be either locomotive-hauled or self-propelled, and is characterised
by
multi-trip tickets, specific station-to-station fares, railroad
employment practices and usually only one or two stations in the
central
business district. Also known as "suburban rail."
------------
But also note, as pointed out subsequently by Adam Kerman:
There is absolutely no distinction between Suburban Rail and Commuter
Rail.
The distinction between this and heavy rail is a legal one here:
Commuter railroads, whether or not they carry freight, are legally
part of the US intercity railroad network, whereas heavy rail and
light rail are not. This makes a huge difference in what kind of
equipment is legal to run, here. Many European trainsets can't run in
the US.
In Philadelphia and much of Germany, it's called Regional Rail.
Jargon File Ends