Commuter rail in North America
"Commuter railroad" redirects here. For commuter railroads in general, see
Commuter rail .
NJ Transit has an extensive commuter rail system connecting New Jersey to New York City and Philadelphia .
Long Island Rail Road commuter train in Westbury, New York .
A Metra train in West Chicago , IL.
Commuter rail services in the United States , Canada , Cuba , Mexico , Panama , and Costa Rica provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis, primarily for short-distance (local) travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and regional travel between cities of a conurbation . It does not include rapid transit or light rail service.
Services
Many, but not all, newer commuter railways offer service during peak times only, with trains into the central business district during morning rush hour and returning to the outer areas during the evening rush hour. This mode of operation is, in many cases, simplified by ending the train with a special passenger carriage (referred to as a cab car ), which has an operating cab and can control the locomotive remotely, to avoid having to turn the train around at each end of its route. Other systems avoid the problem entirely by using bi-directional multiple units .
Other commuter rail services, many of them older, long-established ones, operate seven days a week, with service from early morning to after midnight. On these systems, patrons use the trains not just to get to and from work or school, but also for attending sporting events, concerts, theatre, and the like. Some also provide service to popular weekend getaway spots and recreation areas. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is the only commuter railroad that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in North America.
A GO Transit Bombardier cab car at Toronto's Scarborough Station .
Almost all commuter rail services in North America are operated by government entities or quasi-governmental organizations. Most share tracks or rights-of-way used by longer-distance passenger services (e.g. Amtrak , Via Rail ), freight trains, or other commuter services. The 600-mile-long (970 km) electrified Northeast Corridor in the United States is shared by commuter trains and Amtrak 's Acela Express , regional, and intercity trains.
Commuter rail operators often sell reduced-price multiple-trip tickets (such as a monthly or weekly pass), charge specific station-to-station fares, and have one or two railroad stations in the central business district. Commuter trains typically connect to metro or bus services at their destination and along their route.
After the completion of SEPTA Regional Rail 's Center City Commuter Connection in 1981, which allowed through-running between two formerly separate radial networks, the term "regional rail" began to be used to refer to commuter rail (and sometimes even larger heavy rail and light rail ) systems that offer bidirectional all-day service and may provide useful connections between suburbs and edge cities , rather than merely transporting workers to a central business district .[ 1] This is different from the European use of "regional rail ", which generally refers to services midway between commuter rail and intercity rail that are not primarily commuter-oriented.
Some transit lines in the NYC metropolitan areas have commuter lines that act like a regional rail network, as lines often converge at one point and pass as a main line to the destination station. They also pass through large business areas (ie Harlem, Jamaica, Stamford, Metropark), and some lines operate every 5–10 minutes during peak hours, and roughly every 15 minutes during off hours.
Spread
South Station in Boston , Massachusetts is a major transportation hub for the MBTA 's commuter rail services .
The two busiest passenger rail stations in the United States are Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal , which are both located in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, and which serve three of the four busiest commuter railroads in the United States (the Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit at Penn Station, and the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road at Grand Central Terminal). The commuter railroads serving the Chicago area are Metra (the fourth-busiest commuter railroad in the United States) and the South Shore Line (one of the last surviving interurbans ). Other notable commuter railroad systems include SEPTA Regional Rail (fifth-busiest in the US), serving the Philadelphia area; MBTA Commuter Rail (sixth-busiest in the US), serving the Greater Boston -Providence area; Caltrain , serving the area south of San Francisco along the peninsula as far as San Jose ; and Metrolink , serving the 5-county Los Angeles area.
There are only three commuter rail agencies in Canada: GO Transit in Toronto (the fifth-busiest in North America), Exo in Montreal (eighth-busiest in North America), and West Coast Express in Vancouver . The two busiest rail stations in Canada are Union Station in Toronto and Gare Centrale in Montreal.
A suburban train in Bejucal, Cuba
Commuter rail networks outside of densely populated urban areas like the Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Montreal, and Toronto metropolitan areas have historically been sparse. Since the 1990s, however, several commuter rail projects have been proposed and built throughout the United States, especially in the Sun Belt and other regions characterized by urban sprawl that have traditionally been underserved by public transportation. Since then, commuter rail networks have been inaugurated in Dallas–Fort Worth, Los Angeles, San Diego, Minneapolis, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Orlando, among other cities. Several more commuter rail projects have been proposed and are in the planning stages.
Rolling stock
Commuter trains are either powered by diesel-electric or electric locomotives , or else use self-propelled cars (some systems, such as the New York area's Metro-North Railroad , use both). A few systems, particularly around New York City, use electric power, supplied by a third rail and/or overhead catenary wire , which provides quicker acceleration, lower noise, and fewer air-quality issues. Philadelphia's SEPTA Regional Rail uses exclusively electric power, supplied by overhead catenary wire.
Diesel-electric locomotives based on the EMD F40PH design as well as the MP36PH-3C are popular as motive power for commuter trains. Manufacturers of coaches include Bombardier , Kawasaki , Nippon Sharyo , and Hyundai Rotem . A few systems use diesel multiple unit vehicles , including WES Commuter Rail near Portland and Austin's Capital MetroRail . These systems use vehicles supplied by Stadler Rail or US Railcar (formerly Colorado Railcar ).
List of North American commuter rail operators
UC=Under construction.
Metropolitan area(s)
Country
System
Province / State
Number of lines
Avg. weekday ridership (Q4 2018)[ 2]
Electrified
San Jose –Tri-Valley –Stockton
USA
Altamont Corridor Express (ACE)
California
1 (2 UC)
6,100
No
San Francisco –San Jose
USA
Caltrain
California
1
57,000
Overhead line, 25 kV 60 Hz AC (partially , north of San Jose )
Sacramento –San Francisco Bay Area
USA
Capitol Corridor [ note 1]
California
1
5,700
No
San Diego –Oceanside
USA
Coaster
California
1
4,500
No
San Bernardino
USA
Arrow
California
1
No
Brunswick –Portland –Boston
USA
Downeaster [ note 1]
Maine / New Hampshire / Massachusetts
1
1,300
No
Montreal
CAN
Exo
Quebec
5
83,300
No
Ogden –Salt Lake City –Provo
USA
FrontRunner [ 3]
Utah
1
19,200
No
Toronto –Greater Golden Horseshoe
CAN
GO Transit
Ontario
8
271,000
Planned , likely completion in 2032.[ 4]
New Haven / Hartford / Springfield / New London
USA
CT Rail
Connecticut / Massachusetts
2
No (Hartford Line ) Overhead line, 12 kV 25 Hz AC and 25 kV 60 Hz AC (Shore Line East )
Havana
CUB
Havana Suburban Railway
La Habana / Artemisa / Mayabeque / Matanzas
8
No (Lines 1 to 7) Overhead line, 600 V DC (Hershey Railway )
Greater Metropolitan Area
CRI
Interurbano Line
San José / Alajuela / Cartago / Heredia
3
No
Mexico City –Toluca
MEX
El Insurgente
Mexico City / Mexico
1
Overhead line, 25 kV 60 Hz AC
Harrisburg –Philadelphia –New York City
USA
Keystone Service [ note 1]
Pennsylvania / New York
1
5,000
Overhead line, 12 kV 25 Hz AC
New York City –Long Island
USA
Long Island Rail Road
New York
11
360,000
Third rail, 750 V DC (only parts of the network)
Baltimore –Washington, D.C.
USA
MARC Train
Maryland / West Virginia / District of Columbia
3
23,500
No (Brunswick Line , Camden Line ) Overhead line, 12 kV 25 Hz AC (Penn Line )
Boston / Worcester / Providence
USA
MBTA Commuter Rail
Massachusetts / Rhode Island
12 (1 UC)
121,600
No
Chicago metropolitan area
USA
Metra
Illinois / Wisconsin
11
277,100
Overhead line, 1,500 V DC (Metra Electric District ) No (Other lines)
Los Angeles –Southern California
USA
Metrolink
California
8
37,600
No
New York City / New Haven / Poughkeepsie
USA
Metro-North Railroad
New York / Connecticut
8 (1 UC)
315,700
Overhead line, 12 kV 25 Hz AC Third rail, 750 V DC (only parts of the network)
Northern New Jersey –New York City Philadelphia –Atlantic City
USA
NJ Transit Rail Operations
New Jersey / New York / Pennsylvania
12 (1 UC)
238,082 (FY2017)[ 5] [ note 2]
Overhead line, 25 kV 60 Hz AC Overhead line, 12 kV 25 Hz AC (only parts of the network)
Albuquerque –Santa Fe
USA
New Mexico Rail Runner Express
New Mexico
1
2,500
No
Minneapolis–Saint Paul
USA
Northstar Line
Minnesota
1
2,600
No
Panama City –Colón
PAN
Panama Canal Railway
Panamá / Colón
1
1,500 (2013)[ 6] [needs update ]
No
Denver
USA
RTD Rail
Colorado
4
28,700
Overhead line, 25 kV 60 Hz AC
Santa Rosa –San Rafael
USA
Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit
California
1
No
Chicago –South Bend
USA
South Shore Line
Illinois / Indiana
1 (1 UC)
10,900
Overhead line, 1,500 V DC
Philadelphia
USA
SEPTA Regional Rail
Pennsylvania / New Jersey / Delaware
13
126,000
Overhead line, 12 kV 25 Hz AC
Everett –Seattle –Tacoma
USA
Sounder
Washington
2
18,300
No
Greater Orlando
USA
SunRail
Florida
1
5,600
No
Mexico City
MEX
Tren Suburbano
Mexico City / Mexico
1 (2 UC)
195,000 (2017)[ 7]
Overhead line, 25 kV 60 Hz AC
Dallas–Fort Worth
USA
Trinity Railway Express
Texas
1
6,800
No
Greater Miami
USA
Tri-Rail
Florida
2
13,900
No
Washington, D.C.
USA
Virginia Railway Express
Virginia / District of Columbia
2
16,800
No
Nashville
USA
WeGo Star
Tennessee
1
1,100
No
Vancouver
CAN
West Coast Express
British Columbia
1
9,900
No
Portland
USA
WES Commuter Rail
Oregon
1
1,600
No
List of under construction and planned systems
There are several commuter rail systems currently under construction or in development in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The following systems have ceased operations since the formation of Amtrak in 1971.
CalTrain , Oxnard to Los Angeles (1982–1983)
Champlain Flyer , Burlington, Vermont (2000–2003)
Cleveland commuter rail , former Erie Lackawanna , later Conrail , service between Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio (until 1977)
Cannonball between Milwaukee and Watertown, Wisconsin (until 1972)[ 43]
OnTrack , Syracuse, New York (1994–2007)
Parkway Limited , Pittsburgh , PA (1981)
PATrain , Pittsburgh, PA (1979–1989)
Calumet , Penn Central , later Conrail service between Chicago and Valparaiso, Indiana (until 1979 when service was conveyed to Amtrak , operated until 1991)[ 44]
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad service from Pittsburgh to Beaver Falls , Pennsylvania (until 1985)[ 45]
Detroit , Michigan
City rail , La Ceiba , Honduras (until 2006)
FENADESAL service from San Salvador to Soyapango and Apopa , El Salvador (?–2000, 2004–2005, 2007–2013)
See also
Notes
^ a b c State sponsored Amtrak route with commuter rail focus
^ This figure is from NJ Transit's Fiscal Year 2017, which covers the calendar period July 2016 to June 2017.
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