Shuttle train

Aichi Loop Line shuttle train at Mikawa-Toyota Station, Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

A shuttle train is a train that runs back and forth between two points, especially if it offers a frequent service over a short route.[1][2] Shuttle trains are used in various ways, in various parts of the world. They commonly operate as a fixed consist, and run non-stop between their termini.[3] They can be used to carry passengers, freight, or both.

Examples

Airport shuttle trains

An airport shuttle train may run between an airport and some other location, or connect two or more terminals. The second is usually in the form of a driverless people mover.

Canada

The UP Express train in Toronto, Ontario connects the Pearson Airport with Union Station, making secondary stops at Bloor and Weston. The train connects with the provincial transit network, GO Transit and the city-wide underground subway network, the Toronto subway.

Italy

A shuttle train connects Galileo Galilei Airport in Pisa with Pisa Central railway station. It operates daily and takes five minutes.[4][needs update]

United Kingdom

The Gatwick Airport Shuttle Transit is a people mover used to transfer passengers between the North and South Terminals at London Gatwick Airport. It runs every few minutes 24 hours a day, and the journey takes two minutes.[5]

Car shuttle trains

Main article: Car shuttle train

A car shuttle train is used to transport accompanied automobiles, and usually also other types of road vehicles, for a relatively short distance. Car shuttle trains usually operate on lines passing through a rail tunnel and connecting two places not easily accessible to each other by road. On car shuttle train services, the occupants of the road vehicles being carried on the train usually stay with their vehicle throughout the rail journey.

Commuter shuttle trains

A shuttle train may be used to carry commuters, especially if at least one of the shuttle train's termini is an interchange station.

Japan

During the morning rush hour, the Aichi Loop Line shuttle train runs over the Aichi Loop Line between Mikawa-Toyota Station and Shin-Toyota Station in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.[6] The northeastern end of the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line is single-tracked although the depot line runs in parallel. Trains serving the terminus are shuttles to the penultimate stop, Ayase.

The first section of the Fukutoshin Line of the Tokyo Metro was named the 'New Line', with shuttle trains running express in parallel with the Yurakucho Line, between the Ikebukuro and Kotake-mukaihara stations.

New Zealand

A diesel shuttle train runs between Papakura and Pukekohe on the Southern Line in Auckland, New Zealand as this section of the line has not yet been electrified. Battery powered EMUs have been ordered and will replace the ADL/ADC class DMU shuttle in 2019.

United States

There are three shuttle services in the New York City Subway, as well as several other non-shuttle services cut back to shuttle portions during overnights. However, of these services, only the 42nd Street Shuttle is a true shuttle that stops only at two locations. Five shuttle services were formerly run in the subway.

The Yellow Line on the Chicago "L" originally ran as a nonstop shuttle from Dempster Street in Skokie to Howard Street in Chicago, offering connections to the Red and Purple Lines. In 2012, an infill station opened on Oakton Street, no longer making the Yellow Line a true shuttle.

NJ Transit's Princeton Branch, or "dinky", is a shuttle line.

Unit trains that are dedicated to move on a regular basis between origin and destination are known as shuttle trains by the Union Pacific Railroad[7] and the BNSF Railway[8]

Others

Austria

The National Intermodal Network Austria, operated by Rail Cargo Austria, uses a hub-and-spoke system of shuttle trains to provide overnight links between the highest volume intermodal freight terminals in Austria. The hub of the network is located at Wels.[9]

Bangladesh

Chattogram University Shuttle train:

The university shuttle train is operated by Bangladesh Railway eastern division and monitored by university authority.[10] Trains leave Chattogram railway station and Sholoshohor railway station, and city-bound trains leave Chattogram University railway station.

Hong Kong

The MTR Disneyland Resort line is a themed shuttle line linking the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort with the rest of the network. Another shuttle train runs between the Tseung Kwan O and LOHAS Park stations, on a spur serving a new residential development.

Spain

The R line, part of the Madrid subway, is a shuttle line connecting Ópera station (lines 2 and 5) with Príncipe Pío station (lines 6 and 10), which is also connected to Renfe commuter rail lines.

Switzerland

The Zermatt shuttle connects the mountaineering and ski resort of Zermatt (which has no road access) with nearby Täsch, where people travelling to and from Zermatt by motor vehicles are required to park their cars. For the better part of most days, the service operates every 20 min and takes 12 min.[11][12]

United Kingdom

The Waterloo and City Line on the London Underground runs between Waterloo and Bank in the city.

The Slough to Windsor & Eton Line runs between Slough and Windsor & Eton Central.

The Butetown Branch Line runs between Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay.

The Stourbridge Town Branch Line runs between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town

China

The Line 6 of the Suzhou Rail Transit running a shuttle service between Nanxiebu to Sangtiandao.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Shuttle". Collins English Dictionary. Collins. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  2. ^ "shuttle train". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Glossar Öffentlicher Verkehr". Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (in German). ETH Zurich. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Connections between Pisa Centrale and Galileo Galilei airport". Trenitalia. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Terminal shuttle". Gatwick Airport. Gatwick Airport Limited. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Construction of urban railways: Aichi Loop Line" (PDF). JRTT. Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency. p. 20. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  7. ^ UP:Grain Shuttle Train Program. Union Pacific web site viewed October 25, 2022
  8. ^ BNSF:Dedicated Train Service. BNSF Railway web site viewed October 25, 2022
  9. ^ "NINA - National Intermodal Network Austria". Rail Cargo Austria. Austrian Federal Railways. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  10. ^ "About Central Library". 2015-07-03. Archived from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  11. ^ "Zermatt Shuttle". Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  12. ^ "Täsch". Zermatt Matterhorn. Zermatt Tourismus. Retrieved 6 February 2013.