![]() | It has been suggested that this article be
merged into
Light rail. (
Discuss) Proposed since July 2024. |
Semi-metro (also known as subway-surface [1] [2] [3] [4] line or hybrid [5] streetcar/ light rail line) is a form of public rail transport in which trams run partly on a conflict-free track, by using tunnels and/or viaducts. [6] These stretches of track are designed to function like a regular metro or rapid transit line. [7] [8] Semi-metro lines run with tram cars because they are usually developed from an existing tram network. [9] [10]
One key difference with metro/rapid transit is that semi-metro lines only partially run in tunnels and/or on viaducts. [11] A metro line has an entirely conflict-free track, often completely grade separated. Semi-metro routes are operated by regular trams (with or without low floor) or with specially developed streetcars/tramcars (light rail vehicles), such as the Stadtbahn-car 'type B'. [12]
The term semi-metro falls under the umbrella term light rail, [13] which includes many kinds of modern tram transport. Semi-metro is in itself a container concept in which premetro and Stadtbahn fall. Although cheaper than a metro line, the construction of infrastructure for semi-metro routes was often still too expensive. Therefore sections were sometimes not constructed or realised in phases. The entanglement with the existing tram network is an advantage compared to constructing a separate light metro line. [14] [15] Often several tram branches at grade are needed in order to make fully use of the high capacity tunnels. [16]
The first city to carry a portion of a streetcar line through the city center in a tunnel was Marseille, France, in 1893, with its Noailles subterranean station (see Marseille tramway). It was initially operated by horse-drawn wagons. The next prominent example was the Tremont Street subway (1897) in Boston, [17] [18] today part of the MBTA Green Line. Brussels, Cologne and Frankfurt pioneered in Europe in the 1960s.
Semi-metro networks can be divided into two subtypes. Both terms refer to tram networks where tram vehicles use viaducts and/or run through tunnels under city centres, but with small differences:
There are many regions with forms of light rail, but only few where light rail uses tunnels and/or viaducts. In the United States, the most prominent examples are the San Francisco Muni Metro and Green Line in Boston. [24] [25] The Buffalo Metro Rail, Seattle's Link light rail [26] and the light rail lines in Cleveland [27] are also considered semi-metro.
Notable examples in Germany are the Hanover Stadtbahn, [28] Essen Stadtbahn, [29] Bonn and Cologne Stadtbahns, and the Frankfurt tramways. [25] In the United Kingdom, the Tyne and Wear Metro is by definition a semi-metro system due to eight level crossings. [30] Over several decades a semi-metro system was constructed in the Dutch city of The Hague. [31] [32]
More recent examples are the Madrid Metro Ligero, the Málaga Metro and Alicante Metropolitan-Tram in Spain and the Porto Metro in Portugal. [33]
By this time, there was considerable interest in reconfiguring the U.S. subway-surface streetcar systems to resemble northern European practice, and there was increasing recognition that modern tramways might be appropriate for urban regions that long since had given up streetcar operation.
light rail subway/surface line
descending into tunnels in the style of conventional underground mass transit
Semi-metro: Light rail on reserved right of way over congested parts of line typically in tunnel or viaduct for grade separation designed to Metro standards, with priority surface light rail in other sections
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link)
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{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
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pre-metro: a light rail transit system designed with provisions for easy conversion to rail rapid transit
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Köln, like other major German cities served by ICE services over high-speed lines, has a regional rail system (Schnellbahn) and a substantial tramway system, part operated as Stadtbahn (semi metro).
... San Francisco and Boston, both with semi-metros and independent plans for new tramcars.
Rather soon attention was given to Light Rapid Transit modes such as pre-metro and semi-metro (Hannover) employing heavy trams instead of light trains to run on open-air independent or semi-independent tracks, and just and just seldom using short bypass tunnels or fly-evers to skip congestion in central areas.
brake equipment to be fitted to 90 two-car articulated semi-metro trainsets, under construction by Duwag, for service in the municipal areas of Bonn, Cologne and Essen.
{{
cite journal}}
: Missing or empty |title=
(
help)
![]() | It has been suggested that this article be
merged into
Light rail. (
Discuss) Proposed since July 2024. |
Semi-metro (also known as subway-surface [1] [2] [3] [4] line or hybrid [5] streetcar/ light rail line) is a form of public rail transport in which trams run partly on a conflict-free track, by using tunnels and/or viaducts. [6] These stretches of track are designed to function like a regular metro or rapid transit line. [7] [8] Semi-metro lines run with tram cars because they are usually developed from an existing tram network. [9] [10]
One key difference with metro/rapid transit is that semi-metro lines only partially run in tunnels and/or on viaducts. [11] A metro line has an entirely conflict-free track, often completely grade separated. Semi-metro routes are operated by regular trams (with or without low floor) or with specially developed streetcars/tramcars (light rail vehicles), such as the Stadtbahn-car 'type B'. [12]
The term semi-metro falls under the umbrella term light rail, [13] which includes many kinds of modern tram transport. Semi-metro is in itself a container concept in which premetro and Stadtbahn fall. Although cheaper than a metro line, the construction of infrastructure for semi-metro routes was often still too expensive. Therefore sections were sometimes not constructed or realised in phases. The entanglement with the existing tram network is an advantage compared to constructing a separate light metro line. [14] [15] Often several tram branches at grade are needed in order to make fully use of the high capacity tunnels. [16]
The first city to carry a portion of a streetcar line through the city center in a tunnel was Marseille, France, in 1893, with its Noailles subterranean station (see Marseille tramway). It was initially operated by horse-drawn wagons. The next prominent example was the Tremont Street subway (1897) in Boston, [17] [18] today part of the MBTA Green Line. Brussels, Cologne and Frankfurt pioneered in Europe in the 1960s.
Semi-metro networks can be divided into two subtypes. Both terms refer to tram networks where tram vehicles use viaducts and/or run through tunnels under city centres, but with small differences:
There are many regions with forms of light rail, but only few where light rail uses tunnels and/or viaducts. In the United States, the most prominent examples are the San Francisco Muni Metro and Green Line in Boston. [24] [25] The Buffalo Metro Rail, Seattle's Link light rail [26] and the light rail lines in Cleveland [27] are also considered semi-metro.
Notable examples in Germany are the Hanover Stadtbahn, [28] Essen Stadtbahn, [29] Bonn and Cologne Stadtbahns, and the Frankfurt tramways. [25] In the United Kingdom, the Tyne and Wear Metro is by definition a semi-metro system due to eight level crossings. [30] Over several decades a semi-metro system was constructed in the Dutch city of The Hague. [31] [32]
More recent examples are the Madrid Metro Ligero, the Málaga Metro and Alicante Metropolitan-Tram in Spain and the Porto Metro in Portugal. [33]
By this time, there was considerable interest in reconfiguring the U.S. subway-surface streetcar systems to resemble northern European practice, and there was increasing recognition that modern tramways might be appropriate for urban regions that long since had given up streetcar operation.
light rail subway/surface line
descending into tunnels in the style of conventional underground mass transit
Semi-metro: Light rail on reserved right of way over congested parts of line typically in tunnel or viaduct for grade separation designed to Metro standards, with priority surface light rail in other sections
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
{{
cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(
help)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
pre-metro: a light rail transit system designed with provisions for easy conversion to rail rapid transit
{{
cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(
help)
Köln, like other major German cities served by ICE services over high-speed lines, has a regional rail system (Schnellbahn) and a substantial tramway system, part operated as Stadtbahn (semi metro).
... San Francisco and Boston, both with semi-metros and independent plans for new tramcars.
Rather soon attention was given to Light Rapid Transit modes such as pre-metro and semi-metro (Hannover) employing heavy trams instead of light trains to run on open-air independent or semi-independent tracks, and just and just seldom using short bypass tunnels or fly-evers to skip congestion in central areas.
brake equipment to be fitted to 90 two-car articulated semi-metro trainsets, under construction by Duwag, for service in the municipal areas of Bonn, Cologne and Essen.
{{
cite journal}}
: Missing or empty |title=
(
help)