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From: friedman@uiucdcs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.railroad
Subject: Re: Subways of US and Canada - (nf)
Message-ID: <20600017@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 13-Jul-84 15:08:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.20600017
Posted: Fri Jul 13 15:08:00 1984
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Nf-From: uiucdcs!friedman    Jul 13 14:08:00 1984

#R:uiucdcs:20600011:uiucdcs:20600017:000:2092
uiucdcs!friedman    Jul 13 14:08:00 1984

> Was it an error in the reproduction, or is the accuracy
> of the listings in question?  The BART system in the
> San Francisco area is a light rail system, not heavy
> rail as the transcribed listing indicated.

> Ed Gould
> ucbvax!mtxinu!ed

Well, I wrote "heavy rail" deliberately, so it's not a transcription error.

I don't have my issue of Mass Transit here to check it right now; I'm not
certain whether that was taken from MT, or from my head.  MT states that the
information they published was provided by the transit agencies, so if it is
in fact from MT, it should be accurate.

Also, I'm not on the spot in San Francisco (I'm in Illinois), but by my
definitions of light and heavy rail systems, it is my understanding that BART
qualifies as heavy rail.  A heavy rail system is typically characterized by
heavier construction and cars; higher speeds; usually high-level platforms at
discrete stations (as opposed to a streetcar-like system that stops at every
corner); and operation on private right-of-way, in subway, or on elevated
roadbeds (but not in streets or the dividing strips of wide streets).  If I'm
not mistaken, all of the above apply to BART.

Light rail systems, in contrast, are typically characterized by lighter
construction and cars; the speeds are often somewhat slower, at least over
portions of the routes in public streets; platforms are often (not always) at
ground level; street operation and street center-strip operation often stop at
every corner; part at least of most modern light rail systems is on private
right-of-way or in subway (I can't recall an elevated one), but not usually the
whole line.

I don't think the distinctions are all that precise; one can cite examples
that cover the spectrum from a pure streetcar line like New Orleans, through
lines like San Francisco's Muni and Boston's Green Line, to Toronto's new
Scarborough Rapid Transit (usually called light rail, but having a lot of
heavy rail characteristics), on up to New York's subway system.  It's more
or less a continuum, of which New Orleans and New York are the extremes.