From: stephen@sprunk.org

On 14-Aug-14 12:22, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> But Stephen cannot find any federal standard for "light rail" or
> "heavy rail" that doesn't exist.

I can't?  There's this from the Federal Transit Administration:

"Commuter Rail (CR)
A transit mode that is an electric or diesel propelled railway for urban
passenger train service consisting of local short distance travel
operating between a central city and adjacent suburbs. Service must be
operated on a regular basis by or under contract with a transit operator
for the purpose of transporting passengers within urbanized areas
(UZAs), or between urbanized areas and outlying areas.

Such rail service, using either locomotive hauled or self-propelled
railroad passenger cars, is generally characterized by:
•   Multi-trip tickets
•   Specific station to station fares
•   Railroad employment practices, and
•   Usually only one or two stations in the central business district.
It does not include:
•   Heavy rail (HR) rapid transit, or
•   Light rail (LR) / streetcar transit service.
...
Heavy Rail (HR)
A transit mode that is an electric railway with the capacity for a heavy
volume of traffic. It is characterized by:
•   High speed and rapid acceleration passenger rail cars operating
singly or in multi-car trains on fixed rails
•   Separate rights-of-way (ROW) from which all other vehicular and foot
traffic are excluded
•   Sophisticated signaling, and
•   High platform loading.
...
Light Rail (LR)
A transit mode that typically is an electric railway with a light volume
traffic capacity compared to heavy rail (HR). It is characterized by:
•   Passenger rail cars operating singly (or in short, usually two car,
trains) on fixed rails in shared or exclusive right-of-way (ROW);
•   Low or high platform loading; and
•   Vehicle power drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley or
a pantograph."

Commuter rail and light rail have similar definitions in various parts
of the Code of Federal Regulations, but not as elaborate.  "Rapid rail"
seems to be the FRA/ADA term for FTA's "heavy rail".

S

--
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

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