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Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology [1] while also having some features from heavy rapid transit. The term was coined in 1972 in the United States as an English equivalent for the German word Stadtbahn, meaning "city railway".
Modern light rail technology has primarily German origins, since an attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle was a technical failure. After World War II, the Germans retained their streetcar (Straßenbahn) networks and evolved them into model light rail systems . [5]
A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow lower costs of operation, at the price of lower vehicle capacity.
Modern light rail technology has primarily German origins, since an attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle was a technical failure. The renaissance of light rail in North American began in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton , Alberta adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by ...
Light rail vehicles are almost always electrically driven, with power usually being drawn from an overhead line rather than an electrified third rail, [1] though a few exceptional systems use diesel multiple units (DMUs) instead as a cheaper alternative to an electrically driven light rail system.
The SLRV is a double-ended high-floor articulated light rail vehicle 71 ft (22 m) long overall (over the anticlimbers), in the same range as many heavy rail vehicles both at the time and now, but noticeably shorter than many other modern LRVs such as the at-minimum-81-foot (25 m) Siemens S70 and S700 commonly found today, which rides on three ...
The light rail system has been criticized for being one of the least used in the United States (an average of 370 boardings per mile on weekdays, Q3 2024) and the most heavily subsidized ($9.30 per passenger trip). VTA leaders have admitted that building light rail was a poor match with adjoining land uses.
A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but also be permitted operation alongside mainline trains.