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Street running train

A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as running in mixed traffic. Tram and light rail systems frequently run on streets, with light rail lines typically separated from other traffic.

For safety, street running trains travel more slowly than trains on dedicated rights-of-way. Needing to share the right-of-way with motor vehicles can cause delays and pose a safety risk.

Stations on such routes are rare and may appear similar in style to a tram stop, but often lack platforms, pedestrian islands, or other amenities. In some cases, passengers may be required to wait on a distant sidewalk, and then board or disembark by crossing the traffic.

Examples

The following list is non-inclusive of tram and light rail systems and is otherwise non-exhaustive.

Argentina

  • Buenos Aires: in the past street-running trains ran through the city streets.
  • Trains run by Villa 21-24

Australia

Operational instances:

Historical instances:

Canada

Notable examples in Canada include:

  • Port Hope, Ontario: from Walton Street, along Ontario street to the Ganaraska River, where it split off and followed the river north out of the city limits, eventually reaching Midland, Ontario with a branch line to Peterborough, Ontario. Lots of railway facilities still exist, the old station, now Furby's books and lent travel are opposite the corner of Walton street and Ontario, with the old station masters office just south of that along lent lane, which is the old track bed, and the Ganaraska Hotel, which is the old Railway Hostel.
  • Oshawa, Ontario: from Michael Starr trail (near court street) along Bruce street, east to Ritson road, then north on Ritson road to the GM North Plant. (removed)
  • Brantford, Ontario: Clarence Street (From Nelson Street to Icomm Drive, formerly Canadian National Railway; now Southern Ontario Railway, still in use) (not on the road although tracks do occupy the right turn lane at Colborne Street)
  • Guelph, Ontario (also not real street running):
  • Kent Street (from Glasgow Street to Gordon Street), CNR, still in use
  • St. Catharines, Ontario:
  • Ontario Street (removed) (to the disappeared car factory) (continues to Louisa St.) (diagonal between the houses) (former track partly still visible from the air)
  • Louisa Street (From just east of Thomas Street to Catherine Street, Canadian National Railway, originally Niagara St. Catharines Toronto Railway. Electric interurban (branch from Port Dalhousie-west) (until 1959) removed, continues to Welland Avenue below)
  • Welland Avenue (From Francis Street to Balfour Street, removed) (continues to Niagara St.)
  • Raymond Street (depot only)
  • Niagara Street (continues to Facer St.)
  • Facer Street (branch to Niagara~on~the~Lake)
  • Electric interurban network to Port Dalhousie-west, Port Dalhousie-east, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Colborne, and Niagara Falls. All tracks on the streets are removed in all places, except(?) Pine Street in Thorold. Freight trains with diesel engines on the streets only from 1959 to the closing in about 2005.
  • St. Catharines was the center of the Niagara St. Catharines Toronto Railway.
  • Waterloo, Ontario:
  • Caroline Street (from Erb Street West to Allen Street West, (CP Rail) tracks removed in 1994. Later reinstalled for ION light rail, in service again as of 2019)(the lightrail follows a different route) The former railway is now a trail - path. (To the south)

Croatia

  • Rijeka, freight trains (and occasional passenger trains) run from western to eastern cargo terminal of Port of Rijeka through the city centre.

Czechia

  • Brno: the railway line that connects Brno Exhibition Centre and mainline runs about . along Poříčí street. Touristic (steam) trains run on the Highway, with police escorts. Line was abandoned in 2022.

Germany

For tramways the legal separation of a street running trackbed and an exclusive trackbed in urban traffic is given in § 16 BOStrab tramway regulations. Germany has some street-running railways:

  • A freight branch of the Main-Neckar Railway features some street running sections in Darmstadt. The line is no longer in regular use, but a short dual gauge section (Kirschen Allee)(Evonik) was until 2015 connected to the metre gauge Darmstadt tram network allowed old trams to be loaded onto mainline vehicles for export.
  • The access track that connects the mainline to Bombardier factory in Bautzen passes through a short section of street running at Fabrikstrasse.

Hong Kong

The KCR British Section had two street running stretches: a spur line to Whampoa Dockyard through , another across Salisbury Road and Canton Road to the Kowloon Godowns.

Indonesia

Historically, Indonesia used to have many street running lines. Those were mostly found on the rural tramlines in Java. The former network of smaller railway companies, such as Samarang–Joana Stoomtram Maatschappij, Oost-Java Stoomtram Maatschappij, Serajoedal Stoomtram Maatschappij, or rural branchline of the major company like Staatsspoorwegen were often built next to the main road to save cost and later became street running when the road widened.

By the late 1970s, the majority of them were closed. The last of the classic street running line that saw operation was the which closed around 1984.

Only three of them survive in the present day:

  • Madiun, East Java. The Pertamina branch line which passes the Jalan Yos Sudarso in front of INKA factory. The line branched off to the west of Madiun railway station, where the train need to reverse to its destination 500 meters down the road.
  • Malang, East Java. The Pertamina branch line which diverges from Malang Kotalama station. The short street running section runs to the east of Jalan Halmahera, between the junction with Jalan Tanimbar and Jalan Bingkil.
  • Surakarta, Central Java: The Solo Purwosari to Wonogiri line runs along Jalan Slamet Riyadi through the center of Surakarta. The Batara Kresna Railbus service between Solo Purwosari and Wonogiri, operates along the line, with two trips in each direction. A special charter-only tourist steam train called the Sepur Kluthuk Jaladara also runs along this stretch of the line between Solo Purwosari and Solo Kota stations.

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Laos

New Zealand

Poland

  • Kołobrzeg : The Port of Kołobrzeg has railway access through approximately 750 meters of street-running tracks. The route sees semi-regular freight traffic, along with a yearly passenger excursion.
  • Luboń : An industrial track connects to the Wrocław-Poznań mainline to the Fertilizer factory owned by Luvena S.A. in Luboń, it runs 180 meters through the Romana Maya street along with the 66 meter road bridge on the old riverbeds of the Warta River. The industrial track was built in 1907 along with the bridge, factory and also with the river port while the town was under German rule. The bridge parts from the 86 meter bridge were built by the royal steelworks in Chorzów, although during the construction they didn't use the welding techniques so the individual parts were connected with rivets. The bridge in the later years was refurbished and repaired throughout the time causing it to deteriorate in which Luvena decided to replace it with the newer wider bridge made by Gotowski BKiP Sp. z o.o. from Bydgoszcz that got replaced in 2014. The route only operates freight traffic in which PKP Cargo, Grupa Azoty and other private railway companies use it to bring empty trains and take loaded trains from the factory, although in late december 2014 there was a special train "POWSTANIEC" that operated on this route.

Switzerland

Swiss law does not distinguish between trams and railways, making the distinction between street running by trams and that by railways legally indistinct. In many places, passenger trains run on the streets because there is no room for their own track.

United Kingdom

Street running railways have been much rarer in the United Kingdom than elsewhere. This is due to 19th-century laws requiring railways to be enclosed by fences, which had the consequence that railways could not be built along existing roads and had to use their own rights of way. In cases where street running was unavoidable, the roads were often legally treated as level crossings with trains and road vehicles not permitted to use them at the same time. Some examples are:

United States

A selection of the many examples:

Alabama

  • Gadsden
  • Locust Street, between N1 Street and N6 Street.

Alaska

  • Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel: A one-lane tunnel that must be shared by cars and trains.
  • Skagway: Unofficial government allows railroad tracks up Broadway in 1898. They were shifted in 1947.

California

  • Anaheim
  • Santa Ana Street — Union Pacific Santa Ana Branch
  • Oakland
  • Embarcadero West, Union Pacific Niles Subdivision between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Webster Street; the only double street running train track in the USA; the only Amtrak street running trackage in the USA; freight trains also run here; third track is no longer in use.

Colorado

  • Fort Collins
  • Mason Street. This railway opened in 1877, but 100 years later the city wanted the line around the city. It almost worked. But the train now has a free lane in the street. One train can be 5 km. long, waiting times for other traffic can be up to 30 minutes, and each train must use the horn more than 40 times within three minutes

Florida

Illinois

Indiana

  • Terre Haute - 1st Street CSX (ex New York Central)
  • Elwood
  • 4 blocks of C Street Norfolk Southern
  • Warsaw
  • 2 blocks of Hickory Street Norfolk Southern

Iowa

Kansas

  • Salina
  • 4th Street - Union Pacific operates an industrial branch line which runs within the 4th Street right-of-way

Kentucky

  • La Grange
  • Main Street - Oldham County Courthouse Square - CSX mainline

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Missouri

  • St. Louis - 2nd Street Manufacturers Railway

New Jersey

  • Garfield
  • Monroe Street. Abandoned in 2020.

New York

North Carolina

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Tennessee

  • Paris
  • N Fentress St.-S Caldwell-McNeil St.

Texas

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Vietnam

While the Vietnamese railway network has many level crossings, street running trains in Vietnam are rare.

One example is the branch line between DÄ© An station and DÄ© An train workshop, which has a few street running sections in small neighborhoods. The rails in these sections are embedded in roads that are normally used by local pedestrians and mopeds.

See also

Notes

References

External links