Commuter rail in North America

New Jersey Transit has an extensive commuter rail system connecting New Jersey to New York City and Philadelphia.
A Metra train in Chicago.
A GO Transit train on the Lakeshore West line in Toronto.

Commuter rail services in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis, primarily for short-distance (local) travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and regional travel between cities of a conurbation. It does not include rapid transit or light rail service.

Services

Many, but not all, newer commuter railways offer service during peak times only. For example, the West Coast Express commuter rail line runs trains only into Downtown Vancouver during the morning rush hour, and out to the suburbs during the evening rush hour. This mode of operation is, in many cases, simplified by ending the train with a special passenger carriage (referred to as a cab car), which has an operating cab and can control the locomotive remotely, to avoid having to turn the train around at each end of its route. Other systems avoid the problem entirely by using bi-directional multiple units.

GO Transit in Toronto operates mainly during rush hours on most lines, but offers all-day service seven days a week along its busiest corridor, the Lakeshore East line and Lakeshore West line. All of GO's train routes radiate from Toronto Union Station downtown. Future plans for all-day, bidirectional service on all lines are in the works under Metrolinx's "The Big Move" plan.

The Utah Transit Authority operates the FrontRunner (which connects the Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Provo metropolitan areas, or Wasatch Front), running on thirty-minute headways during weekday rush hours and sixty-minute headways at all other times on weekdays and Saturdays (there is no Sunday service). Service runs until after midnight on weeknights, and until just after 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. The FrontRunner is bidirectional during the entirety of its operating hours.[1]

Most older, established commuter rail services operate seven days a week, with service from early morning to just after midnight. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is the only 24/7 commuter railroad in North America. The Metro-North Railroad, also serving the New York City Metropolitan Area, runs at all times except the very early morning hours (usually between 3 and 5 am). The planned East Line and Gold Line, both part of Denver's FasTracks program, will run from 3 am to 1 am and 4 am to 12:30 am, respectively, with reduced service late at night and early in the morning. On these systems, patrons use the trains not just to get to and from work or school, but also for attending sporting events, concerts, theatre, and the like. Some also provide service to popular weekend getaway spots and recreation areas.

Most commuter rail services in North America are operated by government entities or quasi-governmental organizations. Almost all share tracks or rights-of-way used by longer-distance passenger services (e.g. Amtrak, Via Rail), freight trains, or other commuter services. The 600-mile-long (960 km long) electrified Northeast Corridor in the United States is shared by commuter trains and Amtrak's Acela Express, regional, and intercity trains.

Commuter rail operators often sell reduced-price multiple-trip tickets (such as a monthly or weekly pass), charge specific station-to-station fares, and have one or two railroad stations in the central business district. Commuter trains typically connect to metro or bus services at their destination and along their route.

Spread

South Station in Boston, Massachusetts is a major transportation hub for the MBTA's commuter rail services.

The two busiest passenger rail stations in the United States are Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal, which are both located in New York City, and which serve three of the four busiest commuter railroads in the United States (the LIRR and New Jersey Transit at Penn Station, and the Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal). The commuter railroads serving the Chicago area are Metra and the South Shore Line. Another notable commuter railroad system is Boston's MBTA Commuter Rail, the fifth or sixth busiest in the U.S. (after the New York, New Jersey, and Chicago area systems, and approximately on par with Philadelphia's SEPTA Regional Rail) with a daily weekday ridership of 130,600 as of Q4 2011. It serves the Greater Boston metropolitan area, and extends as far south as Wickford (North Kingstown), Rhode Island. The next-largest commuter railroads are SEPTA Regional Rail, serving the Philadelphia area; Caltrain, serving San Francisco to points south along the peninsula; and Metrolink, serving the 5-county Los Angeles area.

There are only three commuter rail agencies in Canada: GO Transit in Toronto, Agence métropolitaine de transport in Montreal, and West Coast Express in Vancouver. The two busiest rail stations in Canada are Union Station in Toronto and Central Station in Montreal.

Commuter rail networks outside of densely populated urban areas like the Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Montreal, and Toronto metropolitan areas have historically been sparse. Since the 1990s, however, several commuter rail projects have been proposed and built throughout the United States, especially in the Sun Belt and other regions characterized by urban sprawl that have traditionally been underserved by public transportation. Since the late 1990s, commuter rail networks have been inaugurated in Dallas, San Diego, Minneapolis, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Orlando, and Albuquerque, among other cities. Several more commuter rail projects have been proposed and are in the planning stages.

Rolling stock

Long Island Rail Road bilevel coaches in Bethpage, New York.

Commuter trains are either powered by diesel-electric or electric locomotives, or else use self-propelled cars (some systems use both). A few systems, particularly around New York City, use electric power, supplied by a third rail and/or overhead catenary wire, which provides quicker acceleration, lower noise, and fewer air-quality issues. Philadelphia's SEPTA Regional Rail uses exclusively electric power supplied by overhead catenary wire.

Diesel-electric locomotives based on the EMD F40PH design as well as the MP36PH-3C are popular as motive power for commuter trains. Manufacturers of coaches include Bombardier, Kawasaki, Nippon Sharyo, and Hyundai-Rotem. A few systems use diesel multiple unit vehicles, including WES Commuter Rail near Portland, Austin's Capital MetroRail, and South Florida's Tri-rail. These systems use vehicles supplied by Stadler Rail or US Railcar (formerly Colorado Railcar).

List of North American commuter rail operators

System Country Metropolitan area Province / State Number of lines Avg. Weekday
ridership
(Q4 2014)[2]
A-train  USA Denton County Texas 1 1,900
Agence métropolitaine de transport  CAN Montreal Quebec 6 75,600
Altamont Corridor Express (ACE)  USA San Jose–Stockton California 1 4,600
Caltrain  USA San Francisco–San Jose California 1 (1 proposed) 56,700
Capital MetroRail  USA Austin Texas 1 (1 proposed) 2,800
Capitol Corridor  USA Sacramento–San Francisco Bay Area California 1 4,500
Coaster  USA San Diego–Oceanside California 1 4,900
El Suburbano  MEX Mexico City Distrito Federal 1 (2 under construction) 88,000[3]
GO Transit  CAN Toronto Ontario 7 200,900 (2015)[4]
Havana Suburban Railway  CUB Havana La Habana / Artemisa / Mayabeque / Matanzas 8
Long Island Rail Road  USA New York City–Long Island New York 11 (15 former) 337,800
MARC Train  USA Baltimore–Washington, D.C. Maryland / West Virginia
/ District of Columbia		 4 35,200
MBTA Commuter Rail  USA Boston Massachusetts / Rhode Island 14 (1 under construction, 5 former) 130,600
Metra  USA Chicago Illinois / Wisconsin 13 (2 planned) 290,500
Metrolink  USA Los Angeles–Southern California California 7 (3 planned) 41,200
Metro-North Railroad  USA New York City; New Haven;
Poughkeepsie		 New York / Connecticut 8 298,900
Music City Star  USA Nashville Tennessee 1 (6 planned) 1,000
NJ Transit Rail Operations  USA North Jersey; New York City
Philadelphia; Atlantic City		 New Jersey / New York
/ Pennsylvania		 12 (1 under construction, 1 former/planned, 3 proposed) 308,523 (FY2015)[5][note 1]
New Mexico Rail Runner Express  USA Albuquerque–Santa Fe New Mexico 1 3,400
Northstar Line  USA Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minnesota 1 (7 proposed) 2,500
Panama Canal Railway  PAN Panama City–Colón Panamá / Colón 1
Regional Transportation District  USA Denver Colorado 2 (2 under construction)
South Shore Line  USA Chicago–South Bend Illinois / Indiana 1 (1 proposed) 11,800
SEPTA Regional Rail  USA Philadelphia Pennsylvania / New Jersey
/ Delaware		 13 (1 former) 134,600
Shore Line East  USA New Haven–New London Connecticut 1 2,200
Sounder  USA Seattle–Tacoma Washington 2 13,700
SunRail  USA Orlando Florida 1 (1 proposed) 3,200
Tren Urbano de Costa Rica  CRI San José–Central Valley San José / Heredia / Cartago 4
Trinity Railway Express  USA Dallas–Fort Worth Texas 1 8,200
Tri-Rail  USA Miami–South Florida Florida 1 (2 planned) 14,400
Utah Transit Authority (the FrontRunner)[6]  USA Ogden–Salt Lake City–Provo Utah 1 16,800
Virginia Railway Express  USA Washington, D.C. Virginia / District of Columbia 2 (1 planned) 17,900
West Coast Express  CAN Vancouver British Columbia 1 10,600
WES Commuter Rail  USA Portland Oregon 1 1,800

List of under construction and actively planned systems

There are several commuter rail systems currently under construction or in active development in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Metropolitan Area Country Province/State System Official
site		 Other
sites
Halifax  CAN Nova Scotia Halifax Transit [7]
Ottawa  CAN Ontario / Québec Moose/Transport Pontiac-Renfrew* [8] [9]
Aguascalientes  MEX Aguascalientes Tren Suburbano (no official name yet) [10][11]
Guadalajara  MEX Jalisco Tren Suburbano [12][13]
Anchorage  USA Alaska Alaska Railroad (existing long-distance railroad, proposed commuter service) [14] [15]
Ann Arbor  USA Michigan WALLY [16] [17]
Atlanta / Athens / Macon  USA Georgia Georgia Rail Passenger Program,
Georgia Brain Train
Boston / New Bedford / Fall River  USA Massachusetts South Coast Rail [18]
Charlotte  USA North Carolina LYNX Red Line [19] [20]
Cleveland  USA Ohio Cleveland commuter rail [21] [22][23]
Cincinnati  USA Ohio Eastern Corridor Commuter Rail [24]
Cloverdale–Larkspur
(San Francisco Bay Area)		  USA California SMART [25]
Dallas / Fort Worth  USA Texas Tarrant Express (TEX)
/ DART Cotton Belt Rail Line		 [26][27]
Denver / Boulder  USA Colorado RTD commuter rail [28]
Detroit  USA Michigan SEMCOG Commuter Rail [29][30][31]
Greensboro  USA North Carolina TRIAD Commuter Rail [32]
Harrisburg / Lancaster  USA Pennsylvania Capital Red Rose Corridor (Capital Area Transit) [33]
Houston  USA Texas Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas [34][35]
Indianapolis  USA Indiana IndyConnect Green Line [36] [37]
Jacksonville  USA Florida First Coast Commuter Rail
Madison  USA Wisconsin Dane County Commuter Rail,
Transport 2020 Commuter Rail		 [38][39]
Minneapolis  USA Minnesota Red Rock Corridor / Dan Patch Corridor [40]
New Haven / Hartford / Springfield  USA Connecticut / Massachusetts Hartford Line [41]
Pittsburgh  USA Pennsylvania Eastern Corridor Transit Study
(no official name as of 2010)		 [42] [43]
Raleigh / Durham / Cary
(Research Triangle)		  USA North Carolina Durham-Wake Corridor [44]
San Antonio / Austin  USA Texas LSTAR [45]
Scranton, Pennsylvania
/ New Jersey / New York City		  USA Pennsylvania / New Jersey
/ New York		 Lackawanna Cutoff [46]
St. Louis  USA Missouri / Illinois St. Louis Commuter Rail [47]

Former

The following systems have ceased operations since the 1970s.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This figure is from NJ Transit's Fiscal Year 2015, which covers the calendar period July 2014 to June 2015.

References

  1. ↑ "UTA FrontRunner" (PDF). Utah Transit Authority. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 8 Jan 2014.
  2. ↑ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter and End-of-Year 2014" (pdf). American Public Transportation Association (APTA). March 3, 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-10 – via http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/ridershipreport.aspx.
  3. ↑ McKegney, Tony (Summer 2012). "¡Subir Tren Suburbano! Commuter Rail Emerges in Mexico's Largest City" (PDF). Rail Magazine: 39–43.
  4. ↑ "Info to GO - Quick Facts" (PDF). GO Transit. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  5. ↑ "NJ Transit Facts at a Glance Fiscal Year 2015" (PDF) (PDF). NJ Transit. March 2016. p. 1. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  6. ↑ "Five Years of FrontRunner". rideuta.com. Utah Transit Authority. April 25, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  7. ↑ https://www.halifax.ca/transit/commuterrail.php
  8. ↑ Welcome / Bienvenue
  9. ↑ Transport Pontiac-Renfrew
  10. ↑ http://www.cddhcu.gob.mx/comisiones59legislatura/transportes/foro/Dr_Martinez.pdf
  11. ↑ http://dgp.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/user_upload/Documentos/Programas/Programa_Sectorial_2001-2006/CAP-08.pdf
  12. ↑ http://www.notisistema.com/noticias/?p=130621
  13. ↑ http://www.milenio.com/node/113320
  14. ↑ Alaska Railroad Corporation > Home
  15. ↑ http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/081103/loc_20030811027.shtml
  16. ↑ WALLY - The Washtenaw and Livingston Line
  17. ↑ The Ride - Ann Arbor Transportation Authority
  18. ↑ "South Coast Rail". Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "Red Line Project". Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS). Retrieved 2014-09-06.
  20. ↑ "Home". RedLine Regional Rail. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
  21. ↑ Appendix D
  22. ↑ Ohio News - OH News | The Morning Journal
  23. ↑ Rachel Carson (2007-01-13). "Lorain to Cleveland commuter rail | GreenCityBlueLake". Gcbl.org. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  24. ↑ Oasis Rail Transit Introduction
  25. ↑ Smart Train North Bay Sonoma Marin | SMART – Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit | Passenger train and multi-use pathway project
  26. ↑ TEX Rail | Home
  27. ↑ "Cotton Belt Public Private Partnership Request for Information". DART.org. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  28. ↑ FASTRACKS - Redirect
  29. ↑ Ann Arbor Detroit Rapid Transit Study
  30. ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20070816070736/http://www.annarbordetroitrapidtransitstudy.com/news/pdfs/CRT01%20Board%20091505.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 16, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20070928025601/http://www.annarbordetroitrapidtransitstudy.com/news/pdfs/CRT02%20Board%20091505.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ↑ http://www.partnc.org/5-rail.htm
  33. ↑ Welcome to our Site
  34. ↑ METRO - Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston, Texas
  35. ↑ "All about Metro and public transport vehicles in the United States". Metrosolutions.org. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  36. ↑ http://www.indyconnect.org/pages/NE-Corridor/
  37. ↑ "Marion County". Indianapolis Star.
  38. ↑ Dane County Commuter Rail
  39. ↑ Transport 2020 Project Site
  40. ↑ Red Rock Corridor
  41. ↑ DSF AppStart Error
  42. ↑ Eastern Corridor Transit Study: Transitional Analysis To Locally Preferred Alternatives
  43. ↑ http://myarti.org/
  44. ↑ Durham-Wake Corridor
  45. ↑ Lone Star Rail District | Home
  46. ↑ Penn Jersey Rail Coalition Home Page
  47. ↑ St. Louis Rapid Transit Connector Study
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