MISC | Confusements between transport modes

33195 Views 119 Replies 40 Participants Last post by city_thing, Mar 23, 2007

Falubaz

Discussion Starter · Dec 12, 2004 (Edited by Moderator)

BUS is a TRAM is a METRO is a BUS

S-Bahn Berlin GERMANY

commuter rail???

or metro???

Muenchen, suburban rail? GERMANY

Karlsruhe, tram, or light railway? GERMANY

at the railway station with other long distances trains

Paris – rarher light railway and not a city-center-tram

Poznan – szybki tramwaj – snelltram POLAND

Orlean –just a tram FRANCE

Bordeaux – tram without pantograf FRNACE

and the same with panthograf

NANCY – tram ?? or something between tram and trolleybus??? Rubber-tired-tram FRANCE

ITALIA - trolleybus

Nancy –trolleybus FRANCE

luzern – SCHWEIZ trolleybus with a .. trailer

singapur

han-sur-lesse bus or road train what is this??? FRANCE

Essen – bus like a metro on ‘beton’-tracks GERMANY

Adelaide – the same system but a bit higher (semi elevated) AUSTRALIA

taipei – metro or bus ??? without rails

so it is all the same? It is amazing, how different the urban transportation can be and how difficult it is to distinguishe them sometimes

HAVE U OTHER EXAMPLES FOR THAT???

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Good job!
It's amazing to see how many different systems there are...
and you show only a part of them!
Personally I think urban transport can be divided in three big cathegories: long or middle-long distance service, middle distance and short distance service.
Having made this distinction it is not so important what is the mean of transport. (In an average they are train for the first category, metro for the second, and tram or bus for the third)

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[email protected]

· #3 · Dec 13, 2004 (Edited)

Others examples :

The "POMA2000" in Laon (France).
Light Rail or funicular :

The "SK" in Roissy Airport (France).
Very Light Rail or funicular :

It has be destroyed and will be replaced by a VAL.

The "Metrobus" in Rouen (France).
It's an underground tramway :

The "Megabus" in Bordeaux (France) :

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Adderbak

· #4 · Dec 13, 2004

Looks good! Nice to see all these different kinds of systems and how they all have their own place in the urban networks.

To really make a useful classification I think not only the looks of the vehicles or the length of the network is important, but also the number of users and the peak time frequency. If a metro only runs every 15 minutes, it is hardly comparable with a giant bus that runs every 2-3 minutes.

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ZielonaGora

· #5 · Dec 13, 2004

and there is also 'metrotranvia' in Milan, just like 'betrobus' in Hamburg or other german cities

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Frog

· #6 · Dec 13, 2004

im just curious...how does that tram without a pantrograph work? where does it pick up its electricity supply?

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Falubaz

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 13, 2004

look down, ther is a third rail in the ground, just like the cable cars in san fransisco, in the old town, where it is very important to 'do not disturbe' the landscape/the view of the historic buildings - they put the electricity in the ground and outside of the city centre, there are usual electricity lines obove - hanging in the air, just like the trams always do - they take 'corrente' via pantopraph

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Reivajar

· #8 · Dec 13, 2004

However I think the third rail of SF's trams is an underground cable whithout electricity which moves the tram directly (as a funicular) in order to go up the high slopes of SF, at least, I have read it.

Personally I think these "types" of urban transports are different adjustments of trains, buses and trams to different situations and necessities. You take some characteristics of each one to design your own system of transport.

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DiggerD21

· #9 · Dec 13, 2004

ZielonaGora said:
and there is also 'metrotranvia' in Milan, just like 'betrobus' in Hamburg or other german cities

The Metrobus in Hamburg (and since yesterday also in Berlin) is just a Network of Buslines which connect Metrostations of different Metro-lines. The used buses are not different from the normal city buses and can also be used as city buses.

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Falubaz

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 13, 2004

and don't we forget the paris metro with both the iron and rubber-tyred rails

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ZielonaGora

· #11 · Dec 13, 2004

it's simmilar to the most french or francofones metro systems
also in Montreal

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MSPtoMKE

· #12 · Dec 13, 2004

Reivajar said:
However I think the third rail of SF's trams is an underground cable whithout electricity which moves the tram directly (as a funicular) in order to go up the high slopes of SF, at least, I have read it.

Personally I think these "types" of urban transports are different adjustments of trains, buses and trams to different situations and necessities. You take some characteristics of each one to design your own system of transport.

Yes, the cable runs under the street. The cable cycles through continuously, and the cable car has a grip that is released from the cable when it stops. Or so i understand it. i know that the old Streetcar system in Washington DC had a third rail in the street to pic up current like the tram in Bordeaux.

What i don't understand is why you would spend money for a system like this:

Can it really be that much cheaper than rail? Reserved busways are one thing, but that track for the bus looks like it must be as expensive as a railway

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Vertigo

· #13 · Dec 13, 2004

@Falubaz: interesting thread!

kay: You're very right that is it often very hard to distinguish between several kinds of public transport; definitions differ from country to country, and there are many systems that are "in between" to kinds of public transport.

im just curious...how does that tram without a pantrograph work? where does it pick up its electricity supply?

It works with a "3rd rail" (electrified rail), just like metro systems. Because the tram runs on the street, extra safety measures have been taken: the 3rd rail is in a very narrow slot underground, and only the part where the tram runs is electrified.

However, I read there are many technical difficulties with the system.

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odegaard

· #14 · Dec 14, 2004

MSPtoMKE said:
What i don't understand is why you would spend money for a system like this:

Can it really be that much cheaper than rail? Reserved busways are one thing, but that track for the bus looks like it must be as expensive as a railway

Never seen that before in my life. I'd assume the tracks designed for buses would be cheaper then railroad tracks because buses exert less stress on the rails......even if you had a bus and a streetcar that weighted the same.

why is this so?

It's simple steel wheels don't bend that much so there's an extremely high amount of force that gets concentrated in a small area....the contact patch area where the wheel and rail meet.

stress = force / area

Since rubber tires bend a lot more as opposed to steel the weight gets distributed to a larger area.....therefore reducing the stress. The downside of this is that rubber tires are less "energy efficient" then steel wheels....b/c of the added rolling friction due to the tire bending so much.

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Küsel

· #15 · Dec 14, 2004

ZURICH:

Tram

S-Bahn (some parts are underground)

Cablecar

Bus

Riverboat (Limmatschiff)

Lakeboat

And for all these - there is ONE TICKET! Slogan: "Ich bin auch ein Tram (Schiff, Bus etc...)"

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Vertigo

· #16 · Dec 14, 2004

Another "in-between" can be found in the Netherlands. In both Amsterdam and Rotterdam there is a metro system that has an extention as "light rail", mixed with road traffic.

Metro...

...or light rail?

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Vertigo

· #17 · Dec 14, 2004

In Belgian cities exactly the opposite can be found: there, trams run partly in metro-style tunnels through the city center.

Antwerp: tram...

...or metro?

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DiggerD21

· #18 · Dec 14, 2004

The Zürich S-Bahn looks more like a german regional commuter train.

Also in the Hamburg region there is an interesting system which is somehow a mix of metro, light rail, heavy rail and regional train - the AKN. It looks like a heavy rail, has a network like a regional train, in some parts crosses streets at street level, in other parts it is elevated or in an embankment and also uses some of the Hamburg-S-Bahn railtracks.