Commuter railroad in the United States of America and Canada describes an organization providing common carrier passenger transportation along railroad tracks offering scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis primarily for passengers traveling within a local area or region between their homes and places of employment, shopping, or schools.
Some commuter railroads, such as the Long Island Rail Road in earlier times, maintained a separate fleet of specially configured electric railway cars to provide a rapid transit service on designated routes that was distinct from its regular longer distance passenger operations.
Most commuter railroads in the United States are agencies of government entities or quasi-governmental organizations. Some share the rights-of-way used with Amtrak, freight railroads and other commuter railroads.
Commuter railroads are powered by either diesel-electric locomotives, electric locomotives, or self-contained motor units. Electric power in some instances is transmitted via third rail or overhead wire and catenary. Electric power is often favored due to quicker acceleration, lower noise, and less air-quality issues.
In the United States, the Northeast Corridor is a 600 mile-long electrified track shared by commuter railroads and Amtrak's Acela Express, Regional, and intercity trains.
List of U.S. and Canadian commuter railroads
There are 21 commuter railroads in the United States and Canada. Some of these are:
- Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) [1] operates all the commuter rail lines in the Montreal area
- Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) [2] in san Jose
- Caltrain [3] in San Francisco
- Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) [4] in Washington state
- Greater Toronto Transit Authority (GO Transit) [5] in the Toronto area
- Long Island Rail Road (LIRR, now part of New York City Transit Authority (MTA) [6]) (Oldest railroad still operating in the US)
- Maryland Area Rail Commuter (MARC) in Maryland, operated by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) [7]
- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) [8] Boston
- Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra) [9] Chicagoland
- Metro-North [10] in New York, Connecticut
- New Jersey Transit (NJTR) [11] in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania
- Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (Chicago South Shore Line) [12] northern Indiana
- OnTrack [13] in Syracuse, New York
- South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Tri-Rail) [14] Miami, Dade, Ft. Lauderdale
- San Diego Northern Railway (Coaster) [15] in San Diego
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) [16] in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey
- Shore Line East Connecticut DOT Shore Line East (SLE) [17] in eastern Connecticut
- Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink) [18] in Los Angeles
- Trinity Railway Express (TRE) [19] in Dallas
- Virginia Railway Express (VRE) [20] in northern Virginia
- West Coast Express [21] in Vancouver
See also
- List of suburban and commuter rail systems
- Regional rail
- Northeast Corridor
- Transit (transportation)
- Public transport
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