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

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 along Bruce street, east to Ritson road, then north on Ritson road to the GM North Plant.
  • Brantford, Ontario: Clarence Street
  • Guelph, Ontario :
  • * Kent Street, CNR, still in use
  • St. Catharines, Ontario:
  • * Ontario Street
  • * Louisa Street
  • * Welland Avenue
  • * Raymond Street
  • * Niagara Street
  • * Facer Street
  • * 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 The former railway is now a trail - path.

Croatia

  • Rijeka, freight 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 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:
Image:Bad Doberan Molli 2006-09-24.JPG|thumb|right|A "Mollibahn" train running through Bad Doberan, Germany
  • 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 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 Madiun-Ponorogo branchline 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

Japan

Laos

New Zealand

Poland

  • 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.

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.
  • Zürich : grain trains make up to 4 journeys a day between Bahnhof Hardbrücke and the Swissmill Tower on Sihlquai, following a route along Zahnradstrasse, Hardstrasse and Zöllystrasse, including a tram crossing. The driver controls traffic lights manually.

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

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

Iowa

Kentucky

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Missouri

New Jersey

  • Garfield
  • * Monroe Street. Abandoned in 2020.

New York

File:Street Running, Schuyler Street Utica New York.jpg|thumb|200px|NYSW train with a CSX GP38-2 locomotive in Utica, 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 Dĩ An station and Dĩ 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.