Montréal Transit Developments

[NoahB]

Light Rail usually refers to the *capacity of the system* more than anything else, especially more than the weight of the vehicles. It's also is very region-specific.

Nobody calls NYC's IRT and Chicago's L light rail, (They dont call them Metros either) but their rolling stocks' individual cars are lighter and smaller than the Dubai metro's, for example. The IRT and L have more capacity thanks to having a higher amount of cars per train/length of train.

According to Wikipedia, Dubai Metro and Vancouver Skytrain can are categorized as medium-capacity rail systems or light metro. But nobody uses it from what I see.

 

[officedweller]

For SkyTrain the category was called ICTS - Intermediate capacity transit system.

 

[Fritter]

I say to-MAY-to you say to-MAH-to

 

[p_xavier]

If you say to-mah-to I'll call you an idiot, that's the point of the replies.

 

[NoahB]

New REM video showing Bois-franc Station in May.

I'm just going to ignore the tomato business. Because the obvious way to say it is tomato...

But I do want to mention one thing:

For SkyTrain the category was called ICTS - Intermediate capacity transit system.

ICTS was a branding name by the manufacturer UTDC, not the category. Bombardier now calls them Innovia Metro. AKA the rolling stick used by Skytrain, Riyad Metro, etc.

Actually, in the Riyadh Metro case, they ordered 3 different rolling stock from 3 different train manufactures (and their respective signaling systems) to be able to construct the project so quickly. All 3 have the same exact capacity, specifications, and exterior look. Only one of them is called Innovia Metro.

I should correct myself though. It seems that light metro/medium capacity transit is considered separate from light rail according to Wikipedia. But I don't think that is that clear-cut, especially when you see hybrid light rail/light metro systems built like the Confederation Line in Ottawa. (metro-style grade separation + LRT trains)

 

[officedweller]

ICTS was a branding name by the manufacturer UTDC, not the category. Bombardier now calls them Innovia Metro. AKA the rolling stick used by Skytrain, Riyad Metro, etc.

Consultants adopted it too.
Here is a 1995 study done for BC Transit (predecessor to TransLink).

 

[officedweller]

and a 2004 TransLink report.
By 2012 when examining alternative technologies for the Broadway Subway (to UBC), the ICTS term was not used in consulting reports, just Busway/Rapid Bus, LRT and RRT (Rapid Rail Transit).

 

[CityStay]

Great to see this idiotic discussion revived - for the umpteenth time.

 

[NoahB]

I stand corrected.

 

[robmausser]

Great to see this idiotic discussion revived - for the umpteenth time.

I apologize for ever mentioning that the trains used for the Montreal REM are not heavy rail, as are typical for regional transit systems, by mentioning the dreaded L-I-G-H-T word.

Gee, you'd swear I called some of these peoples kid the R word or something.

Ok im sorry, the Montreal REM trains are not heavy rail trains, like most regional transit systems, but apparently they arent light rail in nature then. They are special. They are some special trains that deserve all the love and affection that all trains do.

 

[rbt]

Ok im sorry, the Montreal REM trains are not heavy rail trains, like most regional transit systems, but apparently they arent light rail in nature then. They are special. They are some special trains that deserve all the love and affection that all trains do.

The African definition of Light/Heavy Rail is by far the most straight forward.

Light rail carries people and heavy rail carries goods (gravel, oil, steel, livestock, ...). Sometimes light rail trains (passenger trains) run on heavy rail lines. Heavy rail trains never run on light rail lines.

 

[Coolstar]

The African definition of Light/Heavy Rail is by far the most straight forward.

Light rail carries people and heavy rail carries goods (gravel, oil, steel, livestock, ...). Sometimes light rail trains (passenger trains) run on heavy rail lines. Heavy rail trains never run on light rail lines.

Here's a good example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuja_Light_Rail

 

[CapitalSeven]

That definition may be straightforward but it doesn't reflect common usage and it's not very useful. So it's not a good definition.

 

[CityStay]

I apologize for ever mentioning that the trains used for the Montreal REM are not heavy rail, as are typical for regional transit systems, by mentioning the dreaded L-I-G-H-T word.

Gee, you'd swear I called some of these peoples kid the R word or something.

Ok im sorry, the Montreal REM trains are not heavy rail trains, like most regional transit systems, but apparently they arent light rail in nature then. They are special. They are some special trains that deserve all the love and affection that all trains do.

Oh dear! It seems that someone thinks that I was specifically targeting them and not this useless, senseless, meaningless, idiotic argument that will never end because of the transit pedants who feel the need to label everything and who will never agree on anything .

That said, I've retrieved several documents that describe pre-1945 Smolensk trams as being "The people's movers" whereas several post war documents have described them merely as "people movers"

These conflicting descriptions must have had a huge impact upon the ridership of the aforementioned trams and are perhaps relevant to the future riders of REM (Is it heavy? Right on dude! Is it light? Pfft.. I'm buying an SUV!)

Discuss!

For now, I'll just head back to my 'Is a hot dog a sandwich?' group..

 

[CityStay]

The African definition of Light/Heavy Rail is by far the most straight forward.

Light rail carries people and heavy rail carries goods (gravel, oil, steel, livestock, ...). Sometimes light rail trains (passenger trains) run on heavy rail lines. Heavy rail trains never run on light rail lines.

But without knowing the exact network length divided by seat colour multiplied by platform signage quotient .. how can you be sure?