123-403: The Interborough Express (IBX) is a proposed 14-mile (23 km) 24/7 light rail line in New York City . As proposed, the line would operate on dedicated tracks within the existing right-of-way from the Bay Ridge Branch and Fremont Secondary to connect Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Jackson Heights, Queens . As of 2023, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) estimated that
246-724: A "light rail" vehicle (it is a heavy rail vehicle), and is only included for comparison purposes. Low-floor LRVs have the advantage of a low-floor design, allowing them to load passengers directly from low-rise platforms that can be little more than raised curbs. High-floor light rail systems also exist, featuring larger stations. Historically, the track gauge has had considerable variations, with narrow gauge common in many early systems. However, most light rail systems are now standard gauge . Older standard-gauge vehicles could not negotiate sharp turns as easily as narrow-gauge ones, but modern light rail systems achieve tighter turning radii by using articulated cars . An important advantage of
369-551: A $ 11,2 million project, the MTA replaced two of the escalators connecting the IND and IRT mezzanines between July 2014 and early 2015. In late 2022, the MTA announced plans to replace three of the complex's elevators during 2023. The station complex consists of two separate stations, connected by escalators, stairs, and elevators. The main entrance, a station building bounded by Roosevelt Avenue, 75th Street, Broadway, and 74th Street, includes
492-458: A bus, there will be even more capacity when there is a combination of cars and light rail. Table 3 shows an example of peak passenger capacity. The cost of light rail construction varies widely, largely depending on the amount of tunneling and elevated structures required. A survey of North American light rail projects shows that costs of most LRT systems range from $ 15 million to over $ 100 million per mile. Seattle's new light rail system
615-403: A chaotic breakdown inflow and a dramatic drop in speed (a traffic jam ) if they exceed about 2,000 vehicles per hour per lane (each car roughly two seconds behind another). Since most people who drive to work or on business trips do so alone, studies show that the average car occupancy on many roads carrying commuters is only about 1.5 people per car during the high-demand rush hour periods of
738-1142: A common right-of-way (however, Link converted to full separation in 2019). Some systems, such as the AirTrain JFK in New York City, the DLR in London, and Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur , have dispensed with the need for an operator. The Vancouver SkyTrain was an early adopter of driverless vehicles, while the Toronto Scarborough rapid transit operated the same trains as Vancouver, but used drivers. In most discussions and comparisons, these specialized systems are generally not considered light rail but as light metro systems. Around Karlsruhe , Kassel , and Saarbrücken in Germany, dual-voltage light rail trains partly use mainline railroad tracks, sharing these tracks with heavy rail trains. In
861-416: A light rail train may have three to four cars of much larger capacity in one train under the control of one driver, or no driver at all in fully automated systems, increasing the labor costs of BRT systems compared to LRT systems. BRT systems are also usually less fuel-efficient as they use non-electrified vehicles. The peak passenger capacity per lane per hour depends on which types of vehicles are allowed on
984-435: A live rail. In outer areas, the trams switch to conventional overhead wires . The Bordeaux power system costs about three times as much as a conventional overhead wire system and took 24 months to achieve acceptable levels of reliability, requiring the replacement of all the main cables and power supplies. Operating and maintenance costs of the innovative power system still remain high. However, despite numerous service outages,
1107-533: A local track forces trains to run express. The station is between 69th Street to the west and 82nd Street–Jackson Heights to the east. The station has two fare control areas at 73rd Street and two at 74th. The 74th Street mezzanine has a wooden floor with windscreens on the stairs, a booth, and a crossunder, with stairs to both the new station building and to the northeast corner of 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The 73rd Street mezzanine contains wooden stair walls, no windows, and no booth (the booth being in
1230-543: A longer distance. Light rail cars are often coupled into multiple units of two to four cars. Light rail systems may also exhibit attributes of heavy rail systems, including having downtown subways, as in San Francisco and Seattle . Light rail is designed to address a gap in interurban transportation between heavy rail and bus services, carrying high passenger numbers more quickly than local buses and more cheaply than heavy rail. It serves corridors in which heavy rail
1353-570: A lower capacity and speed than a long heavy rail passenger train or rapid transit system. Narrowly defined, light rail transit uses rolling stock that is similar to that of a traditional tram, while operating at a higher capacity and speed, often on an exclusive right-of-way. In broader use, it includes tram-like operations mostly on streets. A few light rail networks have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail , yet only when these systems are fully grade-separated are they referred to as light metros . The term light rail
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#17327724975261476-538: A mezzanine before they could access the underground Queens Boulevard Line platforms. The passageways were also narrow and convoluted, causing congestion during peak times. The MTA proposed hiring Vollmer Associates to design the station's renovation in late 1999, and the MTA announced in 2000 that it would demolish the Victor Moore Arcade as part of the renovation. All merchants had moved out by May 2000. Advocacy group Straphangers Campaign conducted
1599-642: A more diverse range of design characteristics than LRT, depending on the demand and constraints that exist, and BRT using dedicated lanes can have a theoretical capacity of over 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (for example, the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit system operates up to 350 buses per hour per direction). For the effective operation of a bus or BRT system, buses must have priority at traffic lights and have their dedicated lanes, especially as bus frequencies exceed 30 buses per hour per direction. The higher theoretical of BRT relates to
1722-554: A narrow tunnel under All Faiths Cemetery ; the cemetery's superintendent said in early 2024 that the MTA had never contacted the cemetery. Opponents of the street-running segment said it would have made IBX vehicles vulnerable to delays, since trains would be restricted to 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) and run in mixed traffic . Virtual town hall meetings for the IBX began in August 2023, followed by in-person town halls that November. At
1845-678: A notable Broadway performer and Freeport resident, asked the New York City Board of Estimate for permission to build a $ 375,000 bus terminal in his name near the station. When the Board of Estimate approved the project that December, Moore invited board members to see his musical Louisiana Purchase at the Imperial Theatre . Moore acquired all remaining lots on the block in February 1941 and began construction on
1968-498: A poll the same year, in which riders ranked Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station as the dirtiest among the city's 15 busiest stations. The MTA began restoring the bus terminal in early May 2001. The MTA approved a renovation of the station itself in September 2002; at the time, the project was slated to cost $ 87 million. Fox & Fowle and Vollmer Associates designed the project. The Flushing Line platforms and
2091-407: A result, has many of the operating characteristics of a metro system rather than a light rail system. A capacity of 1,350 passengers per train is more similar to the heavy rail than light rail. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is an alternative to LRT and many planning studies undertake a comparison of each mode when considering appropriate investments in transit corridor development. BRT systems can exhibit
2214-580: A set of stairs leads to the main station house, which also contains the station agent booth. The Flushing-bound platform's elevator leads from the Flushing-bound platform to the aboveground landing, then to the street level fare control, and finally to a landing between the street level and the belowground Queens Boulevard Line mezzanine. The full-time station agent booth, and two banks of turnstiles for fare control, are located in this station house at street level. Two escalators also lead directly from
2337-534: A top speed of 55–71.5 miles per hour (88.51–115.1 km/h) depending on the system, while the trains on the all-underground Montreal Metro can only reach a top speed of 72 kilometres per hour (44.74 mph). LACMTA light rail vehicles have higher top and average speeds than Montreal Metro or New York City Subway trains. Many light rail systems—even fairly old ones—have a combination of both on- and off-road sections. In some countries (especially in Europe), only
2460-481: A tramway, a light metro, and, in a narrow sense, rapid transit. This is especially common in the United States, where there is not a popularly perceived distinction between these different types of urban rail systems. The development of technology for low-floor and catenary-free trams facilitates the construction of such mixed systems with only short and shallow underground sections below critical intersections as
2583-507: A wager. The original two-story bus terminal and arcade, located at the triangle formed by Broadway, Roosevelt Avenue, and 75th Street, featured a shopping area. The terminal, designed in the Streamline Moderne or Art Deco style, featured bus-boarding slips at ground level and offices on the second story. The current terminal serve six bus routes. Lanes 1 through 3, which serve three of these bus routes, are located inside
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#17327724975262706-645: Is 65th Street for local trains, Queens Plaza for express E trains via the Queens Boulevard Line, and 21st Street–Queensbridge for express F trains via the 63rd Street lines . The next stop to the east (railroad north) is Elmhurst Avenue for local trains and Forest Hills–71st Avenue for express trains. The outer track walls have a midnight blue trim line with a black border and 2-by-10-tile white-on-black tile captions reading "ROOSEVELT" in Helvetica at regular intervals. These were installed in
2829-565: Is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology while also having some features from heavy rapid transit . The term was coined in 1972 in the United States as an English equivalent for the German word Stadtbahn , meaning "city railway". Different definitions exist in some countries, but in the United States, light rail operates primarily along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled together, with
2952-470: Is a generic international English phrase for types of rail systems using modern streetcars/trams, which means more or less the same thing throughout the English-speaking world . Light rail systems can range from trams runnig in streets along with other traffic, to semi-metro systems having portions of grade separated track. People movers are even "lighter", in terms of capacity. Monorail
3075-575: Is a separate technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. The use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English . The word tram , for instance, is generally used in the UK and many former British colonies to refer to what is known in North America as a streetcar , but in North America tram can instead refer to an aerial tramway , or, in
3198-602: Is a significant amount of overlap between the technologies; similar rolling stock may be used for either, and it is common to classify streetcars or trams as a subcategory of light rail rather than as a distinct type of transportation. However, some distinctions can be made, though systems may combine elements of both. Low-floor light rail lines tend to follow a reserved right-of-way and with trains receiving priority at intersections, and tend not to operate in mixed traffic, enabling higher operating speeds. Light rail lines tend to have less frequent stops than tramways, and operate over
3321-497: Is an express station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line that has four tracks and two narrow island platforms . The E and F both stop here at all times; the R stops here except at night; and the M stops here only on weekdays during the day. The M and R always make local stops, while the E and F make express stops during the day and local stops during the night. The next stop to the west (railroad south)
3444-563: Is by far the most expensive in the US, at $ 179 million per mile, since it includes extensive tunneling in poor soil conditions, elevated sections, and stations as deep as 180 feet (55 m) below ground level. This results in costs more typical of subways or rapid transit systems than light rail. At the other end of the scale, four systems (Baltimore, Maryland; Camden, New Jersey; Sacramento, California; and Salt Lake City, Utah) incurred construction costs of less than $ 20 million per mile. Over
3567-426: Is especially important for wheelchair access, as narrower gauges (e.g. metre gauge) can make it challenging or impossible to pass the tram's wheels. Furthermore, standard-gauge rolling stock can be switched between networks either temporarily or permanently, and both newly built and used standard-gauge rolling stock tends to be cheaper to buy, as more companies offer such vehicles. Overhead lines supply electricity to
3690-502: Is expensive. Similarly, the most expensive US highway expansion project was the " Big Dig " in Boston, Massachusetts, which cost $ 200 million per lane mile for a total cost of $ 14.6 billion. A light rail track can carry up to 20,000 people per hour as compared with 2,000–2,200 vehicles per hour for one freeway lane. For example, in Boston and San Francisco, light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour, respectively, in
3813-575: Is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail. A system described as a light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called "light rail" are very similar to rapid transit ; in recent years, new terms such as light metro have been used to describe these medium-capacity systems. Some "light rail" systems, such as Sprinter , bear little similarity to urban rail, and could alternatively be classified as commuter rail or even inter-city rail. In
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3936-559: Is impractical. Light metro systems are essentially hybrids of light rail and rapid transit. Metro trains are larger and faster than light rail trains, with stops being further apart. Many systems have mixed characteristics. Indeed, with proper engineering, a rail line could run along a street, then go underground, and then run along an elevated viaduct. For example, the Los Angeles Metro Rail 's A Line "light rail" has sections that could alternatively be described as
4059-669: Is initially projected to be 115,000. The route would connect up to 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road. As of 2024, the preliminary stations are: Roosevelt Avenue , Grand Avenue, Eliot Avenue, Metropolitan Avenue , Myrtle Avenue, Wilson Avenue , Atlantic Avenue , Sutter Avenue , Livonia Avenue , Linden Boulevard , Remsen Avenue, Utica Avenue, Flatbush Avenue–Nostrand Avenue , East 16 Street , McDonald Avenue , New Utrecht Avenue , 8 Avenue , 4 Avenue , and Brooklyn Army Terminal . Light rail Light rail (or light rail transit , abbreviated to LRT )
4182-484: Is one of the highest capacity ones, having been upgraded in a series of expansions to handle 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, and having carried as many as 582,989 passengers in a single day on its Line 1 . It achieves this volume by running four-car trains with a capacity of up to 1,350 passengers each at a frequency of up to 30 trains per hour. However, the Manila light rail system has full grade separation and as
4305-559: The 7 , E , and F trains at all times; the R train at all times except late nights; the M train weekdays during the day; and the <F> train during rush hours in the reverse peak direction. The complex consists of two stations: the elevated station at Broadway–74th Street, built for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), and the underground IND station at Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue, built for
4428-753: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 . There is also an at-grade bus terminal, known as the Victor A. Moore Bus Terminal, next to the station's main entrance at Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue. In 2023, it was the busiest subway station in Queens and the 9th busiest subway station in the system. The 1913 Dual Contracts called for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation , or BMT) to build new lines in Brooklyn , Queens , and
4551-542: The Cádiz TramBahia , where trams share track with commuter and long-distance trains from the main terminus in the city and curve off to serve cities without a railway connection. Some of the issues involved in such schemes are: There is a history of what would now be considered light rail vehicles operating on heavy rail rapid transit tracks in the US, especially in the case of interurban streetcars . Notable examples are Lehigh Valley Transit trains running on
4674-676: The Independent Subway System (IND). The elevated station was built as part of the Dual Contracts and opened on April 21, 1917; the station was also served by the BRT and its successor, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation , until 1949. The IND station opened on August 19, 1933, and was the terminus of the Queens Boulevard Line until 1936. Escalators between the two stations were installed in
4797-758: The London Underground and the New York City Subway . Conventional rail technologies including high-speed , freight, commuter , and rapid transit urban transit systems are considered "heavy rail". The main difference between light rail and heavy rail rapid transit is the ability for a light rail vehicle to operate in mixed traffic if the routing requires it. The world's first electric tram operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg , Russia , invented and operated on an experimental basis by Fyodor Pirotsky in 1880. The first tramway
4920-637: The Netherlands , this concept was first applied on the RijnGouweLijn . This allows commuters to ride directly into the city center, rather than taking a mainline train only as far as a central station and then having to change to a tram. In France, similar tram-trains are planned for Paris, Mulhouse , and Strasbourg ; further projects exist. In some cases, tram trains use previously abandoned or lightly used heavy rail lines in addition to or instead of still in use mainline tracks. In 2022, Spain opened
5043-874: The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa, Ontario , Canada, the River Line in New Jersey , United States, and the Sprinter in California , United States, which use diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars. Light rail is different from the British English term light railway , long-used to distinguish railway operations carried out under a less rigorous set of regulations using lighter equipment at lower speeds from mainline railways. Light rail
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5166-703: The Philadelphia and Western Railroad high-speed third rail line (now the Norristown High-Speed Line ). Such arrangements are almost impossible now, due to the Federal Railroad Administration refusing (for crash safety reasons) to allow non-FRA compliant railcars (i.e., subway and light rail vehicles) to run on the same tracks at the same times as compliant railcars, which includes locomotives and standard railroad passenger and freight equipment. Notable exceptions in
5289-500: The Steinway Tunnel . When the majority of the line was built in the early 1910s, most of the route went through undeveloped land, and Roosevelt Avenue had not been constructed. Community leaders advocated for more Dual Contracts lines to be built in Queens to allow development there. The 74th Street station opened on April 21, 1917, as part of an extension of the line from Queensboro Plaza to 103rd Street–Corona Plaza . At
5412-621: The Victor A. Moore Bus Terminal . The new station building is one of the first green buildings in the MTA system, which is partially powered by solar panels on the roof of the station building and above the IRT platform. The solar panels were added following the success of a similar project at the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station . The building is made of recycled material such as concrete consisted of 15% fly ash and steel that
5535-530: The medians of roads . If run in streets , trains are usually limited by city block lengths to about four 180-passenger vehicles (720 passengers). Operating on two-minute headways using traffic signal progression, a well-designed two-track system can handle up to 30 trains per hour per track, achieving peak rates of over 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction. More advanced systems with separate rights-of-way using moving block signaling can exceed 25,000 passengers per hour per track. Most light rail systems in
5658-562: The 1950s, and the complex was substantially rebuilt between 2000 and 2005. The IRT Flushing Line station has two side platforms and three tracks; rush-hour express trains use the inner track to bypass the station. The IND Queens Boulevard Line station has two island platforms and four tracks. A third platform above the Queens Boulevard Line platforms was completed as part of the IND Second System but never opened. The station complex contains elevators, which make it compliant with
5781-624: The 1970s was proven to have been a technical failure by the following decade. After World War II, the Germans retained many of their streetcar networks and evolved them into model light rail systems ( Stadtbahnen ). With the exception of Hamburg , all large and most medium-sized German cities maintain light rail networks. The concept of a "limited tramway" was proposed by American transport planner H. Dean Quinby in 1962. Quinby distinguished this new concept in rail transportation from historic streetcar or tram systems as: The term light rail transit
5904-405: The 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars. With the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair , trains were lengthened to eleven cars. On May 2, 1970, an out-of-service GG train collided with another GG train in revenue service on the Queens Boulevard Line. The revenue-service train was switching from the southbound express track to the local track (it had been rerouted around
6027-600: The Basement. There is another elevator from the Forest Hills- and Jamaica-bound platform to the mezzanine. There are also some stores and an ATM lining the mezzanine within fare control. In total, the station has 8,600 square feet (800 m ) of storefront space. The 2004 artwork in the station house is called Passage by Tom Patti, and was designed in conjunction with FX+FOWLE Architects. The artwork consisted of trapezoid -shaped laminated glass panels located on
6150-603: The Bronx . Queens did not receive many new IRT and BRT lines compared to Brooklyn and the Bronx, since the city's Public Service Commission (PSC) wanted to alleviate subway crowding in the other two boroughs first before building in Queens, which was relatively undeveloped. The IRT Flushing Line was to be one of two Dual Contracts lines in the borough, along with the Astoria Line ; it would connect Flushing and Long Island City , two of Queens's oldest settlements, to Manhattan via
6273-550: The Eighth Avenue Line at 50th Street . Three thousand people converged at the station's 73rd and 74th Street exits, hoping to be the first to ride. A transfer to and from the Flushing Line station at Broadway was implemented. One real-estate expert wrote that the station was "the only place in Queens where the interchange between the elevated and the subway system can be made at a common point". Initially,
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#17327724975266396-517: The Flushing Line landing to the Queens Boulevard Line mezzanine. From the mezzanine, various stairs lead down to each of the Queens Boulevard Line platforms, and an elevator from the belowground landing leads to the mezzanine and the Manhattan-bound platform. At the edges of the Flushing Line landing, stairs go towards a room where in the right, a narrow stairwell (originally an escalator passageway, but currently under construction) goes towards
6519-495: The French city of Bordeaux , the tramway network is powered by a third rail in the city center, where the tracks are not always segregated from pedestrians and cars. The third rail (actually two closely spaced rails) is placed in the middle of the track and divided into eight-metre sections, each of which is powered only while it is completely covered by a tram. This minimizes the risk of a person or animal coming into contact with
6642-403: The IND entrance at street level). The canopy at the west end is different, having been added later than the original canopy. Both canopies originally measured only 300 feet (91 m) long, but they were extended to cover the entire length of the platforms in the mid-2000s. The Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue station (signed as Roosevelt Avenue–Jackson Heights on overhead signs)
6765-497: The IND mezzanine and either of the IND platforms; two escalators between the IND and IRT mezzanines; and one escalator between the IRT mezzanine and either of the IRT platforms. In 1956, the New York City Transit Authority announced that it would open a request for proposal for additional escalators between the IRT and IND stations. At the time, the station had six exits, but only one token booth in
6888-461: The IND mezzanine, which led to severe congestion during rush hours. After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths; the platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars beforehand. The platforms at the 74th Street station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains. However, nine-car trains continued to run on
7011-401: The IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock , which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7 . The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first built by the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND), and
7134-480: The MTA announced that it planned to dig a tunnel underneath All Faiths Cemetery to avoid street running. The MTA simultaneously announced that it would begin the planning process for the Interborough Express after it received $ 67 million from the federal and state governments, and it opened a request for proposal for the IBX's design and environmental review. At the time, the preliminary design process
7257-505: The MTA did not give them enough information about closures due to the ongoing renovation. The new station building was completed in 2005 to a design by Stantec . The Jackson Heights bus terminal opened on July 13, 2005. In 2011, as part of a pilot program, the MTA installed an online interactive touchscreen kiosk called the "On The Go! Travel Station" at the Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station. As part of
7380-622: The New York City Subway system, free transfers between the BMT/IRT and IND stations commenced on July 1, 1948; initially, passengers were issued paper tickets. On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT. In August 1951, the New York City Board of Transportation approved the installation of six escalators at the Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station. The $ 965,000 contract called for one escalator between
7503-463: The Queens Boulevard Line platforms during the late 1980s. Triboro Coach leased the Victor Moore Arcade from Arnold Gumowitz for $ 1 a year until 1997. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) acquired the Victor Moore Arcade in March 1999, paying Gumowitz $ 9.5 million. Later that year, the MTA began buying out 25 merchants' leases within the arcade in preparation for a $ 90 million renovation of
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#17327724975267626-583: The Queens Boulevard Line west of 71st Avenue , stopping at the Roosevelt Avenue station. As part of the never-completed IND Second System , announced in 1929, the Winfield Spur line would have diverged from the Queens Boulevard Line just east of the Roosevelt Avenue station. A second station was built for this line above the Queens Boulevard Line platforms; the Winfield Spur station was finished but never opened. In 1940, Victor Moore ,
7749-662: The US are the NJ Transit River Line from Camden to Trenton and Austin's Capital MetroRail , which have received exemptions to the provision that light rail operations occur only during daytime hours and Conrail freight service only at night, with several hours separating one operation from the other. The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa also has freight service at certain hours. With its mix of right-of-way types and train control technologies, LRT offers
7872-455: The US as a whole, excluding Seattle, new light rail construction costs average about $ 35 million per mile. By comparison, a freeway lane expansion typically costs $ 1.0 million to $ 8.5 million per lane mile for two directions, with an average of $ 2.3 million. However, freeways are frequently built in suburbs or rural areas, whereas light rail tends to be concentrated in urban areas, where right of way and property acquisition
7995-666: The United States and in North America . In Britain, modern light rail systems began to appear in the 1980s, starting with the Tyne and Wear Metro from 1980 and followed by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London in 1987, continuing into the 1990s including the establishment of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992 and the Sheffield Supertram from 1994. Due to varying definitions, it
8118-590: The United States are limited by demand rather than capacity (by and large, most American LRT systems carry fewer than 4,000 persons per hour per direction), but Boston's and San Francisco's light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour per track during rush hour. Elsewhere in North America, the Calgary C-Train and Monterrey Metro have higher light rail ridership than Boston or San Francisco. Systems outside North America often have much higher passenger volumes. The Manila Light Rail Transit System
8241-472: The United States, "light rail" has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. Light rail corridors may constitute a fully segregated corridor, a dedicated right-of-way on a street, an on-street corridor shared with other traffic, a corridor shared with other public transport, or a corridor shared with pedestrians. The most difficult distinction to draw is that between low-floor light rail and streetcar or tram systems. There
8364-415: The ability of buses to travel closer to each other than rail vehicles and their ability to overtake each other at designated locations allowing express services to bypass those that have stopped at stations. However, to achieve capacities this high, BRT station footprints need to be significantly larger than a typical LRT station. In terms of cost of operation, each bus vehicle requires a single driver, whereas
8487-432: The below-ground fare control points. Exits from the underground mezzanine lead to the station building; the northeast corner of 73rd Street, 37th Road, and Broadway; the southwest corner of Broadway and 74th Street; and both eastern corners of Broadway and 75th Street. The only direct exit from the Flushing Line platforms is from the 74th Street mezzanine, which leads to the station building, with an additional side exit to
8610-466: The bus terminal were completely rebuilt, and the canopies above the Flushing Line platforms were extended to cover the whole platform. The Queens Boulevard Line platforms were refurbished by construction firm Skanska at a total cost of $ 132 million. The renovation also involved adding 8,600 square feet (800 m ) of retail space, expanding the upper mezzanine on either side of 74th Street, and installing elevators. Local merchants complained that
8733-866: The case of the Disney amusement parks , even a land train . (The usual British term for an aerial tramway is cable car , which in the US usually refers to a ground-level car pulled along by subterranean cables .) The word trolley is often used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States but is usually taken to mean a cart, particularly a shopping cart, in the UK and elsewhere. Many North American transportation planners reserve streetcar for traditional vehicles that operate exclusively in mixed traffic on city streets, while they use light rail to refer to more modern vehicles operating mostly in exclusive rights of way, since they may operate both side-by-side targeted at different passenger groups. The difference between British English and American English terminology arose in
8856-421: The closure of Glasgow Corporation Tramways (one of the largest in Europe) in 1962. Although some traditional trolley or tram systems continued to exist in San Francisco and elsewhere, the term "light rail" has come to mean a different type of rail system as modern light rail technology has primarily post-WWII West German origins. An attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle in
8979-625: The completion of the Bay Ridge Branch project. In early January 2022, as part of her State of the State address , New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state would move forward with the Bay Ridge Branch Line by conducting an environmental study on the IBX. The study would consider whether the line should be heavy rail ( rapid transit or regional rail ), light rail , or bus rapid transit . A feasibility study
9102-484: The construction damaged their stores and drove away customers. As part of the renovation, the MTA had removed the complex's payphones in April 2005, prompting state senator John Sabini to request that the phones be restored. The MTA agreed to restore the phones that August after Sabini said a woman had died at the station because the lack of phones made it hard to contact paramedics. Local residents also complained that
9225-438: The corresponding switches for the eastbound tracks are east of the station. On both sides, there are also switches between both express tracks. Along the ramp leading to the southeastern fare control, there is an unused and uncompleted Roosevelt Avenue terminal station for the IND Second System directly above the Manhattan-bound platform. This terminal has an island platform with a trackway on each side. There are no rails in
9348-415: The day. This combination of factors limits roads carrying only automobile commuters to a maximum observed capacity of about 3,000 passengers per hour per lane. The problem can be mitigated by introducing high-occupancy vehicle ( HOV ) lanes and ride-sharing programs, but in most cases, policymakers have chosen to add more lanes to the roads, despite a small risk that in unfavorable situations an extension of
9471-755: The direct translation, which is city rail (the Norwegian term, by bane , means the same). However, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of "intended for light loads and fast movement", rather than referring to physical weight. The infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in its Glossary of Transit Terminology, defines light rail as: ...a mode of transit service (also called streetcar, tramway, or trolley) operating passenger rail cars singly (or in short, usually two-car or three-car, trains) on fixed rails in
9594-421: The east; the blue tiles used at the Roosevelt Avenue station were also used at all local stations between Roosevelt Avenue and 71st Avenue. The platforms' I-beam columns are painted blue, but some columns are encased in concrete and covered with white tiles. The fare control is in the center of the full-length mezzanine above the platforms and tracks, with unmanned High Entry-Exit Turnstile (HEET) entrances at
9717-521: The excavation for the existing line. East of this station, next to the southbound track, the bellmouth with the ramp ascending to the upper level once had a layup track on it. On the Roosevelt Avenue interlocking machine in the station tower, there are spare levers for the necessary signals and switches. On the southbound local track, there is a homeball signal , "D1-1415", which has the lower portion lenses covered over and now functions as an automatic signal. The interlocking machine still shows evidence of
9840-458: The late 19th century when Americans adopted the term "street railway", rather than "tramway", with the vehicles being called "streetcars" rather than "trams". Some have suggested that the Americans' preference for the term "street railway" at that time was influenced by German emigrants to the United States (who were more numerous than British immigrants in the industrialized Northeast), as it is
9963-524: The latter is described as light rail. In those places, trams running on mixed rights-of-way are not regarded as a light rail but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams. However, the requirement for saying that a rail line is "separated" can be quite low—sometimes just with concrete "buttons" to discourage automobile drivers from getting onto the tracks. Some systems such as Seattle's Link had on-road mixed sections but were closed to regular road traffic, with light rail vehicles and buses both operating along
10086-462: The light rail concept was the "Shaker Heights Rapid Transit" which started in the 1920s, was renovated in 1980-81 and is now part of RTA Rapid Transit . Many original tram and streetcar systems in the United Kingdom , United States , and elsewhere were decommissioned starting in the 1950s as subsidies for the car increased. Britain abandoned its tram systems, except for Blackpool , with
10209-491: The line between Seventh Avenue in Manhattan and 178th Street in Queens. Although the line ran along Queens Boulevard for much of its route, the segment in western Queens was diverted northward to serve Jackson Heights. The line was constructed using the cut-and-cover tunneling method. Temporary bridges were built over the trenches to allow pedestrians to cross, and Roosevelt Avenue was partially closed. Construction of
10332-415: The line between Manhattan and Jackson Heights was split into four phases; by late 1931, these phases were between 90% and 99% complete. Before the IND station opened, Bickford's leased a store within a two-story building that housed one of the subway's entrances. The Roosevelt Avenue station opened on August 19, 1933, as the terminus of the first section of the line, which stretched from the connection to
10455-662: The line was served only by E trains, which ran local. In its first year, the IND station collected nearly two million fares, more than the IRT and BMT collected at the Broadway station. By 1938, the station recorded over five million annual entries. The construction of the new Roosevelt Avenue complex led to increased demand for housing in the area. It also inspired plans for an unbuilt shopping mall nearby, and real-estate investors speculated that sales and rentals of real estate on Roosevelt Avenue would increase significantly. However, no large commercial developments were built around
10578-410: The lower level tracks can be seen. The never-used upper level platform is around 500 feet (150 m), only long enough for eight 60-foot (18 m) cars rather than the IND maximum of 10. The platform itself has been converted to offices and storage. There is a trackway just east of Roosevelt Avenue that diverges away from the Manhattan-bound local track. The trackway ramps up to the same level as
10701-554: The northeast corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street. The 74th Street–Broadway station (originally Broadway station ) on the IRT Flushing Line is a local station that has three tracks and two side platforms . The center track is used by the rush hour peak direction <7> express service, but trains do not stop here, although there are track switches at either side to let express trains stop there in case of emergency or to allow transfers when work on
10824-629: The now-nonexistent interlocking where the Winfield spur was to have turned off from the D1 track and the D2 track. The Victor A. Moore Bus Terminal , which replaces the earlier building known as the Victor Moore Arcade , is located within the station building at Broadway and 74th Street. It is named after actor Victor Moore , who had funded the construction of the original arcade after winning
10947-465: The old and new systems. Since the 1980s, Portland, Oregon , has built all three types of system: a high-capacity light rail system in dedicated lanes and rights-of-way, a low-capacity streetcar system integrated with street traffic, and an aerial tram system . The opposite phrase heavy rail , used for higher-capacity, higher-speed systems, also avoids some incompatibilities in terminology between British and American English, for instance in comparing
11070-565: The out-of-service train). Two people died and 71 were injured in the worst subway collision since the 1928 Times Square derailment . Following the 1970 accident, New York Magazine highlighted the state of the subway system in a lengthy exposé , in which it concluded that the subway's condition was getting worse compared to previous years. The station remained a transfer hub for passengers traveling to LaGuardia Airport, which had no direct subway service. To speed up passenger flow, dozens of platform conductors were assigned to direct crowds on
11193-465: The peak direction during rush hour. Jackson Heights%E2%80%93Roosevelt Avenue [REDACTED] The Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station is a New York City Subway station complex served by the IRT Flushing Line and the IND Queens Boulevard Line . Located at the triangle of 74th Street, Broadway, and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens , it is served by
11316-717: The project would be operational in 2027. The Regional Plan Association originally proposed the Triboro RX along this route in 1996 and again in 2012. In mid-October 2019, the MTA announced that it would study the feasibility of restoring passenger service on the Bay Ridge Branch portion of the route. On January 23, 2020, the MTA Board awarded a $ 1.3 million contract to study the feasibility of restoring passenger service to this section to AECOM. In November 2021, Acting MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said that money from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could be used to fund
11439-408: The renovation, and replace the original Cerulean blue trim line and 1-tile-high captions in the original IND font. The original tile band was part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND. The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan . As such, a different tile color is used at Forest Hills–71st Avenue , the next express station to
11562-556: The required clearance height can be reduced significantly compared to conventional light rail vehicles. Reference speed from major light rail systems, including station stop time, is shown below. However, low top speed is not always a differentiating characteristic between light rail and other systems. For example, the Siemens S70 LRVs used in the Houston METRORail and other North American LRT systems have
11685-432: The right-of-way that is often separated from other traffic for part or much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley [pole] or a pantograph ; driven by an operator onboard the vehicle; and may have either high platform loading or low-level boarding using steps." However, some diesel-powered transit is designated light rail, such as
11808-415: The road network might lead to increased travel times ( Downs–Thomson paradox , Braess's paradox ). By contrast, light rail vehicles can travel in multi-car trains carrying a theoretical ridership up to 20,000 passengers per hour in much narrower rights-of-way , not much more than two car lanes wide for a double track system. They can often be run through existing city streets and parks , or placed in
11931-401: The roads. Typically roadways have 1,900 passenger cars per lane per hour (pcplph). If only cars are allowed, the capacity will be less and will not increase when the traffic volume increases. When there is a bus driving on this route, the capacity of the lane will be higher and will increase when the traffic level increases. And because the capacity of a light rail system is higher than that of
12054-618: The same as the German term for the mode, Straßenbahn (meaning "street railway"). A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams after World War II except in Blackpool , eight major North American cities ( Toronto , Boston , Philadelphia , San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Newark , Cleveland , and New Orleans ) continued to operate large streetcar systems. When these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both
12177-417: The southeast end of the mezzanine, and a exit with turnstiles and a booth at the northeast end. There is also a HEET entrance in the center of the mezzanine. The mezzanine has several storefronts, though most of them were unused by the early 2020s. As of 2024 , one storefront included a cultural center operated by the group Los Herederos. West of the station, there are switches between both westbound tracks;
12300-408: The standard gauge is that standard railway maintenance equipment can be used on it, rather than custom-built machinery. Using standard gauges also allows light rail vehicles to be conveniently moved around using the same tracks as freight railways. Additionally, wider gauges (e.g. standard gauge) provide more floor clearance on low-floor trams that have constricted pedestrian areas at the wheels, which
12423-422: The station complex. The MTA planned to install four elevators, rebuild staircases, and erect the station's main entrance on the arcade's site. At the time, the station was the second-busiest in Queens, but the bus terminal was too short to fit CNG -powered buses. The arcade's layout was also inconvenient; bus passengers had to walk outside or through a bakery to access the subway, and passengers had to ascend to
12546-492: The station in the years after the IND station opened. The station was the Queens Boulevard Line's terminus from 1933 until an extension east to Union Turnpike opened on December 31, 1936. The E began making express stops on the line in 1937, and local GG trains began serving the Roosevelt Avenue station at the time. With the opening of the IND Sixth Avenue Line in 1940, F trains began running express along
12669-404: The station just at the location where the three upstairs trackways are crossing over. This bellmouth also curves towards the south and similarly ends on a concrete wall shortly after the start of the bellmouth. At the end of the unused tunnel there is an emergency exit that opens out to the south side of Broadway across the street from Elmhurst Hospital Center . The four-track subway running south
12792-551: The system was a success with the public, gaining up to 190,000 passengers per day. Automatic train operation is employed on light rail networks, tracking the position and speed of a train and hence adjusting its movement for safety and efficiency. One line of light rail (requires 7.6 m, 25' right of way) has a theoretical capacity of up to 8 times more than one 3.7 m (12 foot) lane on a freeway, excluding busses, during peak times. Roads have ultimate capacity limits that can be determined by traffic engineering , and usually experience
12915-409: The terminal that June, obtaining a $ 250,000 mortgage for the project. Nine businesses signed lease for the terminal in September, and the Victor Moore Arcade officially opened on December 11, 1941. It served as a hub for the operations of Triboro Coach , allowing subway passengers to transfer to and from buses for distant neighborhoods and for LaGuardia Airport , As part of the unification of
13038-636: The terminal. Lanes 2 and 3, which serve the Q49 and northbound Q70 SBS buses respectively, can accommodate one bus each, while Lane 1, which serves the Q33 , can accommodate two buses. The Q32 , Q47 , and southbound Q70 SBS buses stop on Roosevelt Avenue, while the Q53 SBS and southbound Q47 stop on Broadway. All buses from the terminal are operated by MTA Bus , successors to the Triboro Coach routes, except
13161-439: The time, the MTA expected that the project would be finished in 2027 at a cost of $ 5.5 billion. In her 2024 State of the State address, Kathy Hochul announced that formal design and engineering work would begin later in the year. The MTA allocated $ 2.75 billion in funding for the project in its 2025–2029 Capital Plan, accounting for half the estimated cost; pre-construction work was still underway in late 2024. That October,
13284-473: The time, the station was known as Broadway . The IRT agreed to operate the line under the condition that any loss of profits would be repaid by the city. The opening of the line helped spur the development of Jackson Heights, Queens , which previously had been farmland. In 1923, the BMT started operating shuttle services along the Flushing Line, which terminated at Queensboro Plaza . The city government took over
13407-431: The trackbeds, but tiles depicting the station name on the tile walls are present. The signs hanging over the platform, however, are blank. East of the station lies a long, dark section of a 3-block-long tunnel with provisions for a crossover and a ramp down to the Manhattan-bound local track of the active mainline below. The unused tunnel has about 750 feet (230 m) of trackway. Along these trackways, trains from
13530-503: The trams, making it safe on city streets. Several systems in Europe and a few recently opened systems in North America use diesel -powered trains. When electric streetcars were introduced in the late 19th century, conduit current collection was one of the first ways of supplying power, but it proved to be much more expensive, complicated, and trouble-prone than overhead wires . When electric street railways became ubiquitous, conduit power
13653-503: The two trackways coming from the never-used Roosevelt Avenue Terminal, making three trackways on the upper level. The ramp flies over the mainline tracks along with the two other trackways. Between 78th and 79th Streets, the three trackways on upper level curve towards the south and ending at the wall at the edge of constructed subway. There is a diverging bellmouth next to the Jamaica-bound local track several hundred feet north of
13776-513: The upper part of the building's eastern facade. The glass panels break up light into different colors, depending on the vantage point. At 73rd Street and Broadway, on the north side of Roosevelt Avenue, a set of stairs from each of the IRT Flushing Line platforms lead down to a landing below the elevated structure. There is a connection to the Queens Boulevard Line mezzanine via three long, narrow escalators, where there are exits from
13899-460: The vast majority of light rail systems. This avoids the danger potentially presented by an electrified third rail . The Docklands Light Railway uses an inverted third rail for its electrical power, which allows the electrified rail to be covered and the power drawn from the underside. Trams in Bordeaux , France, use a special third-rail configuration where the power is only switched on beneath
14022-434: The widest range of latitude of any rail system in the design, engineering, and operating practices. The challenge in designing light rail systems is to realize the potential of LRT to provide fast, comfortable service while avoiding the tendency to overdesign that results in excessive capital costs beyond what is necessary to meet the public's needs. The BART railcar in the following chart is not generally considered to be
14145-451: Was prefabricated ; in addition, the builders recycled 86% of the waste materials. The station building also contains some retail space at the corner of 75th Street and Broadway, and also leases a few other spaces between the fare control area and the bus terminal. Four elevators make the entire station complex ADA-accessible. Two stairs and an elevator from each of the Flushing Line platforms, lead down to an above-ground landing, whereupon
14268-693: Was a plan for a line along the Long Island Rail Road right-of-way to Garfield Avenue and 65th Place. The line, called the Winfield Spur , would have turned along 65th Place to Fresh Pond Road and then along Fresh Pond Road to Cypress Hills Street. The line would have merged with the Myrtle–Central Avenues Line to the Rockaways proposed in 1929. All four trackways end at a concrete wall where they begin to diverge from
14391-787: Was also completed on January 20, 2022. Governor Hochul also announced that she had directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to complete an environmental review for the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel for freight. Hochul announced in her January 2023 address that the project would proceed as a light rail corridor. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the route had to run along Metropolitan Avenue and 69th Street in Middle Village, Queens , to avoid
14514-543: Was coined in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA; the precursor to the Federal Transit Administration ) to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany, the term Stadtbahn (to be distinguished from S-Bahn , which stands for Stadtschnellbahn ) was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt
14637-567: Was expected to take two years. The IBX is planned to be built as a light rail line. Reasons for the light rail choice include faster service, easier construction—mostly fitting in existing right of way, availability of off-the-shelf rolling stock, and a lower overall cost that is estimated at $ 5.5 billion, or about $ 48,000 per expected daily rider. Proposed headways are 5 minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes at other times. Freight use would continue, requiring separated tracks. End-to-end travel times are expected to be 40 minutes, and weekday ridership
14760-677: Was introduced in North America in 1972 to describe this new concept of rail transportation. Prior to that time the abbreviation "LRT" was used for " Light Rapid Transit " and " Light Rail Rapid Transit ". The first of the new light rail systems in North America began operation in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta , adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by Calgary, Alberta , and San Diego, California . The concept proved popular, with there now being numerous light rail systems in
14883-561: Was planned to stretch between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 178th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, with a stop at Roosevelt Avenue. The line was first proposed in 1925. Construction of the line was approved by the New York City Board of Estimate on October 4, 1928. As planned, Roosevelt Avenue was to be one of the Queens Boulevard Line's five express stops, as well as one of 22 total stops on
15006-632: Was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. It initially drew current from the rails, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. An early example of
15129-527: Was used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires. In Europe, it was used in London, Paris, Berlin, Marseille, Budapest, and Prague. In the United States, it was used in parts of New York City and Washington, D.C. Third rail technology was investigated for use on the Gold Coast of Australia for the G:link light rail, though power from overhead lines was ultimately utilized for that system. In
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