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Railway Technical Info - United States of America

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General Info

Most "heavy rail" passenger operators in the United States, both national and local, are publicly-owned organisations, whose trains in many cases run on the tracks of private companies. These private companies do not themselves usually provide passenger services. Some sections of line, notably the Northeast Corridor (Boston - New York - Washington) and branches, are owned by passenger operators.

National

System	Track	Route	Electrification
heavy rail defaults	standard	bi-di (RH pref.)	none

These defaults apply to heavy rail networks throughout the United States. Heavy rail systems are only listed below where there are known variations from these defaults, e.g. electrification.

Northeast Corridor

Ownership of the Northeast Corridor and branches is divided between Amtrak and various local rail operators. There is a complex mixture of electrification systems:

Section	Electrification	Installed by
Boston South - New Haven	25kV 60Hz AC	Amtrak
New Haven - New York (Bowery Bay)	12kV 60Hz AC	New Haven Railroad; frequency 25Hz until 1987
New York (Bowery Bay) - Philadelphia - Washington / Harrisburg	12kV 25Hz AC	Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)
New Jersey branches	25kV 60Hz AC	New Jersey Transit; some converted from 3kV DC in 1984
Philadelphia branches	12kV 25Hz AC	PRR / Reading Railroad

Regional

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
White Pass & Yukon RR	3' (914mm)	n/a?	none

Local

Baltimore (MD)

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
"Metro Subway"	standard	RH	700V DC third rail
"Light Rail"	standard	RH	?V overhead

Boston (MA)

System	Track	Route	Electrification
"Subway"	standard	RH	600V DC third rail (overhead on the surface section of the Blue Line)
Green Line	standard	RH, circles	? overhead
"Mattapan High Speed Line"	standard	RH, circles	? overhead

Chicago area (IL, IN)

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
"L"	standard	RH	???V DC third rail
heavy rail electric lines	standard	RH	???V overhead	includes "South Shore" line

Los Angeles area (CA)

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
Los Angeles: "Subway"	standard	RH?	750V DC third rail	Red and Purple lines
Los Angeles: light rail	standard	RH	750V DC overhead	Blue, Green, Gold and Expo lines

Miami (FL)

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
"Metrorail"	standard	RH	?V DC third rail
"Metromover"	rubber-tyred	RH?	?V DC third rail

New York area (NJ, NY)

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
"Subway"	standard	RH	?V DC third rail	includes Staten Island Railway
PATH	standard	RH?	?
Long Island RR (suburban heavy rail)	standard	RH	?
Grand Central lines (suburban heavy rail)	standard	RH	?V DC third rail
"Hudson-Bergen Light Rail"	standard?	RH?	?V overhead
Newark (NJ): "Light Rail"	standard?	RH?	?V overhead

Philadelphia area (NJ, PA)

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
"Subway": Market-Frankford Line	5' 2½" (1588mm)	RH	600V DC third rail
"Subway": Broad Street Line	standard	RH	600V DC third rail
"Subway-Surface trolleys"	5' 2½" (1588mm)	RH, circles	?V overhead	routes 10, 11, 13, 34, 36
"Girard Avenue trolley"	5' 2½" (1588mm)	RH, circles	600V DC overhead	route 15
"Suburban trolleys"	5' 2½" (1588mm)	RH, circles	?V overhead	routes 101, 102
"Norristown High-Speed Line"	standard	RH	?V DC third rail	route 100
PATCO	standard	RH?	685V DC third rail

Portland (OR)

System	Track	Route	Electrification
"MAX", east of NE 9th Ave	standard	RH	825V DC overhead
"MAX", west of NE 9th Ave	standard	RH	750V DC overhead
"Streetcar"	standard	RH	750V DC overhead

San Francisco Bay area (CA)

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
Caltrain	standard	RH	?V overhead	electrification in progress
BART	5' 6" (1676mm)	RH	1000V DC third rail
San Francisco: trams	standard	RH, stubs	600V DC overhead
San Francisco: cable cars	3' 6" (1067mm)	RH, turntables	none	cable traction
San Jose: trams	standard?	RH, stubs	750V DC overhead
Sacramento: trams	standard	RH, stubs?	750V DC overhead

Seattle area (WA)

System	Track	Route	Electrification
Seattle: "Light Rail"	standard	RH	1500V DC overhead
Seattle: "Streetcar"	standard	RH	750V DC overhead
Seattle: monorail	monorail	n/a	700V DC third rail
Tacoma: "Light Rail"	standard	n/a	750V DC overhead

Other Systems

System	Track	Route	Electrification	Comment
Atlanta, GA: "Rapid Transit"	standard?	RH?	?V DC third rail
Atlanta, GA: "Streetcar"	standard?	n/a	750V DC overhead?
Buffalo, NY: "Metro Rail"	standard	RH	650V DC overhead
Charlotte, NC: "Light Rail"	standard	RH	750V DC overhead
Cincinnati, OH: "Streetcar"	standard?	n/a	?V overhead	under construction
Cleveland, OH: "Rapid Transit"	standard	RH	600V DC overhead
Dallas, TX: DART	standard	RH	750V DC overhead
Dallas, TX: McKinney Avenue streetcar	standard	RH	?V DC overhead
Denver, CO: "commuter rail"	standard	RH?	25kV 60Hz? overhead	under construction
Denver, CO: trams	standard	RH	?V overhead
Detroit, MI: "People Mover"	monorail?	n/a	?V third rail
Honolulu, HI: "Rail Transit"	standard?	?	?V third rail	under construction
Houston, TX: "METRORail"	standard?	RH	?V overhead
Jacksonville, FL: "Skyway"	monorail	RH?	?V third rail
Kansas City, MO: "Streetcar"	standard?	RH?	?V overhead	under construction
Kenosha, WI: trams	standard	n/a	600V DC overhead
Las Vegas, NV: monorail	monorail	RH?	750V DC third rail
Little Rock, AR: trams	standard?	?	?V overhead
Memphis, TN: "trolleys"	standard?	RH?	?V overhead
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN: "Light Rail"	standard	RH	750V DC overhead
New Orleans, LA: "Streetcar"	5' 2½" (1588mm)	RH	?V overhead
Norfolk, VA: trams	standard	RH, stubs	750V DC overhead
Phoenix, AZ: trams	standard	RH, stubs	750V DC overhead
Pittsburgh, PA: trams	5' 2½" (1588mm)	RH, stubs	650V DC overhead
St. Louis, MO & IL: "MetroLink"	standard	RH	750V DC overhead
Salt Lake City, UT: "TRAX"	standard?	RH	750V DC overhead
Salt Lake City, UT: "Sugar House Streetcar"	standard?	RH?	?V overhead	under construction
San Diego: "Trolleys"	standard	RH, stubs	600V DC overhead
Savannah, GA: "Streetcar"	standard?	n/a?	?V overhead
Tampa, FL: "Streetcar"	standard?	RH	?V overhead
Tucson, AZ: "Sun Link Streetcar"	standard?	RH?	750V DC overhead
Washington, DC: metro	standard	RH	?V DC third rail
Washington, DC: "Streetcar"	standard?	RH?	750V DC overhead	under construction