An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

railway with the

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

s above street level on a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks). The railway may be

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( ...

, standard-gauge or narrow-gauge railway, light rail,

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...

, or a suspension railway. Elevated railways are normally found in urban areas where there would otherwise be multiple

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

s. Usually, the tracks of elevated railways that run on steel viaducts can be seen from street level.

History

The earliest elevated railway was the London and Greenwich Railway on a brick viaduct of 878 arches, built between 1836 and 1838. The first of the

London and Blackwall Railway Originally called the Commercial Railway, the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) in east London, England, ran from Minories to Blackwall via Stepney, with a branch line to the Isle of Dogs, connecting central London to many of London's docks. ...

(1840) was also built on a viaduct. During the 1840s there were other plans for elevated railways in London that never came to fruition. From the late 1860s onward, elevated railways became popular in US cities. The New York West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway operated with cable cars from 1868 to 1870, thereafter locomotive-hauled. This was followed by the Manhattan Railway Company in 1875, the South Side Elevated Railroad, Chicago (1892–), and the elevated lines of the

Boston Elevated Railway The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Rai ...

(1901–). The Chicago transit system itself is known as the "L", short for "elevated". The Berlin Stadtbahn (1882) and the Vienna Stadtbahn (1898) are also mainly elevated. The first electric elevated railway was the

Liverpool Overhead Railway The Liverpool Overhead Railway (known locally as the Dockers' Umbrella or Ovee) was an overhead railway in Liverpool which operated along the Liverpool Docks and opened in 1893 with lightweight electric multiple units. The railway had a numbe ...

, which operated through Liverpool docks from 1893 until 1956. In London, the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

is a modern elevated railway that opened in 1987 and, since, has expanded. The trains are driverless and automatic. Another modern elevated railway is Tokyo's driverless Yurikamome line, opened in 1995.New Transit Yurikamome websit
History
Retrieved 3 March 2015

Systems

Monorail systems

Most

s are elevated railways, such as the Disneyland Monorail System (1959), the Tokyo Monorail (1964), the Sydney Monorail (1988–2013), the KL Monorail, the Las Vegas Monorail, the Seattle Center Monorail and the São Paulo Monorail. Many maglev railways are also elevated.

Suspension railways

During the 1890s there was some interest in suspension railways, particularly in Germany, with the

Schwebebahn Dresden The Dresden Suspension Railway (german: Schwebebahn Dresden) is a suspended funicular located in Dresden, Germany, and connects the districts of Loschwitz and Oberloschwitz (Rochwitz side). It is one of the oldest suspension railways, having ...

, (1891–) and the Wuppertal Schwebebahn (1901).

H-Bahn The H-Bahn (abbreviation for , German for 'hanging railway') in Dortmund and Düsseldorf (there known as "Sky train") is a driverless passenger suspension railway system. The system was developed by Siemens, who call the project SIPEM (SIeme ...

suspension railways were built in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

and Düsseldorf airport, 1975. The

Memphis Suspension Railway The Memphis Suspension Railway or Mud Island Monorail is a suspended monorail that connects the city center of Memphis with the entertainment park on Mud Island. Celebrating its grand opening on July 3, 1982, it is located beneath a footbridge o ...

opened in 1982. Suspension railways are usually monorail;

Shonan Monorail The is a suspended SAFEGE monorail in the cities of Kamakura and Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the which belongs to Michinori Holdings, and opened on March 7, 1970, the first monorail of its kind in Japan. Tr ...

and

Chiba Urban Monorail The is a two-line suspended monorail system located in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by , a so-called " third-sector" company established on March 20, 1979. Investors include the city of Chiba. The first segmen ...

in Japan, despite their names, are suspension railways.

People mover systems

People mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of driverless grade-separated, mass-transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems that serve as loops or feeder systems, but is sometimes applied to considerably more complex automated systems. Similar to monorails,

Bombardier Innovia APM Innovia APM is a rubber-tired automated people mover system (APM) currently manufactured and marketed by Alstom as part of its Innovia series of fully automated transportation systems. The technology was introduced in 1963 by Westinghouse and h ...

technology uses only one rail to guide the vehicle along the guideway. APMs are common at airports and effective at helping passengers quickly reach their gates. Several elevated APM systems at airports including the

PHX Sky Train Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public airport east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in t ...

at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport; AeroTrain at Kuala Lumpur International Airport; and the Tracked Shuttle System at

London Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...

, United Kingdom.

Modern systems

Full metro system

Roosevelt-avenue-queens-nyc cars driving-under-elevated-railway-line 1980s

;Americas * Baltimore Metro (west of Mondawmin) * BART (partial) *

Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid t ...

(except for parts of the Red Line and Blue Line) * Cleveland Red Line (partial) * Guadalajara light rail system Line 3 (partial under construction) * Honolulu Rail Transit (under construction light metro) *

MARTA Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) : István Márta composer * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river ...

(partial) * Medellín Metro * Mexico City Metro (partial) * Miami Metrorail *

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...

(partial) * Market–Frankford Line (underground in downtown Philadelphia and West Philadelphia up to 40th Street Station but elevated elsewhere) * PATCO (partial) * PATH (partial) * Line 3 Scarborough, a medium capacity metro rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada * SkyTrain, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. *

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

(partial) *

Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro ( es, Metro de Santiago) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 136 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by ...

(partial) *

Lima Metro The Lima Metro ( es, Metro de Lima) is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the cities of Lima and Callao, both of which make up the Lima metropolitan area, currently linking the district of Villa El Salvador in the south of Lima w ...

(partial) ;Asia *

Bangalore metro Namma Metro ("Our Metro" in Kannada), also known as Bengaluru Metro, is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bengaluru, India. Upon its inauguration, it became the first underground metro system in South India. Namma Metro has a mix of un ...

Chennai Metro The Chennai Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 4th longest metro system In india. The system commenced service in 2015 after partially opening the first phase of the project. The network c ...

(partial) * Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System *

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colou ...

( Yellow Line)( Green Line),( Red Line) *

Hanoi Metro The Hanoi Metro ( vi, Đường sắt đô thị Hà Nội, lit=Hanoi urban railway) is a rapid transit system in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. It is Vietnam's first rapid transit system. It is operated by Hanoi Metro Company (HMC). The fi ...

* Hyderabad Metro * Kochi Metro *

Kolkata Metro The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four ...

(future line 5 & 6, later is under construction) * Lahore Metro ( Orange Line) * Manila Light Rail Transit System * Mumbai Metro * Mumbai Monorail *

Nagpur Metro Nagpur Metro is a rapid transit system for the city of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. It is estimated to cost . In February 2014, the Government of Maharashtra gave approval for the Metro Project, while the Government of India's Ministry of Urban ...

Rapid Metro Gurgaon Rapid Metro Gurgaon is a light metro system serving the city of Gurgaon, Haryana, India. Rapid Metro connects the commercial areas of Gurgaon, and acts as a feeder link to the Delhi Metro with an interchange with its Yellow Line at Sikanderp ...

* Rapid Rail, the operator of the rapid transit (metro) system serving

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

and the

Klang Valley Klang Valley ( ms, Lembah Klang; zh, 巴生谷; ) is an urban conglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and includes its adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is co ...

area in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. *

BTS Skytrain The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain ( th, รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส '' TS'), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a ...

, two elevated rapid transit lines in Bangkok, Thailand * Wenhu line, Taipei, Taiwan ;Europe *

Berlin U-Bahn The Berlin U-Bahn (; short for , "underground railway") is a rapid transit system in Berlin, the capital and largest city of Germany, and a major part of the city's public transport system. Together with the S-Bahn, a network of suburban tra ...

( U1 and U2 lines) *

Copenhagen Metro The Copenhagen Metro ( da, Københavns Metro, ) is a 24/7 rapid transit system in Copenhagen, Denmark, serving the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby. The original system opened in October 2002, serving nine stations ...

(partial) * Frankfurt U-Bahn: U1 (partial) * Hamburg U-Bahn ( U3 line) * Paris Metro ( Line 2 and Line 6) *

Vienna U-Bahn The Vienna U-Bahn (german: U-Bahn Wien), where ''U-Bahn'' is an abbreviation of the German term ''Untergrundbahn'' ( en, underground railway), is a rapid transit system serving Vienna, Austria. With the September 2017 opening of the , five-stati ...

( U6 line) *

Wuppertal Suspension Railway The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ("Wuppertal Suspension Railway") is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany. Its original name was ("Eugen Langen Monorail Overhead Conveyor System"). It is the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging car ...

Stockholm Metro The Stockholm metro ( sv, Stockholms tunnelbana) is a rapid transit system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are three col ...

(Slussen-Gamla Stan) ;Oceania * Melbourne Metro *

Sydney Metro The Sydney Metro is a fully automated rapid transit system serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Currently consisting of one line that opened on 26 May 2019, it runs from Tallawong to Chatswood and consists of 13 stat ...

Northwest Line in Sydney, Australia (skytrain section) ;Disused Forest Hills El 1910

s - Atlantic Avenue Elevated, Charlestown Elevated, Washington Street Elevated, Causeway Street Elevated * Elevated railways operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company in New York City *

* The elevated Airport line of Kolkata Suburban Railway, closed in 2016 for reconstruction relating Kolkata Metro line 4

People mover

* Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, a people mover at and around Tomorrowland,

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

, Orlando, Florida, United States * AirTrain JFK, a people mover at and around John F. Kennedy International Airport,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York, United States * ATL Skytrain, a people mover at

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , also known as Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield, Hartsfield–Jackson and, formerly, as the Atlanta Municipal Airport, is the primary internatio ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, Georgia, United States * Changi Airport Skytrain, an inter-terminal people mover at Changi International Airport in Singapore *

Detroit People Mover The Detroit People Mover (DPM) is a elevated automated people mover system in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The system operates in a one-way loop on a single track encircling downtown Detroit, using Intermediate Capacity Transit System ...

, an urban transit people mover in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan, United States *

, an inter-terminal automated people mover in

and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, Germany *

Metromover Metromover is a free mass transit automated people mover train system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami, Florida, United States. Metromover serves the Downtown Miami, Brickell, Park West and Arts & Entertainment District neighborho ...

, a people mover at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida, United States *

, a people mover at

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public airport east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in t ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, United States

Proposed designs

* UC San Diego Blue Line extension will mostly be aerial light rail. * Réseau express métropolitain * Phnom Penh SkyTrain (Cambodia) * Ho Chi Minh City Metro (Vietnam) will be partially elevated * Managua Metro (Nicaragua) * San Salvador Metro (El Salvador) * Ljubljana Metro (Slovenia)

References

{{Authority control Railways by type