![McCowan station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/McCowan_station.jpg)
A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a
rail transport
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
system with a capacity greater than
light rail, but less than typical
heavy-rail
Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:
Rapid transit
A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...
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 c ...
. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 light rail vehicle (LRV). Most medium-capacity rail systems are automated or use light rail type vehicles. Light rail is considered high capacity as trains use 2-4 LRVs.
Since
ridership
In public transportation, patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and ...
determines the scale of a rapid transit system, statistical modeling allows planners to size the rail system for the needs of the area. When the predicted
ridership
In public transportation, patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and ...
falls between the service requirements of a
light rail and
heavy rail
Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:
Rapid transit
A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...
or metro system, an MCS project is indicated. An MCS may also result when a rapid transit service fails to achieve the requisite ridership due to network inadequacies (e.g.
single-tracking) or changing demographics.
In contrast with most light rail systems, an MCS usually runs on a fully
grade separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...
exclusive
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
. In some cases, the distance between
stations is much longer than typically found on heavy rail networks. An MCS may also be suitable for
branch line connections to another mode of a heavy-capacity transportation system, such as an
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
or a main route of a metro network.
Definition
![Canary](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Canary.wharf.dlr.station.arp.750pix.jpg)
The definition of a medium-capacity system varies due to its non-
standardization
Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
. Inconsistencies in
international definitions are even reflected within individual countries. For example, the
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
Ministry of Transportation and Communications states that each MCS system can board around 6,000–20,000
passengers per hour per direction
Passengers per hour per direction (p/h/d), passengers per hour in peak direction (pphpd) or corridor capacity is a measure of the route capacity of a rapid transit or public transport system.
Definition
The corridor capacity in the passenger t ...
(p/h/d or PPHPD), while the Taiwan Department of Rapid Transit Systems (TCG) suggests an MCS has a capability of boarding around 20,000–30,000 p/h/d, and a report from the World Bank places the capacity of an MCS at 15,000–30,000 p/h/d.
For comparison, ridership capacity of more than 30,000 p/h/d has been quoted as the standard for metro or "heavy rail" standards rapid transit systems,
while
light rail systems have passenger capacity volumes of around 10,000–12,000 p/h/d
or 12,000–18,000 p/h/d.
VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger) systems are categorized in the medium-capacity rail systems because their manufacturer defines their passenger capacities as being up to 30,000 p/h/d. In
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
,
MTR's
Ma On Shan line
The Ma On Shan line () was a rapid transit line that formed part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. Coloured brown on the MTR map, the line acted as a branch of the East Rail line that connects the new towns of Sha ...
could, in some contexts, are classified as a medium-capacity system (as it used shorter four-car
SP1950 trains) but can attain up to 32,000 p/h/d which is comparable to the passenger capacity of some full metro transit networks. This classification did not last for much longer as full-length, 8-car trains were being deployed on the line in advance of its extension and transformation into the
Tuen Ma line
The Tuen Ma line () is a rapid transit line that forms part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. Coloured brown on the map, the Tuen Ma line is in length, making it the longest line of the MTR network. It has a total of ...
in June 2021. Two other lines, the
Disneyland Resort line
The Disneyland Resort line is a heavy rail MTR line connecting Sunny Bay to the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, coloured pink on the network diagram. It is the seventh line of the former MTR network before the merger of MTR and KCR, and the w ...
shuttle service to
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort since 2005 and the
South Island line
The South Island line, identified by light green on the MTR route map, is a rapid transit line of Hong Kong's MTR metro system. This line connects the HK business district from Admiralty station to the Southern District of Hong Kong Island ...
since December 2016, are also built to MCS standards.
Generally speaking, medium capacity designation is created from relative lower capacity and/or train configuration comparisons to other heavy rail systems in the same area. For example, the train in an MCS may have a shorter configuration than the standard
metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
system, usually three (though, in some cases, just two) to six
traincars, allowing for shorter
platforms to be built and used. Rather than using steel wheels,
rubber-tyred metro technology, such as the
VAL system used on the
Taipei Metro
Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei City, New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the State-owned enterprise, government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation ...
, is sometimes recommended, due to its low running
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...
, as well as the ability to climb steeper
grades
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also r ...
and turn tighter curves, thus allowing more flexible alignments.
Fully heavy rail or metro systems generally have train
headway
Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...
s of 10 minutes or better during peak hours.
Some systems that qualify as heavy rail/metro in every other way (e.g. are fully
grade separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...
), but which have network inadequacies (e.g. a section of single track rail) can only achieve lesser headways (e.g. every 15 minutes) which result in lower passenger volume capacities, and thus would be more accurately defined as "light metro" or "medium-capacity" systems as a result.
Terminology
![Rame VAL208 P1040082](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Rame_VAL208_P1040082.JPG)
In addition to MCS, ''light metro'' is a common alternative word in European countries,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
.
![UiTrans Ui-Sinseol Line train leaving Solbat Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/UiTrans_Ui-Sinseol_Line_train_leaving_Solbat_Park.jpg)
In some countries, however, light metro systems are conflated with
light rail. In South Korea, ''Light Rail'' is used as the translation for the original Korean term, "경전철" – its literal translation is "Light Metro", but it actually means "Any railway transit other than heavy rail, which has capacity between heavy rail and bus transit". For example, the
U Line
The U Line is a driverless, fully automatic, grade-separated light rail or light metro line in Uijeongbu, Seoul Capital Area, South Korea. The "U" is short for the city Uijeongbu. The line uses Véhicule Automatique Léger (VAL) 208 trains buil ...
in
Uijeongbu
Uijeongbu () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.
Overview
Uijeongbu is located north of the Korean capital Seoul; it lies inside a defile, with mountains on two sides, and commands a natural choke point across the main traditional in ...
utilizes
VAL system, a variant of medium-capacity rail transport, and is therefore categorized "light metro" by LRTA and others,
though the operator itself and South Korean sources refer to the U Line as "light rail".
Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit
The Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit is a light metro system between the cities of Busan and Gimhae in South Korea. The line has 21 stations including Daejeo and Sasang where passengers can transfer to Busan Metro Line 3 and Line 2 respectivel ...
is also akin to a light metro in its appearance and features, thought the operator refers it as a "light rail".
Likewise, Malaysian officials and media commonly refer to the
Kelana Jaya
Kelana Jaya is a suburb of Petaling Jaya city, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia, comprising sections SS3, SS4, SS5, SS6, and SS7. The Damansara–Puchong Expressway cuts through this neighbourhood. The shopping mall Paradigm Mall is located here ...
,
Ampang and Sri Petaling lines as "light rail transit" systems;
when originally opened, the original Malay abbreviations for the lines, PUTRA-LRT (''Projek Usahasama Transit Ringan Automatik''/Automatic Light Transit Joint Venture Project) and STAR-LRT (''Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan''/Light Flow Transit System) did not clearly distinguish between light rail and light rapid transit. Some articles in India also refer to some "light metro"-type systems as "light rail".
The
Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
, also categorizes several public transport systems as "light metro".
[The french term ''Métro léger'', a literal translation of "Light Metro", means Light rail.]
Advantages and disadvantages
The main reason to build a light metro instead of a regular metro is to reduce costs, mainly because this system employs shorter vehicles and shorter stations.
Light metros may operate faster than heavy-rail rapid transit systems due to shorter
dwell times at stations, and the faster acceleration and deceleration of lighter trains. For example, express trains on the
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 2 ...
are about as fast as the
Vancouver SkyTrain
SkyTrain is the medium-capacity rapid transit system in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, serving Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks running on underground ...
, but these express trains skip most stops on lines where they operate.
Medium-capacity systems have restricted growth capacities as
ridership
In public transportation, patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and ...
increases. For example, it is difficult to extend station platforms once a system is in operation, especially for underground railway systems, since this work must be done without interfering with traffic. Some railway systems, like Hong Kong and Wuhan, may make advance provisions for longer platforms, for example, so that they will be able to accommodate trains with more, or longer cars, in the future.
Taipei Metro
Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei City, New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the State-owned enterprise, government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation ...
, for example, constructed extra space for two extra cars in all its
Wenhu Line
The Wenhu or Brown line (code BR) is a metro line in Taipei operated by Taipei Metro, named after the districts it connects: Wenshan and Neihu. It is an automated medium-capacity rubber-tyred metro line and is long, serving a total of 24 st ...
stations.
List of medium-capacity rail systems
The following is the list of currently-operating MCSs which are categorized as ''light metros'' by the
Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA) ,
unless otherwise indicated.
The list does not include, for example,
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 accurately, ...
s and urban
maglev
Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
, despite most of them also being "medium-capacity rail system".
Former examples
The following is the list of former-MCSs that either developed into a full
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 c ...
system, or which are no longer in operation:
*
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
**
Line 3 – began with 3-car configuration, changed to 6-car in 2010.
*
Komaki
is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 148,872 in 68,174 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city was . Komaki is commonly associated with the former Komaki Airport, whi ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
**
Peachliner
The Peachliner, formally the was a people mover in the city of Komaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It operated from 1991 until September 30, 2006, when it became the first people-mover system in Japan to cease operations.
History
The planning of ...
– abandoned on 30 September 2006.
*
Sha Tin
Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project.
The ...
and
Ma On Shan
Ma On Shan may refer to:
* Ma On Shan (peak) ( zh, t=馬鞍山, s=马鞍山, l=saddle peak, links=no), a mountain in the New Territories of Hong Kong
* Ma On Shan (town), a New Town in the New Territories on the foot of Ma On Shan mountain
* Ma On ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
**
Ma On Shan Rail – converted from four- to eight-car configuration and became part of
Tuen Ma line
The Tuen Ma line () is a rapid transit line that forms part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. Coloured brown on the map, the Tuen Ma line is in length, making it the longest line of the MTR network. It has a total of ...
.
See also
*
Automated guideway transit
An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more dr ...
*
Light rail
*
Maglev
Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
*
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
*
Premetro
A premetro is a tramway or light railway which includes segments built to rapid transit standards, generally as part of a process of conversion to a metro-standards railway usually by the construction of tunnels in the central city area.
Hist ...
*
Passenger rail terminology
Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:
Rapid transit
A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...
*
Rail transport
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
*
Rubber-tyred metro
*
People mover
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
*
VAL
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Urban rail transit definitionsby the US
Transportation Research Board
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, formerly the National Research Council of the United States, which serves as an independent adviser to the President of the Unite ...
and the
American Public Transportation Association
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit group of approximately 1,500 public and private sector member organizations that promotes and advocates for the interests of the public transportation industry in the United S ...
Jane's Urban Transport Systems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medium-Capacity Rail Transport System
Railways by type