Light rail · Urban and suburban rail between tram and metro — reserved rights-of-way with street running.
Scores are relative 0–100 marks within this atlas. Use them to browse, not as an engineering spec.
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No. The six scores are relative editorial 0–100 marks across the 40 types on this site.
Lead images resolve from Wikimedia Commons via Wikipedia titles on the English masters, with licences recorded on the credits page.
Metric is the default. Regional notes (US customary, local brand culture) appear in culture and market chapters.
Each type gets seven fixed-depth chapters, comparable scores and cross-type labs — structured for browsing, not a single freeform page.
Icons are not always the best sellers — they are the ones that stuck in culture, engineering lore or both.
Use the comparison lab on this page to weigh their stats side by side.
Han Zheng · CC BY-SA 2.0
Siemens S70 stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2000s– placed Siemens S70 in Germany / US's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
User:Willem_90 · Public domain
Alstom Citadis stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2000s– placed Alstom Citadis in France's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Metrophil · CC BY 4.0
CAF Urbos stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2000s– placed CAF Urbos in Spain's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Rüdiger Wölk · CC BY-SA 2.5
Bombardier Flexity stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2000s– placed Bombardier Flexity in Canada / Europe's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
S5A-0043 · CC BY 4.0
Tokyo Toden Arakawa stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1911– placed Tokyo Toden Arakawa in Japan's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
P Montiel · Public domain
Docklands Light Railway stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1987– placed Docklands Light Railway in United Kingdom's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
LMP 2001 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Manila LRT stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1984– placed Manila LRT in Philippines's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Zeekakboos · CC BY-SA 4.0
Calgary CTrain stands among the reference light rail designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1981– placed Calgary CTrain in Canada's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Stats are relative 0–100 marks within this type, for comparison only.
Toggle icons on and off — every bar rescales to the leader of your selection.
Should a light rail be judged by passenger-km and uptime, or by how completely it owns the public imagination?
Some legends dominate one corridor; others become templates copied worldwide.
Dedicated high-speed passenger trains reshaping corridors between cities.
Overall 83 🚇Urban rapid transit in tunnels and elevated guideways — the spine of dense cities.
Overall 75 🚂Heavy rail consists that move bulk and containers across continents.
Overall 58 🚊Street-running and light-rail vehicles stitching neighborhoods to centers.
Overall 65 🚝Single-beam elevated transit — iconic at expos, useful in constrained corridors.
Overall 58 🚄Trains that float on magnetic fields — frictionless guideways at airliner speeds.
Overall 76 🚂Coal-and-water iron horses that invented the railway age — still steaming in heritage service.
Overall 42 🚞Cable-hauled cars on steep grades — cities and mountains climbing without adhesion alone.
Overall 58 🚞Trains that bite a toothed rack on steep grades — mountain lines where adhesion alone cannot hold.
Overall 53