Urban rail transit in the context of "Streetcar"

A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States, or a Tramcar) is an urban rail transit type in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. Trams are a variant of light rail and are included within this broader category. However, they differ from it in their frequent integration into urban streets, lower traffic signal priority, coexistence with other vehicles, and lower capacity. Their units are capable of forming motor coaches or motorcars, which allows for the operation of longer trains.

Trams are usually lighter and shorter than main line and rapid transit trains. Most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph sliding on an overhead line; older systems may use a trolley pole or a bow collector. In some cases, a contact shoe on a third rail is used. If necessary, they may have dual power systems—electricity in city streets and diesel in more rural environments. Occasionally, trams also carry freight. Tramlines or tram networks operated as public transport are called tramways, or simply trams or streetcars, including systems separated from other traffic. Some trams, known as tram-trains, may have segments that run on mainline railway tracks, similar to interurban systems. The differences between these modes of rail transport are often indistinct, and systems may combine multiple features.

Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) 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 railroad". 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 a lower capacity and speed than a long heavy rail passenger train or rapid transit system.

Rail transportation in the United States includes freight and passenger service. Freight moves along a well integrated network of standard gauge private freight railroads that also extend into Canada and Mexico. The United States has the largest rail transport network of any country in the world, about 136,729 miles (220,044 km). A larger fraction of freight moves by rail in the United States than in most countries and freight rail companies are generally profitable.

Passenger service includes mass transit in most major American cities. Except for commuter rail, most transit systems are not connected to the national rail network. Federal Railroad Administration regulations require passenger cars used on the national rail network to be heavy and strong enough to protect riders in case of collision with freight trains.

A tram-train, also known as a dual-system tram, is an interoperable urban rail transit system in which specially designed vehicles operate as trams on urban street-level networks and as trains on mainline railway tracks, alongside mainline trains.

By complying with both light rail and heavy rail technical and safety standards, these vehicles can use existing tram infrastructure as well as railway lines and stations, enabling a single service to operate across both networks. A tram-train combines the urban accessibility of a tram or light rail with a mainline train's greater speed in the suburbs.

Urban rail transit in China encompasses a broad range of urban and suburban electric passenger rail mass transit systems including subway, light rail, tram and maglev. Some classifications also include non-rail bus rapid transport.

As of December 2024, China has the world's longest urban rail transit system with 11,000.88 km (6,835.63 mi) of urban rail nationwide in 310 metro lines in 47 cities, accounting for 9 of the 10 longest metro systems, with the exceptions of the Moscow Metro.

The Toronto subway is an urban rail transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The subway system is a rail network consisting of four rapid transit lines: three subway lines that operate predominantly underground and one light rail line that primarily runs at-grade.

In 1954, the TTC opened Canada's first underground rail line, then known as the "Yonge subway", under Yonge Street between Union Station and Eglinton Avenue with 12 stations. As of 2025, the network encompasses 87 stations and 80.4 kilometres (50.0 mi) of route. In 2024, the system had a ridership of 331,789,000, or about 1,079,700 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2025, making it the busiest rapid transit system in Canada in terms of daily ridership. As of December 2025, there are 43 stations under construction as part of a new light rail line (running mostly underground), and a new rapid transit line (running both underground and on elevated guideways). And two extensions to existing lines.