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List of US+Canada rail transit currently under construction
What this thread lists:
This thread attempts to track urban transit rail lines that are under construction only in the US and Canada. If your line is planned but not under construction yet, sorry but you don't belong. US lines are in black, Canadian are in blue. Intercity rail lines that are under construction are also included at the bottom, but with much less detail. How is the info compiled? For the most part, this is a crowdsourced list. The thread relies on users (that's you) posting replies to tell us when a new line begins construction, or finishes and opens to riders. I update the list at the top of the thread whenever something changes. That said, there are a couple of resources that people can use to help track things, most notably The Transport Politic's Transit Explorer and UrbanRail.Net's Now Open list. The list -- Under construction now:
Now opened, and therefore removed from the list: Listed alphabetically within each year.
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Isn't Honolulu considered somewhere in between Heavy and Light Rail. I was under the impression is very comparable to the Vancouver SkyTrain.
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Nothing: 0 miles total
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To make a correction, Houston's Uptown and University lines aren't being constructed yet, and might not be for some time (sadly), so that brings the milage total in Houston down from 28 miles to about 15.3 miles.
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San Diego is working on an 11-mile mid-coast extension for the trolley to UCSD and UTC, although I'm not sure if any actual construction has started yet since part of that project will be using an existing rail corridor.
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Dallas will start building a 2 mile streetcar line later this year, and is already extending about a 1/2 mile an existing streetcar line.
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Seattle will start the 2 mile First Hill Streetcar this month. This will connect the King Street / International District dual stations with First Hill (hospitals, housing, and Seattle U) and the new Light Rail tunnel station currently going in on Capitol Hill.
Won't run anywhere near often enough. Grrr. |
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But getting into the weeds of details like that would be a major headache, and would really go beyond the scope of this list. The projects have to be categorized somehow, and there are plenty of discrepancies. Seattle's light rail is also sort of in between because it operates more like heavy rail. There are also major differences in the quality of the commuter rail projects. Some of them (such as Denver) are going to run basically like light rail, whereas others will only be a few trains per day. |
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From Wikipedia:
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Commuter Rail: 233.4 miles total Denver East line - 23 miles Denver Gold line - 11.2 miles Denver NWES - 5.2 miles New Jersey Lackawanna cutoff - 7 miles New York LIRR east access - 4 miles Orlando - 31 miles Providence Wickford extension - 20 miles Salt Lake City Front Runner south - 44 miles San Francisco eBART lines - 80 miles Seattle Lakewood line - 8 miles |
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:previous: This. Chicago's infrastructure plans are very exciting, even if no new rail is being built.
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BART is now constructing 16 miles of heavy rail:
Transit and political leaders in San Jose to help break ground on BART extension April 12, 2012 San Jose Mercury News Dignitaries from across the country are gathering in San Jose today to break ground for the BART-to-San Jose extension. The $3.2 billion BART line from Fremont to East San Jose is the biggest public works project ever in Silicon Valley. The 16-mile extension will be fully completed in late 2016, with stations at Warm Springs, Milpitas and south of Berryessa Road. .... Here's a couple relevent graphics from yesterday's Mercury News: http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...lebart_200.jpg http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...33_bartmap.jpg http://www.mercurynews.com/traffic/c...gets-under-way ... |
What a cool list. Great news about the new BART line. I'm more intrigued by the 80 mile eBART stat.
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Also in the Bay Area, as of the 27th of this month, construction begins on the 37-mile initial segment of SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rapid Transit) commuter rail, between Santa Rosa and San Rafael.
SMART explains its rail construction plan Bob Norberg The Press Democrat April 10, 2012 The rail line from Santa Rosa to Petaluma will be a construction zone the next several months as the track is rehabilitated for commute trains. .... Construction will start April 27 near Third Street in Santa Rosa and work south through Rohnert Park, Cotati to Petaluma. .... |
And then there's SF's Central Subway, a 1.7 mile underground light rail extension to Chinatown. I'm not sure when to consider a project under construction--they're underground along the new route moving utilities and whatnot, but tunnel boring has not yet begun as far as I know. Wikipedia lists the Central Subway as under construction:
Wikipedia: The Central Subway is an extension of the Muni Metro light rail system in San Francisco, California, from the Caltrain commuter rail depot at 4th and King streets to Chinatown. The subway is the second phase of the Third Street Light Rail Project. Ground was broken for the new route on February 9, 2010, and is currently scheduled for completion by 2019. |
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There are 4 expansion proposals in this link 3 of them look good. But some fourmers are very passionate for hating the Starline proposal. Fine what ever, the other 3 should progress. When or if they get done? http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/ The 33-mile SouthEast Service (SES) is proposed to run along existing freight and passenger railroad tracks, enhancing Metra's commuter rail service between the south suburbs and downtown Chicago. The SES line would link close to 20 communities in south Suburban Cook and Will counties, providing new opportunities for travel to downtown Chicago and economic growth and development for the south suburbs. This new line would provide commuting opportunities for a fast growing, underserved corridor of the south suburbs. http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/i...ap09012010.jpg http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/ses.php http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/images/upw_map.jpg Improvements along the UPW Line would: ■Provide expanded service and more transit options for commuters traveling into Chicago's Central Business District ■Provide reverse-commuting options to address growing trends in public transportation ■Spur economic growth by attracting new jobs and businesses that wish to take advantage of transit-oriented development ■Eliminate bottlenecks, allowing for more efficient operation of trains and reduced delays resulting in commuter time savings ■Increase the line's core capacity to help serve the strong anticipated growth in employment http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/upw.php http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/images/upnw_map.jpg Improvements along the UP-NW Line would: ■Provide expanded service and more transit options for commuters traveling into Chicago's Central Business District ■Provide reverse-commuting options to address growing trends in public transportation ■Spur economic growth by attracting new jobs and businesses that wish to take advantage of transit-oriented development ■Allow for the construction of two new rail yards to permit more train capacity and consolidate operations thereby promoting cost efficiency and providing more travel options for commuters ■Increase the line's core capacity to help serve the strong anticipated growth in employment http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/upnw.php I am not going to look it up but the CTA also will be undergoing major improvements and I have heard possible plans on extending some of the lines some day. |
For Sacramento, hopefully we'll see the next phase of the Blue Line in the south part of town begin construction within the year, but haven't heard much on that in a while.
The Green Line starter segment should be running in another month or two. Extension to Natomas and the airport? More funding please. Planning for the streetcar from West Sac to midtown Sac has landed on a new route recently, taking it right past the site of the new intermodal terminal and arena. http://www.cityofsacramento.org/tran..._2011%29v2.pdf |
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So a better way to list these projects (not including the commuter rail or streetcar) would be "fully grade separated" or "non fully grade separated" Simply because that is the strict definition of a true metro, if it is fully grade separated or not. From there a grade separated rail can be split into light metro, heavy metro, automated, etc... So, Honolulu would be fully grade separated while Seattle's would not, due to its at grade crossings and running along the road in areas. Also, just as an fyi, places like Vancouver even further blur the "LRT" "HRT" border with the Canada line, which actually uses full HRT subway cars, but only runs 2 car train sets as of now (but automated). PS - Metro-Vancouver is building 11 km of new grade separated skytrain (RRT = rapid rail transit) this year, pre construction, such as clearing and prepping utilities has already started. |
whoops wrong thread...
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Re: Orlando SunRail
It is a phased opening, but the total mileage is actually 61 miles. Phase I (operational 2014): 31 miles Phase II (operational 2016): 30 miles http://www.orangecountyfl.net/Portal...stemMap607.jpg |
I updated the list to add Denver Gold & NW commuter rail, San Francisco BART to Berryessa, and San Francisco Central subway LRT. I also added a note specifying that the Orlando commuter rail is phase 1 only (similar to my note for the DC Silver line).
San Francisco SMART will go on in 2 weeks. |
The partially privately funded Delmar Loop streetcar is scheduled to break ground this fall. It's going to use renovated St. Louis Car Company vehicles instead of the Skodas.
http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townn...8d36.image.jpg http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townn...8d36.image.jpg UNIVERSITY CITY • The Loop Trolley project, having amassed almost all the $43 million it needs, is ready to move into high gear. Construction is expected to begin late this year, with the trolleys in operation about a year later. When completed, the 2.2-mile system connecting the Delmar Loop to Forest Park will look a lot like the system that ran on St. Louis streets a half-century ago. In a big change of plans, old, renovated streetcars will be used instead of pricier electric/battery cars. And the system will be powered by overhead electric lines running above Delmar Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue, like St. Louis' old streetcar system. Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/m...#ixzz1rwJjxvGE |
Just an update, and yeah no shovels in the ground yet. The planning has hit a milestone, though.
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Great thread! It's impressive to see all the passenger rail construction going on across the country. (400+ miles!)
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It's so great to finally see Cincinnati on a list of cities currently building rail! It's been a long time coming...
For those who haven't seen it in my Cincinnati Development thread, here is a rendering of the rolling stock selected for the Cincinnati Streetcar (made by CAF in Elmira NY). http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/...llingStock.jpg Source: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/inde...cseen.html#new Also, Cincinnati is already applying for funds for further streetcar extensions. |
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I'll change the list. |
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I'm a big fan of the Transport Politic site by the way |
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If it's only 2.2 miles, it would take very little to maintain frequent service. Assume 4.5 miles round trip including turnarounds at either end. That shouldn't take more than 25-30 minutes for a round trip. That would mean only 5-6 streetcars would be required for 5 minute headways. Even if there is a short layover at either end, 7 streetcars should be enough to maintain 5 minute service. |
I'm sure this question from laymen like myself has been answered many times in this forum before, and for the repetition I apologize. But I'm curious. What is the technical difference between light rail and streetcar? I see that Cincinnati's U/C system is qualified as streetcar, but in the rendering the cars look almost identical to Houston's, which is qualified as light rail.
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Yeah that some light rail-y rolling stock in Cincinnati. I think that's cool, though. I always forget how big modern streetcars are.
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The only true common differences between the two are (1) Light rail trains don't share lanes with other traffic while streetcars will. (2) Light rail trains can use multiple units while streetcars don't. (3) Streetcars can turn tighter curves than light rail trains. And I don't think those common differences are 100% true for every case. Because light rail are ran in multiple units, they're called trains instead of cars. They can also be used in longer corridors which require larger capacity trains. And because the trains are longer, they require dedicated lanes. Therefore, it's function of the rail line more than the rolling stock equipment that makes the difference. Because, for all practical purposes, a streetcar is a single light rail unit, or vice versa, a light rail train is two or more streetcars coupled together. |
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Article from the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...eetcar11m.html |
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"Light rail" as we know it in this country originally grew out of an attempt to use streetcar vehicles as if they were heavier rapid transit lines. |
Cirrus - back on Denver. If you're going to include the NW commuter rail, then you probably need to include the North commuter rail and the I-225 light rail. Both of those are closer to shovels in the ground than the NW line. (RTD's received unsolicited PPP proposals for both, so those two could very well start soon, even if the second ballot initiative fails.)
Or you can drop the NW rail, I'm fine with that too. |
I had originally left NW off, but SnyderBock indicated it should be on.
I want to be fairly strict with things being under construction, though. There are so many in planning that the list would look a lot different if it includes things that haven't broken ground yet. So I'll remove it. Is it just the 5 miles of the NW line that needs to come off? |
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East is 22.8 miles, Gold is 11.2 miles. So however you label it, 40.2 miles is fair to say are "under construction." EDIT: Which I think is what you had to begin with, I just wasn't adding up the mileages. My bad. |
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(1) Light rail trains don't share lanes with other traffic while streetcars will... except that some light rail does operate in shared ROW. (2) Light rail trains can use multiple units while streetcars don't....typically true, but many streetcar vehicles can be coupled into at least 2-units. (3) Streetcars can turn tighter curves than light rail trains....can and should are not the same thing. Light rail typical is 82-feet, streetcars you can ratchet down to 50-feet... but then, light rail can theoretically go tighter. And most design specifications you'll see for streetcar systems call for the light rail standard anyways (less wear and tear on the vehicles; higher operating speeds). But this is an important factor in vehicle selection, so it's as good of a criterion to use as any. So like anything else, the answer is, it depends. The light rail/streetcar distinction is very much an American thing, and as I think Cirrus pointed out, it stems from our habit of using light rail as a "metro light." But that is by no means necessary - plenty of places mix and mingle the two vehicle types operationally. In the U.S., I think the easiest distinguishing characteristic is shared ROW versus not. That might require us to re-think some of the older light rail systems, but so what? |
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bunt_q, what about max speed? Could that be a distinction?
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LRT is also has 65mph variants which are very common.
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We're not defining the differences between the vehicles anymore, but rather defining the difference between overall systems. Which is what I've been suggesting all along. |
Atlanta's current streetcar project is actually 2.7 miles rather than 1.4 miles. I didn't see where anyone corrected that. :) http://www.atlantadowntown.com/_file...cember2011.pdf
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The whole concept of light rail when it was devised back in the 70s was to create hybrid regional systems at a lower cost than full-fledged metro/heavy-rail technology could deliver (BART and MARTA demanded huge sums of money and Baltimore/Miami were cut off before they could build a full system). The result was something that was a mix of streetcar and metro systems. This had precedents in systems like LA's, Philly's, and Newark's, where regular surface streetcars were routed into downtown subways to avoid street congestion.
In the 70s, the situation was reversed - planners realized that many downtowns had extensive downtown street grids that were under capacity, where lanes or entire streets could be given over to surface rail, avoiding the insane cost of downtown subways. In city neighborhoods and suburbs, freight-rail or freeway ROWs could be used to ensure high speeds, which were necessary in order to reach suburban destinations in reasonable amounts of time. These systems would have varying degrees of grade separation depending on the desired train speed and the levels of road traffic at each crossing. Of course, because light-rail is just a way to describe some form of hybrid, it's impossible to define what IS and is NOT light rail. This is why Houston is building a "light-rail" system that's really just a big streetcar network, and why Honolulu is building a "light-rail" system that's really just a metro with short trains. |
The 3 mile Mesa extension of the Phoenix light rail line is under construction.
Also, I'm not sure if you're counting people mover systems, but the Phoenix Sky Harbor people mover is under construction and on schedule to open late next year. |
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