Hello everyone and welcome to Train Talk!
In one of the previous episodes of Train Talk, I talked about all the different types of
freight trains, so it is only natural that I talk about different types of passenger
trains as well.
So, we are going to talk about all the different passenger trains you can find running today.
Passenger trains transport people to various destinations and serve several different purposes.
We’ll break passenger trains into a few different categories based on their purpose
and the distances they typically travel.
For this episode, I will only be talking about regularly scheduled passenger trains and not
excursion trips and other special trains.
That said, let’s dive right in!
Commuter trains are typically used by commuters traveling to and from work and generally travel
distances between 10 and 100 miles.
Since they are primarily used by people who are commuting, they usually run during the
morning and afternoon rush hours.
Most commuter train operations run multiple trips in each direction during the week day
commute hours along with some additional trips made in the middle of the day and on weekends
for leisure travelers.
Typical commuter lines run along crowded freeway corridors as a way of decreasing traffic on
the roads.
Commuter train lines usually run between suburbs and one major city or in some cases, they
connect multiple different cities to each other as well as the communities in between.
Train consists usually include 1 locomotive and a few coach cars with automatic doors
for faster boarding, although some commuter trains use self propelled coaches called multiple
units, but more on that in a future episode.
Typically, the last passenger car on a locomotive hauled train is a cab car so that the train
can reverse directions quickly and without having to turn the entire train around.
This is especially important in commuter operations where train sets are used for multiple trips
each day.
You can find out all about cab cars in the first episode of Train Talk.
Most commuter trains are owned by the various cities and counties where they run and maintenance
and operations are contracted to outside companies such as Amtrak.
Intercity trains run between two or more major cities and serve the communities in between.
I briefly referred to these types of trains as “corridor trains” in a previous episode
of train talk.
Generally, these trains travel less than 500 miles but more than 50 miles and run multiple
times each day.
They are used by a variety of people including business travelers, commuters, and vacationers.
Almost all intercity trains in the US are run by Amtrak, but many of them are supported
by the states where they run.
Schedules for corridor trains vary based on where they operate.
On busier corridors such as the North East Corridor, trains run nearly round the clock
and are very frequent.
Other corridors see just a few trips made each day.
Consists for these trains vary by route, but most have various coach cars including standard
unreserved coaches and business class along with a café car that serves light snacks
and beverages.
Depending on the route, some corridor trains operate with either a cab car or additional
locomotive on the end of the train.
The next type of passenger train is Long Distance Service.
Long distance trains serve a variety of different people and typically travel distances of 500
miles or more and only run once a day in each direction or in some cases, just a few times
each week.
These trains connect two or more major cities, as well as the miles and miles of rural areas
in between.
They are often thought of as tourist trains but in reality, they also provide a vital
link for people that live in smaller towns where other forms of transportation aren’t
available, giving them a way to travel to the big city for business, to visit family,
and more.
Long Distance trains are usually made up of two diesel-electric locomotives followed by
an assortment of sleeping cars, a dining car, a lounge car, and coaches.
There is also typically a baggage car at the front of the train for checked luggage.
Currently, Amtrak is the only long distance train operator in the United States.
Finally, some trains serve the sole purpose of taking tourists on scenic rides through
the countryside.
These are called tourist trains, and there are many different tourist train operations
throughout North America.
Tourist trains usually operate out of a major vacation destination and they take riders
on a round trip to see the sights in the area.
Some of these trains have a scenic end destination as well: either an especially picturesque
location or some sort of tourist town.
Additionally, some tourist railroads serve a secondary purpose of taking travelers to
a scenic destination as an alternative to driving.
This form of tourist train has become particularly successful with the Grand Canyon Railway.
Additionally, many tourist railroads use historic equipment such as steam locomotives.
These are often referred to as Heritage Railways and can draw even more tourists who come from
all across the world to see the historic equipment and steam locomotives.
Well, that pretty much does it for this episode, thanks for stopping by! For those of you who
missed my episode on mainline steam train excursions, be sure to check that out as well.
If you’re not already, be sure to subscribe to the channel to automatically be notified
of my weekly video uploads.
And if you have any questions or comments , please let me know in the comments section
below.
Until next time, I’m Mike Armstrong.
I’ll see you down the line!
Thanks for watching.