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Heavy Rail is high-speed, passenger rail cars operating singly or in trains of two or more cars on fixed rails in separate rights-of-way from which all other vehicular and foot traffic are excluded. Also known as "rapid rail," "subway," "elevated (railway)," or "metropolitan railway (metro)".
New York is equipped both with underground and with elevated railways. In America the underground is. invariably called the "subway." Subways and elevated railways exist also in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and some other cities.
ATLANTA - subway
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority operates the subway and bus system in the City of Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb counties. The rail system currently has 36 stations with 46 route miles. MARTA carries about 250,000 rail passengers on weekdays. All trains are controlled by Automatic Train Control. An operator at the front of the train controls the doors and makes station announcements. Each line runs at 8 minute intervals, translating into 4 minute headways on main line portions of routes. During special events trains may run as little as 2 minute headways. The system is open from approximately 5:00 am to 1:00 am on weekdays and from 5:00 to 12:30 am on weekends and holidays. Major events can and have required MARTA to run 24 hours a day.
BALTIMORE - Metro Subway
In 1972 the Parliament of Maryland approved the construction of a mass transit system with a total length of 45 km. Four years later, in 1976, MTA (Mass Transit Administration) began construction of a first 12.2 km segment, which was inaugurated in 1983 (Charles Center - Reistertown). A second 9.8 km section was put into service in 1987 to Owing Mills with only two intermediate stations. Eventually in 1994 the 2.5 km stretch from Charles Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital opened regular service. The Baltimore Metro Subway has a total length of 24.5 km (10 km underground, 3.5 elevated, rest ground level) with 14 stations. Underground stations lie 16 - 34 m below street level. Platform length is 137 m for 6-car-trains. All stations are wheel-chair accessible.
BOSTON - subway
The Boston Subway network (the 'T') consists of three colour-coded full metro lines (red, orange and blue) plus a light rail line (green line), similar to San Francisco's Muni Metro, with four branches which runs underground in Central Boston (actually America's oldest subway opened in 1897) and on street level with level crossings along its surface sections. All three full metro lines are partly underground in the city centre but elevated or at grade in outer areas using former railway alignments. The subway is operated by MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority) and has a total length of 121 km with 85 stations. CHICAGO - subway
Chicago's metro is know as the 'L' as most of its network is elevated. Some stretches of today's system date back to the end of the 19th century when Chicago followed New York's example to construct elevated rail lines. Whereas New York started early in the 20th century to put all elevated lines in Manhattan underground, Chicago maintains most of its original routes. All lines spread out from the city centre where some of them form the famous elevated loop, now one of the city's landmarks. Two lines, the Blue Line and the Red Line cross the city centre north-south in a subway. Washington, Jackson and Monroe stations of both subways are connected by a 750 m (Dearborn subway) / 930 m (State St.) long continuous platform. The entire network is 173 km long and has 151 stations, 18 km lie in a tunnel (21 stations) and 62 km are elevated (89 stations). The 'L' is operated by CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Both airports are served by are served by a CTA train, O'Hare Airport by the Blue Line and Midway Airport by the Orange Line.
CLEVELAND - metro rail
Construction of Cleveland's only metro line began in the 1950's from its eastern terminus Windermere. In 1968 it reached the airport. The Red Line is 31 km long (only 1 km underground at Airport and Tower City) and has 18 stations, average distance between stations is 1750 m. Both metro and light rail lines are operated by Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA).
LOS ANGELES - Metro Rail
In the 1980's, the county and region decided to return to rail-based public transport and to build a network of metro and light rail lines. The first phase includes 95 km (59 miles) with one subway (Red Line) and two (Blue & Green) LRT lines with another two LRT lines to open by 2003 and 2007. Construction began in 1985 on the Metro Blue Line, which starts in downtown L.A. and then runs south for 30 km (22 miles) to Long Beach along a former railway alignment not used for passenger service since 1963. At the southern end the Blue Line turns in a loop through downtown Long Beach adjacent to the waterfront and Long Beach Harbor (site of the Queen Mary). The northern terminus at 7th St./Metro Center/Julian Dixon (underground station) opened in 1991 and provides a link to the Metro Red Line. Along the 35 km (22 mile) route there are 22 stations with high platforms which allow easy access into the LRT vehicles. Journey time for the entire route is 53 minutes. The first section of L.A.'s only subway line, the Metro Red Line, opened to the public, after seven years of construction, on 30 January 1993 in downtown Los Angeles between Union Station and MacArthur Park. In 1996 it was extended westwards to Wilshire/Western, in 1999 the branch to Hollywood/Vine started operating and eventually in 2000 it reached its northwestern North Hollywood terminus. The Metro Red Line now has a length of 28 km and all stations boast an interesting design, which obviously made construction more expensive than elsewhere.
MIAMI - Metrorail and Metromover
Metrorail is a full metro line connecting the northern parts of Miami to the southern coast via the city centre. From there an automated peoplemover (Metromover) distributes passengers in the downtown area. Metrorail is an elevated (2 km at grade), 34 km long line opened 21 May 1984 between Dadeland South and Overtown, after construction had started in 1979. Tri-Rail station was added in 1989 to create a transfer station for Tri-Rail's suburban services. The average station distance is 1,700 m which results in a commercial speed of more than 60 km/h. All 21 stations have escalators and elevators. Platforms are 190 m long (8-car-trains). An elevated metro was the only option for Miami due to the high ground water level in the area. Metrorail carries some 46,000 passengers a day. The downtown Metromover opened 21 April 1986. This is an elevated, rubber-tyred, fully automated 3 km ring line. Later, in May 1994, two branches, one north (Omni-Loop, 2.2 km) and one south were added (Brickell-Loop, 1.8 km). The Metromover links to Metrorail at Government Center and Brickell and runs 8-15 m above street level. All stations are wheelchair accessible and video surveyed. Trains are formed by one or two 12 m long cars. Those trains serving the ring line only run clockwise, whereas both branches are served anticlockwise on two separate routes. Both systems are operated by MDTA (Miami Dade Transit Agency).
NEW YORK CITY - subway
PHILADELPHIA - subway
SAN FRANCISCO - BART
BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is a modern rapid rail system (30 km underground in downtown San Francisco Oakland and Berkeley) which crosses the Bay in a 5.8 km long tunnel and serves surrounding cities like Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and San Mateo. Its construction began in 1964 between Concord and Walnut Creek, and the lowering of the transbay tube and the excavation of the Market Street subway in downtown San Francisco followed in the late 1960's and beginning of the 1970's. BART cars were ordered from the California based Rohr Industries which had no experience in building such cars. The first stretch open for public service on 11 September 1972 between Oakland and Fremont. In 2000, the entire network is 152 km long, it has 39 stations and serves some 3 million people in the area. All stations are fully accessible to disabled persons. Out of 152 km of total length, 30 km run in subways through city centres, 5.8 km underneath the San Francisco Bay, 5.5 km is the Berkeley Hills tunnel, 36.8 km run elevated and the remaining 70.5 km are at grade. Out of 39 stations, 14 are underground, 13 elevated and 12 at grade. Four stations are shared with Muni Metro stations in downtwon San Francisco.
The Muni Metro is a streetcar-like network which runs underground (parallel to BART) in the city centre (8 underground stations), similar to a German Stadtbahn system or the trolley networks in Boston or Philadelphia.
WASHINGTON - metro.
The Washington Metro is one of the newest and certainly one of the most modern metros in the world. It celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2001. Compared to older subways, Washington's underground stations features spacious vaulted roofs. Most outer branches run on the surface, partly in the median strip of expressways. Apart from the Red Line, all other four lines form a network sharing tracks and platforms along certain stretches, an arrangement similar to Munich's U-Bahn network. Currently the system includes 164.5 km (80 km underground) and 87 stations (51 underground) (Green Line southern extension included), 61 km and 43 stations lie within Washington DC, 56.4 km (24 stations) are in Maryland and 47 km (20 stations) in Virginia. The aim of a 100-mile-system has been achieved with only a few years of delay.
Ачкасов И.
В США метро называют Subway. Реже Underground Rail. Слово метрополитен в свою очередь может обозначать не метро, а городскую территорию с ближайшими пригородами - Metropoliten Area. Subway'ем также называют длинные бутерброды со всякой всячиной, и даже существует сеть торгующих ими закусочных, по типу Макдональдса. Метро существует почти во всех крупных американских городах. И почти везде все разное - вагоны, станции, билеты. Например, в Вашингтоне и Бостоне вагоны просторные, с мягкими сиденьями, практически бесшумные. В Нью-Йорке вагоны узкие, с жесткими скамейками, сильно гремят. Именно по нью-йоркской подземке, увиденной в кинофильмах, чаще всего судят об американском метро в целом. Действительно, малопривлекательная картина - тесно, грязно и мрачно. Но не следует сгущать краски. Даже в Нью-Йорке метро вполне пригодно для передвижения. В нью-йоркском Subway'e существуют поезда двух типов - обычные и экспрессы. Первые тормозят на всех станциях подряд. Вторые лишь на некоторых, где можно пересесть с медленного на экспресс и наоборот. На станции проложено четыре пути - два внешних для обычных поездов и два внутренних - для экспрессов. Между ними перроны. Если станция не предназначена для экспрессов, они оглушительно проносятся по ней, не останавливаясь. В тоннеле и те, и другие поезда едут рядом, обгоняя друг друга - все это видно в окно. Экспрессы ходят реже обычных поездов. Поэтому надо сориентироваться, что лучше - сойти с медленного поезда и ждать экспресса или спокойно ехать в медленном поезде до конца. Следует учесть, что обычные остановки расположены утомительно часто. Их соотношение к экспресс-остановкам приблизительно 4 к 1. Если удачно подгадать пересадку на экспресс, можно сильно выиграть во времени. Но если экспресс приходит не сразу, и его приходится долго ждать, то выигрыш невелик. Маршруты обозначаются цифрами 1,2,3... и буквами А,В,С... Линии на схеме раскрашены в разные цвета. Вагоны на разных линиях могут отличаться по конструкции. Пересадки бесплатные, но сами переходы могут быть длинными и запутанными. Важная особенность - на некоторых станциях нет внутреннего перехода на противоположную сторону. Для этого необходимо подниматься на поверхность и следовательно заново платить. Поэтому при входе на станции вывешены объявления, куда именно вы попадете, если спуститесь именно здесь - например, Uptown & Bronx, то есть вы направляетесь к Колумбийскому университету и Гарлему, или Downtown Manhatten & Brooklyn, то есть вы на пути к Wall Street и дальше в Бруклин. На эти надписи следует смотреть заранее, чтобы потом не метаться по перрону. В Нью-Йорке метро проложено почти на поверхности. Поэтому летом там стоит неимоверная духота. Вагоны кондиционированы, но пока ждете поезда, можно упасть в обморок. Вечером, когда безлюдно, лучше держаться специально обозначенных пятачков на перроне, за которыми наблюдает видеокамера. Система оплаты метро в Нью-Йорке элементарная - за $1.50 (еще недавно это было $1.25) покупаете металлический жетон, опускаете его в слот, проходите через турникет и катаетесь хоть целый день по всему городу. Проездных не существует. Если у вас много вещей или детская коляска, надо попросить кассира открыть дверь в обход турникета. В Вашингтоне, Бостоне и других городах система иная. Стоимость билета зависит от расстояния, на которое вы едите и от времени суток. Обычно она составляет от 0.85 до 1.25 доллара в один конец, незначительно повышаясь в часы пик. Билеты продает автомат. Он принимает банкноты и мелочь. Билет представляет собой картонку, снабженную магнитной полосой и называется Metrocard. На ней записывается уплаченная сумма, например $1.10 Можно заплатить авансом 10.00 долларов и ездить с этим билетом, пока не исчерпается вся десятка. Потом покупаете новый билет или доплачиваете за старый, сколько хотите.Ярослав
