Editing Rail transport (section)

===Passenger trains===
{{Main|Passenger train}}
[[File:Shenzhen Guangzhou high speed train new rolling stock China (37116926035).jpg|thumb|Interior view of a high-speed bullet train, manufactured in China]]
A passenger train stops at stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is the duty of a [[conductor (transportation)|guard/train manager/conductor]]. Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Passenger trains provide long-distance intercity travel, daily commuter trips, or local urban transit services, operating with a diversity of vehicles, operating speeds, right-of-way requirements, and service frequency. Service frequencies are often expressed as a number of trains per hour (tph).<ref>STANDS4 LLC, 2020, [https://www.abbreviations.com/term/210500 TPH] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719155544/https://www.abbreviations.com/term/210500 |date=19 July 2020 }}, abbreviations.com, accessed 19 July 2020</ref> Passenger trains can usually be into two types of operation, intercity railway and intracity transit. Whereas intercity railway involve higher speeds, longer routes, and lower frequency (usually scheduled), intracity transit involves lower speeds, shorter routes, and higher frequency (especially during peak hours).<ref name="AREMA. 2003. Practical Guide to Railway Engineering">American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association Committee 24{{Snd}} Education and Training. (2003). Practical Guide to Railway Engineering. AREMA, 2nd Ed.</ref>

[[Inter-city rail|Intercity trains]] are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as a [[dining car]]. Some lines also provide over-night services with [[sleeping car]]s. Some long-haul trains have been given a [[lists of named passenger trains|specific name]]. [[Regional rail|Regional trains]] are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. [[Commuter rail|Commuter trains]] serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily [[commuting]] service. [[Airport rail link]]s provide quick access from city centres to [[airport]]s.
[[File:Tampere - trail.jpg|thumb|The [[VR Class Sm3]] ''[[Pendolino]]'' high-speed train at the [[Tampere Central Station|Central Railway Station]] of [[Tampere]], Finland]]
[[High-speed rail]] are special inter-city trains that operate at much higher speeds than conventional railways, the limit being regarded at {{convert|200|to|350|km/h|abbr=}}. High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. [[Maglev (transport)|Magnetic levitation]] trains such as the [[Shanghai maglev train]] use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances. Due to their heightened speeds, route alignments for high-speed rail tend to have broader curves than conventional railways, but may have steeper grades that are more easily climbed by trains with large kinetic energy.

High [[kinetic energy]] translates to higher horsepower-to-ton ratios (e.g. {{convert|20|hp/ST|disp=or}}); this allows trains to accelerate and maintain higher speeds and negotiate steep grades as momentum builds up and recovered in downgrades (reducing [[cut and fill]] and tunnelling requirements). Since lateral forces act on curves, curvatures are designed with the highest possible radius. All these features are dramatically different from freight operations, thus justifying exclusive high-speed rail lines if it is economically feasible.<ref name="AREMA. 2003. Practical Guide to Railway Engineering" />

[[Higher-speed rail]] services are intercity rail services that have top speeds higher than conventional intercity trains but the speeds are not as high as those in the high-speed rail services. These services are provided after improvements to the conventional rail infrastructure to support trains that can operate safely at higher speeds.

[[Rapid transit]] is an intracity system built in large cities and has the highest capacity of any passenger transport system. It is usually grade-separated and commonly built underground or elevated. At street level, smaller [[tram]]s can be used. [[Light rail]]s are upgraded trams that have step-free access, their own right-of-way and sometimes sections underground. [[Monorail]] systems are elevated, medium-capacity systems. A [[people mover]] is a driverless, grade-separated train that serves only a few stations, as a shuttle. Due to the lack of uniformity of rapid transit systems, route alignment varies, with diverse rights-of-way (private land, side of road, street median) and [[track geometry|geometric characteristics]] (sharp or broad curves, steep or gentle grades). For instance, the [[Chicago 'L']] trains are designed with extremely short cars to negotiate the sharp curves in the [[The Loop (CTA)|Loop]]. New Jersey's [[Port Authority Trans-Hudson|PATH]] has similar-sized cars to accommodate curves in the trans-Hudson tunnels. San Francisco's [[BART]] operates large cars on its routes.<ref name="AREMA. 2003. Practical Guide to Railway Engineering" />