Commuter rail in North America


services in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis, primarily for short-distance travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and regional travel between cities of a conurbation. It does not include rapid transit or light rail service.

Services

Many, but not all, newer commuter railways offer service during peak times only, with trains into the central business district during morning rush hour and returning to the outer areas during the evening rush hour. This mode of operation is, in many cases, simplified by ending the train with a special passenger carriage, which has an operating cab and can control the locomotive remotely, to avoid having to turn the train around at each end of its route. Other systems avoid the problem entirely by using bi-directional multiple units.
Other commuter rail services, many of them older, long-established ones, operate seven days a week, with service from early morning to after midnight. On these systems, patrons use the trains not just to get to and from work or school, but also for attending sporting events, concerts, theatre, and the like. Some also provide service to popular weekend getaway spots and recreation areas. The Long Island Rail Road is the only commuter railroad that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in North America.
Bombardier cabcar at Toronto's Scarborough Station.
Almost all commuter rail services in North America are operated by government entities or quasi-governmental organizations. Most share tracks or rights-of-way used by longer-distance passenger services, freight trains, or other commuter services. The electrified Northeast Corridor in the United States is shared by commuter trains and Amtrak's Acela Express, regional, and intercity trains.
Commuter rail operators often sell reduced-price multiple-trip tickets, charge specific station-to-station fares, and have one or two railroad stations in the central business district. Commuter trains typically connect to metro or bus services at their destination and along their route.
After the completion of SEPTA Regional Rail's Center City Commuter Connection in 1981, which allowed through-running between two formerly separate radial networks, the term "regional rail" began to be used to refer to commuter rail systems that offer bidirectional all-day service and may provide useful connections between suburbs and edge cities, rather than merely transporting workers to a central business district. This is different from the European use of "regional rail", which generally refers to services midway between commuter rail and intercity rail that are not primarily commuter-oriented.

Spread

The two busiest passenger rail stations in the United States are Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal, which are both located in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, and which serve three of the four busiest commuter railroads in the United States. The commuter railroads serving the Chicago area are Metra and the South Shore Line. Other notable commuter railroad systems include SEPTA Regional Rail, serving the Philadelphia area; MBTA Commuter Rail, serving the Greater Boston-Providence area; Caltrain, serving the area south of San Francisco along the peninsula as far as San Jose; and Metrolink, serving the 5-county Los Angeles area.
There are only three commuter rail agencies in Canada: GO Transit in Toronto, Exo in Montreal, and West Coast Express in Vancouver. The two busiest rail stations in Canada are Union Station in Toronto and Central Station in Montreal.
Commuter rail networks outside of densely populated urban areas like the Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Montreal, and Toronto metropolitan areas have historically been sparse. Since the 1990s, however, several commuter rail projects have been proposed and built throughout the United States, especially in the Sun Belt and other regions characterized by urban sprawl that have traditionally been underserved by public transportation. Since then, commuter rail networks have been inaugurated in Dallas–Fort Worth, Los Angeles, San Diego, Minneapolis, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Orlando, among other cities. Several more commuter rail projects have been proposed and are in the planning stages.

Rolling stock

Commuter trains are either powered by diesel-electric or electric locomotives, or else use self-propelled cars. A few systems, particularly around New York City, use electric power, supplied by a third rail and/or overhead catenary wire, which provides quicker acceleration, lower noise, and fewer air-quality issues. Philadelphia's SEPTA Regional Rail uses exclusively electric power, supplied by overhead catenary wire.
Diesel-electric locomotives based on the EMD F40PH design as well as the MP36PH-3C are popular as motive power for commuter trains. Manufacturers of coaches include Bombardier, Kawasaki, Nippon Sharyo, and Hyundai Rotem. A few systems use diesel multiple unit vehicles, including WES Commuter Rail near Portland and Austin's Capital MetroRail. These systems use vehicles supplied by Stadler Rail or US Railcar.
In terms of ridership, Canadian systems tend to have dramatically higher per capita ridership than American counterparts, echoing patterns in light rail transit and other system types.

List of North American commuter rail operators

SystemCountryMetropolitan areaProvince / StateNumber of linesAvg. Weekday
ridership
A-trainDenton CountyTexas11500
Altamont Corridor Express San Jose–Tri-Valley–StocktonCalifornia1 6100
CaltrainSan Francisco–San JoseCalifornia157000
Capital MetroRailAustinTexas12700
Capitol CorridorSacramento–San Francisco Bay AreaCalifornia15700
City RailLa CeibaAtlántida Department1
CoasterSan Diego–OceansideCalifornia14500
DowneasterBrunswick–Portland–BostonMaine / New Hampshire / Massachusetts11300
ExoMontrealQuebec683300
FrontRunnerOgden–Salt Lake City–ProvoUtah119200
GO TransitToronto–Niagara–Hamilton–Kitchener–Guelph–BarrieOntario7217500
Hartford LineNew Haven–Hartford–SpringfieldConnecticut / Massachusetts1
Havana Suburban RailwayHavanaLa Habana / Artemisa / Mayabeque / Matanzas8
Keystone ServiceHarrisburg–Philadelphia–New York CityPennsylvania / New York15000
Long Island Rail RoadNew York City–Long IslandNew York11 360000
MARC TrainBaltimore–Washington, D.C.Maryland / West Virginia / District of Columbia423500
MBTA Commuter RailBoston / Worcester / ProvidenceMassachusetts / Rhode Island12 121600
MetraChicagoIllinois / Wisconsin13277100
MetrolinkLos Angeles–Southern CaliforniaCalifornia7 37600
Metro-North RailroadNew York City / New Haven / PoughkeepsieNew York / Connecticut8315700
Music City StarNashvilleTennessee11100
NJ Transit Rail OperationsNorthern New Jersey–New York City
Philadelphia–Atlantic City		New Jersey / New York / Pennsylvania12 238082
New Mexico Rail Runner ExpressAlbuquerque–Santa FeNew Mexico12500
Northstar LineMinneapolis–Saint PaulMinnesota12600
Panama Canal RailwayPanama City–ColónPanamá / Colón11500
Regional Transportation DistrictDenverColorado3 28700
Sonoma–Marin Area Rail TransitSanta Rosa–San RafaelCalifornia1
South Shore LineChicago–South BendIllinois / Indiana110900
SEPTA Regional RailPhiladelphiaPennsylvania / New Jersey / Delaware13 126000
Shore Line EastNew Haven–New LondonConnecticut11800
SounderEverett–Seattle–TacomaWashington218300
SunRailGreater OrlandoFlorida15600
TEXRailFort WorthTexas1
Tren SuburbanoMexico CityMexico City / State of Mexico1 195000
Tren Urbano de Costa RicaSan José–Central ValleySan José / Heredia / Cartago4
Trinity Railway ExpressDallas–Fort WorthTexas16800
Tri-RailMiami–South FloridaFlorida1 14600
Virginia Railway ExpressWashington, D.C.Virginia / District of Columbia216800
West Coast ExpressVancouverBritish Columbia19900
WES Commuter RailPortlandOregon11600

List of under construction and planned systems

There are several commuter rail systems currently under construction or in development in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Metropolitan AreaCountryProvince/StateSystemOfficial
site		Other
sites
HalifaxNova ScotiaHalifax Transit
OttawaOntario / QuébecMoose/Transport Pontiac-Renfrew
AguascalientesAguascalientesTren Suburbano
GuadalajaraJaliscoTren Suburbano
Mexico City megalopolisMexico & Mexico CityToluca–Mexico City commuter rail
Alameda CountyCaliforniaTri-Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority
AnchorageAlaskaAlaska Railroad
Ann ArborMichiganWALLY
Atlanta / Athens / MaconGeorgiaGeorgia Rail Passenger Program,
Georgia Brain Train
Atlanta / Clayton CountyGeorgiaMARTA Clayton County commuter rail
CharlotteNorth CarolinaLYNX Red Line
ClevelandOhioCleveland commuter rail
CincinnatiOhioEastern Corridor Commuter Rail
DallasTexasDART Silver Line
DetroitMichiganSEMCOG Commuter Rail
Fort WorthTexasBurleson commuter rail
GreensboroNorth CarolinaTRIAD Commuter Rail
Harrisburg / LancasterPennsylvaniaCapital Red Rose Corridor
HoustonTexasMetropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas
JacksonvilleFloridaFirst Coast Commuter Rail
MadisonWisconsinDane County Commuter Rail,
Transport 2020 Commuter Rail
MiamiFloridaVirgin Trains USA commuter rail
MinneapolisMinnesotaDan Patch Corridor
PittsburghPennsylvaniaEastern Corridor Transit Study
Raleigh / Durham / Cary
North CarolinaDurham-Wake Corridor
St. LouisMissouri / IllinoisSt. Louis Commuter Rail

Former

The following systems have ceased operations since the formation of Amtrak in 1971.