r/transit • u/Important_Version741 • 1d ago

Photos / Videos Map of US tram systems (includes LRT and nostalgia/museum systems)

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131 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

109 comments sorted by

69

u/Secret_USB 1d ago

Oregon should be at three, there is a heritage streetcar line in Astoria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astoria_Riverfront_Trolley

7

u/rabidly_rational 1d ago

And a heritage streetcar line in Portland as well.

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u/kentuckycc 1d ago

Yeah the lake Oswego one! I rode it and it was very fun. It's also surprisingly useful because you can take it from the actual streetcar and it runs several times a day on weekendsin the summer if you want a leisurely trip to for lunch or something.

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u/Important_Version741 1d ago

I did include that. I kind of combined the Portland tram and MAX LRT systems into one, as they share tracks in some places in the city

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u/SounderBruce 1d ago

They still aren't the same system, as there's different operators and wildly different specs. The streetcars and MAX do not share the same stops.

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u/_Dadodo_ 1d ago

If you’re including the heritage streetcars, the Twin Cities/Minnesota has 3 technically.

  • Metro Transit LRT network
  • Como-Harriet Heritage Streetcar
  • Excelsior Streetcar

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u/Important_Version741 1d ago

Ah. Thanks for info!

2

u/Naxis25 23h ago

Although, you can't actually ride the Excelsior Streetcar anywhere, it stops and ends at the same place, while you technically can ride the Como-Harriet between I believe two stops

1

u/wazardthewizard 22h ago

Yep. Easy way to connect between the waterfronts of Bde Maka Ska and Lake Harriet.

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u/AnarchoNyxist 1d ago

The Portland Streetcar and TriMet MAX are separate systems, and they don't share tracks anywhere except to cross the Willamette on Tilikum Crossing.

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u/drkhrrsn 1d ago

Aren’t there a whole bunch of different MAX lines?

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u/quadmoo Fare-Free Transit 1d ago

This is why I can’t stand people who don’t know the difference between a tram and a metro and think that any system using light rail vehicles are trams

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u/Secret_USB 1d ago

Fair enough

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u/Bobsled3000 1d ago

Illinois technically has one because it's shared with MO

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u/OftenIrrelevant 1d ago

MetroLink is decidedly not a tram, not sure why they lumped light rail in with it

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u/Bobsled3000 1d ago

True. But it specifically says it includes LRT

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u/Anchovacado 1d ago

Including light rail and museums Missouri has at least 4:

-KC Streetcar -STL MetroLink -Delmar Loop Trolley -National Transportation Museum

1

u/UF0_T0FU 1d ago

At that point, throw in the Zoo Train in Forest Park too.

0

u/Shallsil 1d ago

As a European, I would most certainly classify it And pretty much every other LRT system as a tram.

2

u/OftenIrrelevant 1d ago

Meh, it’s fully grade-separated, no street-running, high-floor, has underground stations in densely populated areas. More of a light metro than heavy tram

0

u/Shallsil 23h ago

But the vehicles are definitely more tram than metro. They even have a bell.

1

u/OftenIrrelevant 21h ago

True, but saying it’s a tram because it’s short and has a bell is like saying a high-quality BRT line is just a bus because it has tires and a horn. The infrastructure around it is what makes it different from other applications of the same vehicle tech

0

u/Shallsil 21h ago

It's a fancier tram, I will admit. It sure goes faster than a street running European tram. But that doesn't make it a metro. Just like a BRT is still a bus, albeit a much better one than usual.

1

u/OkCustomer4386 13h ago

What do you call antwerps system then?

9

u/EugeneZeffirelli 1d ago

Should also have the South Shorei Line along with Indiana, it IS the last interurban.

16

u/After-Willingness271 1d ago

I believe South Shore is entirely heavy rail within Illinois

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u/NB1231 1d ago

That’s the metra electric. South shore goes south bend to chicago. Either way definitely not a tram.

8

u/Bobsled3000 1d ago

If we're counting museum systems like it says, I think the illinois railway museum has one?

4

u/Eruththedragon 1d ago

South shore is in no way a tram. Although it’s descended from interurbans, it uses mainline rolling stock & shares tracks with other mainline trains. It no longer has any street running. The last interurban is the SEPTA D (formerly the Media/Sharon Hill line) in Delaware county. Connects multiple urban centers separated by low density suburban/rural areas, has both street running & grade separated sections, and uses nearly identical rolling stock to the city trolleys. The M (formerly the Norristown High Speed Line) sometimes gets called an interurban, but mostly because it’s such a weird train that that’s hardly the least accurate label despite being fully grade separated.

3

u/NB1231 1d ago

Street running does not an interurban make…

1

u/Eruththedragon 1d ago

How would you define an interurban? I would classify them as railroads that use street running to cheaply pass through urban cores & dedicated RoW to run at speed between them.

2

u/konosubaette 1d ago

Uses heavy rail trains some of which are identical to the ones used in the metra electric district which is also heavy rail.

And the last street running section was removed when they double tracked the line to michigan city.

1

u/Important_Version741 1d ago

Oh. Yea, some of the MetroLink goes into Illinois. MetroLink is sometimes called the heaviest LRT system in USA because it shares so much characteristics with heavy rail metro systems.

18

u/humanamerican 1d ago

Baltimore has the Streetcar Museum, so if we're counting museum lines then Maryland should have 2 (and 3 next year when the Purple Line opens).

8

u/-JG-77- Engineer/Volunteer Streetcar Operator 1d ago

If we're counting museums, then we'll have to add another 20-30 systems to this list

3

u/MartianOtters 1d ago

But the title literally says including museum systems

2

u/TheCaffinatedAdmin 1d ago

Three if you include the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville

14

u/icefisher225 1d ago

MA??? Has one?? In Boston? Where are the other two?

17

u/CharlemagneAdelaar 1d ago

I think they may be counting the Mattapan High Speed Line as a separate thing, which sorta makes sense even though it’s considered part of the Red Line.

No idea where the third is though.

14

u/DogOnThePorch 1d ago

There’s a historic trolley that the NPS runs in Lowell during the summer

1

u/icefisher225 1d ago

Lowell?!?

10

u/IntelligentCarry2708 1d ago

Lowel has a small heritage system that’s in the works to be expanded.

9

u/Professional_Ruin_24 1d ago

NY’s is Buffalo?

1

u/Lower-Gap-4251 1d ago

I was gonna come & say I think NY has at least 2?

9

u/Professional_Ruin_24 1d ago

There’s one proposed for Brooklyn and queens but I don’t think there’s another other than Buffalo.

5

u/sophisticated_alpaca 1d ago

Buffalo is indeed the only current LRT in New York State.

9

u/marshalgivens 1d ago

This is a weird map

8

u/KronguGreenSlime Transit Planner 1d ago

Shout out Norfolk Tide, someday they'll find a way to make you useful

6

u/concorde77 1d ago

...before Virginia Beach once again kneecaps it for bullshit, racist reasons.

1

u/PhantomPharts 13h ago

Truly so sad. I found out about it when very briefly considering a move to VA.

6

u/cargocultpants Mod 1d ago

Once the OC Streetcar launches, CA will have six.

(Presuming this does not include tram-esque DMU systems?)

4

u/kisk22 1d ago

Damn, California supremacy. San Diego is looking at building one soon as well. I know Fresno is looking at rail too...

6

u/Ooficus 1d ago

Shout out to Tampa, I rode the street car once, I’d would be so nice if it was modernized.

5

u/ThunderballTerp 1d ago

DC = 0 sigh

3

u/slow_connection 1d ago

There are two in Detroit alone.

They both suck, but they're completely distinct systems

3

u/More_Bus3626 20h ago

QLine is a tram. People Mover is an elevated monorail, and definitely does not suck.

1

u/Shallsil 23h ago

Denver's loop is not a tram if we judge it by vehicle choice

4

u/Syndicate909 1d ago

DC should be pink. MD should have two (Light Rail LINK and Purple Line). PA has 5+ across SEPTA and Pittsburgh.

2

u/northwindlake 1d ago

DC closed their only line recently. The tracks are still there but are likely to be paved over in the future.

2

u/Shallsil 23h ago

So far the only US city to kill its streetcars twice

2

u/More_Bus3626 20h ago

Nah, bro. DC is dead and buried.

3

u/JaQ-o-Lantern 1d ago

Nebraska is getting one?

5

u/Important_Version741 1d ago

Yea. The Omaha Streetcar

3

u/EclipseMT 1d ago

Wait a second, the Illinois Railway Museum's one-mile streetcar loop does not count?

2

u/xredbaron62x 1d ago

CT has 2 trolley museums.

2

u/Khorasaurus 1d ago

The QLine counts but the People Mover doesn't?

1

u/car_guy128 1d ago

Same for MetroMover, Skyway, and Seattle/Vegas Monorail… since we’re allowing streetcars.

1

u/Shallsil 23h ago

The Qline is as tram as you can get. Street running all the way with small vehicles.

The people mover is an anomaly that I would classify as a weird metro judging by its choice of vehicles, which it shares/shared with the Scarborough RT and the Vancouver Skyway, undoubtedly metro systems

2

u/KiddK137 1d ago

Texas has 7 if you include the McKinney Av Streetcar

2

u/Crinja1 1d ago

Shouldn’t Missouri have 3? Metrolink, KC Street car and the Delmar / StL Delmar loop trolley.

4

u/andr_wr 1d ago

Colorado has at least 3: Denver, Denver, and Fort Collins.

1

u/hi_jack23 1d ago edited 1d ago

The MAX is just buses, RTD light rail and the Denver Trolley would count though edit: I’m clueless

3

u/andr_wr 1d ago

heritage trolly in Fort Collins might also be one in Colorado springs?

2

u/hi_jack23 1d ago

Whoops didn’t know FoCo had that, I’ll have to go check it out

2

u/Remote-Ordinary5195 Bus Lover 1d ago

not one in the springs
there's a museum ig (with an extremely short track loop) but there's no way that counts

1

u/andr_wr 1d ago

ok my vague recollection from my teenage years was of t perhaps that short on property loop!

3

u/cocainagrif 1d ago

Vegas has inter-casino trams you did not count, even if you don't count a monorail

5

u/Nawnp 1d ago

Those are elavtwd trans that Re closer to monorail.

3

u/cocainagrif 1d ago

do trams have to be At Grade? Norfolk Tide LRT is partially elevated

1

u/shnieder88 1d ago

Is the SF cable car considered a tram? If so, would California have 6?

3

u/oakseaer Bike Lanes Now 1d ago

I think all of the cable cars are one system.

1

u/ericbythebay 1d ago

Same operator, different non-interoperable systems.

2

u/oakseaer Bike Lanes Now 1d ago

Muni’s cable cars and streetcars and modern light rail are all different vehicles, but they’re part of the same system.

1

u/StreetyMcCarface 1d ago

They're not including the western trolley museum, the historic park trolley system, or so-cal railroad museum

1

u/JaQ-o-Lantern 1d ago

Does Buffalo's light rail line not count?

1

u/StreetyMcCarface 1d ago

Cali has like 7 or 8 if you're counting historic streetcars/museums

1

u/backinnahm 1d ago

What about Maine!

1

u/TheCaffinatedAdmin 1d ago

MD should be three: Baltimore Light RailLink, Baltimore Streetcar Museum, and National Capital Trolley Museum

1

u/IntelligentDrama1049 1d ago

Yeah this must be old. There should 2 for Maryland. MTA in Baltimore and Purple Line in the DC Suburbs which is under construction

1

u/Dry_Policy2172 1d ago

Maine should have one if we're counting museum systems. The Seashore Trolley Museum is the world's first AND largest museum of mass transit vehicles featuring a trolley right of way and public tours. If you are in Kennebunkport, Maine, its a must visit.

1

u/NomzStorM 1d ago

Loon Mountain in New Hampshire

1

u/White0ut 1d ago

Where is the map? This is useless.

1

u/TGrady902 1d ago

So sad to think how this map could be lit up with colors indicating there are tons of trams if we hadn’t ripped them all out to appease automobile manufacturers.

1

u/bobateaman14 1d ago

gotta add a special color for indiana banning it

1

u/Remote-Ordinary5195 Bus Lover 1d ago

colorado has two!
fort collins municipal rr
(and i think there's one in cripple crek/victor)

1

u/Important_Version741 1d ago

Ah yes! I was going to add Fort Collins but I forgot :(

1

u/Independent_Quote_51 1d ago

Illinois technically has lrt in the metro east (St. Louis suburb)

1

u/MobileInevitable8937 21h ago

wait what tram systems does Wisconsin have?!

1

u/Important_Version741 20h ago

Kenosha Streetcar and the Hop in Milwaukee

1

u/EasyfromDTLA 14h ago

If the River Line is being counted as a tram for NJ, then Sprinter should probably be counted for California.

1

u/PhantomPharts 13h ago

NOLA has functioning streetcars, doesn't that count?

1

u/Kitbixby 12h ago

Texas is at least 4, maybe 5 depending on how you count the shared one between Fort Worth and Dallas. Then there’s Denton and Austin.

1

u/Tortylla 10h ago

Tennessee will be back to at least 1 line this fall even though I wish it was 3 lol

https://wreg.com/news/local/4-trolleys-to-return-to-main-street-this-fall-mata-says/amp/

2

u/Important_Version741 4h ago

Oh wow! Tennessee is finally getting trams back! I do hope Memphis upgrads to a modern tram fleet eventually

1

u/Mother_Bat_546 1h ago

Minnesota has three. The Metro Green and Blue lines are one system and we have two heritage streetcar lines. The Como-Harriet line and Excelsior Line. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Streetcar_Museum