Misplaced Pages

#917082

99-592: The Blue Line is a light rail line in Santa Clara County, California , and part of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail system . It serves 26 stations entirely in San Jose proper, traveling between Baypointe and Santa Teresa stations, stopping at San Jose International Airport (via a bus connection), Downtown San Jose , San Jose State University , and

198-724: A "light rail" vehicle (it is a heavy rail vehicle), and is only included for comparison purposes. Low-floor LRVs have the advantage of a low-floor design, allowing them to load passengers directly from low-rise platforms that can be little more than raised curbs. High-floor light rail systems also exist, featuring larger stations. Historically, the track gauge has had considerable variations, with narrow gauge common in many early systems. However, most light rail systems are now standard gauge . Older standard-gauge vehicles could not negotiate sharp turns as easily as narrow-gauge ones, but modern light rail systems achieve tighter turning radii by using articulated cars . An important advantage of

297-616: A National Disaster Area in 1995 and 1997. In March 1995, flooding of this river around the San Jose Arena caused the cancellation of a San Jose Sharks game, the only rainout in the history of the National Hockey League . This flood, like most Guadalupe River floods, was triggered by undersized bridges, in this case the Julian Street Bridge. The river has flooded 15 times since World War II. In response to this flooding,

396-458: A bus, there will be even more capacity when there is a combination of cars and light rail. Table 3 shows an example of peak passenger capacity. The cost of light rail construction varies widely, largely depending on the amount of tunneling and elevated structures required. A survey of North American light rail projects shows that costs of most LRT systems range from $ 15 million to over $ 100 million per mile. Seattle's new light rail system

495-403: A chaotic breakdown inflow and a dramatic drop in speed (a traffic jam ) if they exceed about 2,000 vehicles per hour per lane (each car roughly two seconds behind another). Since most people who drive to work or on business trips do so alone, studies show that the average car occupancy on many roads carrying commuters is only about 1.5 people per car during the high-demand rush hour periods of

594-1102: A common right-of-way (however, Link converted to full separation in 2019). Some systems, such as the AirTrain JFK in New York City, the DLR in London, and Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur , have dispensed with the need for an operator. The Vancouver SkyTrain was an early adopter of driverless vehicles, while the Toronto Scarborough rapid transit operated the same trains as Vancouver, but used drivers. In most discussions and comparisons, these specialized systems are generally not considered light rail but as light metro systems. Around Karlsruhe , Kassel , and Saarbrücken in Germany, dual-voltage light rail trains partly use mainline railroad tracks, sharing these tracks with heavy rail trains. In

693-416: A light rail train may have three to four cars of much larger capacity in one train under the control of one driver, or no driver at all in fully automated systems, increasing the labor costs of BRT systems compared to LRT systems. BRT systems are also usually less fuel-efficient as they use non-electrified vehicles. The peak passenger capacity per lane per hour depends on which types of vehicles are allowed on

792-435: A live rail. In outer areas, the trams switch to conventional overhead wires . The Bordeaux power system costs about three times as much as a conventional overhead wire system and took 24 months to achieve acceptable levels of reliability, requiring the replacement of all the main cables and power supplies. Operating and maintenance costs of the innovative power system still remain high. However, despite numerous service outages,

891-536: A longer distance. Light rail cars are often coupled into multiple units of two to four cars. Light rail systems may also exhibit attributes of heavy rail systems, including having downtown subways, as in San Francisco and Seattle . Light rail is designed to address a gap in interurban transportation between heavy rail and bus services, carrying high passenger numbers more quickly than local buses and more cheaply than heavy rail. It serves corridors in which heavy rail

990-631: A more diverse range of design characteristics than LRT, depending on the demand and constraints that exist, and BRT using dedicated lanes can have a theoretical capacity of over 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (for example, the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit system operates up to 350 buses per hour per direction). For the effective operation of a bus or BRT system, buses must have priority at traffic lights and have their dedicated lanes, especially as bus frequencies exceed 30 buses per hour per direction. The higher theoretical of BRT relates to

1089-407: A result, has many of the operating characteristics of a metro system rather than a light rail system. A capacity of 1,350 passengers per train is more similar to the heavy rail than light rail. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is an alternative to LRT and many planning studies undertake a comparison of each mode when considering appropriate investments in transit corridor development. BRT systems can exhibit

SECTION 10

#1733094505918

1188-530: A top speed of 55–71.5 miles per hour (88.51–115.1 km/h) depending on the system, while the trains on the all-underground Montreal Metro can only reach a top speed of 72 kilometres per hour (44.74 mph). LACMTA light rail vehicles have higher top and average speeds than Montreal Metro or New York City Subway trains. Many light rail systems—even fairly old ones—have a combination of both on- and off-road sections. In some countries (especially in Europe), only

1287-474: A tramway, a light metro, and, in a narrow sense, rapid transit. This is especially common in the United States, where there is not a popularly perceived distinction between these different types of urban rail systems. The development of technology for low-floor and catenary-free trams facilitates the construction of such mixed systems with only short and shallow underground sections below critical intersections as

1386-462: Is a generic international English phrase for types of rail systems using modern streetcars/trams, which means more or less the same thing throughout the English-speaking world . Light rail systems can range from trams runnig in streets along with other traffic, to semi-metro systems having portions of grade separated track. People movers are even "lighter", in terms of capacity. Monorail

1485-565: Is a separate technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. The use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English . The word tram , for instance, is generally used in the UK and many former British colonies to refer to what is known in North America as a streetcar , but in North America tram can instead refer to an aerial tramway , or, in

1584-602: Is a significant amount of overlap between the technologies; similar rolling stock may be used for either, and it is common to classify streetcars or trams as a subcategory of light rail rather than as a distinct type of transportation. However, some distinctions can be made, though systems may combine elements of both. Low-floor light rail lines tend to follow a reserved right-of-way and with trains receiving priority at intersections, and tend not to operate in mixed traffic, enabling higher operating speeds. Light rail lines tend to have less frequent stops than tramways, and operate over

1683-488: Is buried in a culvert. The historic watershed can be viewed in the Thompson and West 1876 maps. The Guadalupe River watershed today drains an area of 171 square miles (440 km ). Below its origination at the confluence of Guadalupe Creek and Los Alamitos Creek , the mainstem is joined by three other tributaries: Ross, Canoas, and Los Gatos Creeks. The SCVWD manages water flows (supply) and provides flood control on

1782-560: Is by far the most expensive in the US, at $ 179 million per mile, since it includes extensive tunneling in poor soil conditions, elevated sections, and stations as deep as 180 feet (55 m) below ground level. This results in costs more typical of subways or rapid transit systems than light rail. At the other end of the scale, four systems (Baltimore, Maryland; Camden, New Jersey; Sacramento, California; and Salt Lake City, Utah) incurred construction costs of less than $ 20 million per mile. Over

1881-426: Is especially important for wheelchair access, as narrower gauges (e.g. metre gauge) can make it challenging or impossible to pass the tram's wheels. Furthermore, standard-gauge rolling stock can be switched between networks either temporarily or permanently, and both newly built and used standard-gauge rolling stock tends to be cheaper to buy, as more companies offer such vehicles. Overhead lines supply electricity to

1980-498: Is expensive. Similarly, the most expensive US highway expansion project was the " Big Dig " in Boston, Massachusetts, which cost $ 200 million per lane mile for a total cost of $ 14.6 billion. A light rail track can carry up to 20,000 people per hour as compared with 2,000–2,200 vehicles per hour for one freeway lane. For example, in Boston and San Francisco, light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour, respectively, in

2079-575: Is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail. A system described as a light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called "light rail" are very similar to rapid transit ; in recent years, new terms such as light metro have been used to describe these medium-capacity systems. Some "light rail" systems, such as Sprinter , bear little similarity to urban rail, and could alternatively be classified as commuter rail or even inter-city rail. In

SECTION 20

#1733094505918

2178-549: Is impractical. Light metro systems are essentially hybrids of light rail and rapid transit. Metro trains are larger and faster than light rail trains, with stops being further apart. Many systems have mixed characteristics. Indeed, with proper engineering, a rail line could run along a street, then go underground, and then run along an elevated viaduct. For example, the Los Angeles Metro Rail 's A Line "light rail" has sections that could alternatively be described as

2277-452: Is no clear delineation between the sidewalk and the track, pedestrians often unintentionally walk in front of trains, forcing VTA to slow trains to an average speed of just 7.5 miles per hour (12.1 km/h). The third section of the Guadalupe line opened a year later on August 17, 1990, with 1.7 miles (2.7 km) of track running from Convention Center station to Tamien station , mostly in

2376-480: Is one of the highest capacity ones, having been upgraded in a series of expansions to handle 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, and having carried as many as 582,989 passengers in a single day on its Line 1 . It achieves this volume by running four-car trains with a capacity of up to 1,350 passengers each at a frequency of up to 30 trains per hour. However, the Manila light rail system has full grade separation and as

2475-407: Is similar to that of a traditional tram, while operating at a higher capacity and speed, often on an exclusive right-of-way. In broader use, it includes tram-like operations mostly on streets. A few light rail networks have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail , yet only when these systems are fully grade-separated are they referred to as light metros . The term light rail

2574-685: The Bonaventura River to San Francisco and then the missions of San José , San Francisco Solano and San Rafael Arcángel . La Framboise stated that "the Bay of San Francisco abounds in beaver", and that he "made his best hunt in the vicinity of the missions". Golden beaver were apparently wiped out by trappers in the Bay Area sometime after the end of the California Fur Rush . Caspian terns ( Hydroprogne caspia ), North America's largest tern, return to

2673-514: The California's Great America theme park, and a temporary Civic Center station at First and Younger, near the junction of the branch running west on Younger to VTA's Guadalupe Division, the maintenance and storage yard for trains. The section of track between Old Ironsides station and Tasman station is no longer served by Blue Line trains, but is still used by the Green Line. The second section of

2772-720: The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose along the way. The line connects to Caltrain at Tamien . The Blue Line is one of three lines in the VTA light rail system; the other two being the Green Line and the Orange Line . It runs for 17 miles (27.4 km), making it the system's longest line. From south to north, the Blue line starts at Santa Teresa station in South San Jose , then shortly enters

2871-535: The Cádiz TramBahia , where trams share track with commuter and long-distance trains from the main terminus in the city and curve off to serve cities without a railway connection. Some of the issues involved in such schemes are: There is a history of what would now be considered light rail vehicles operating on heavy rail rapid transit tracks in the US, especially in the case of interurban streetcars . Notable examples are Lehigh Valley Transit trains running on

2970-735: The London Underground and the New York City Subway . Conventional rail technologies including high-speed , freight, commuter , and rapid transit urban transit systems are considered "heavy rail". The main difference between light rail and heavy rail rapid transit is the ability for a light rail vehicle to operate in mixed traffic if the routing requires it. The world's first electric tram operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg , Russia , invented and operated on an experimental basis by Fyodor Pirotsky in 1880. The first tramway

3069-624: The Netherlands , this concept was first applied on the RijnGouweLijn . This allows commuters to ride directly into the city center, rather than taking a mainline train only as far as a central station and then having to change to a tram. In France, similar tram-trains are planned for Paris, Mulhouse , and Strasbourg ; further projects exist. In some cases, tram trains use previously abandoned or lightly used heavy rail lines in addition to or instead of still in use mainline tracks. In 2022, Spain opened

Blue Line (VTA) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3168-779: The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa, Ontario , Canada, the River Line in New Jersey , United States, and the Sprinter in California , United States, which use diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars. Light rail is different from the British English term light railway , long-used to distinguish railway operations carried out under a less rigorous set of regulations using lighter equipment at lower speeds from mainline railways. Light rail

3267-673: The Philadelphia and Western Railroad high-speed third rail line (now the Norristown High-Speed Line ). Such arrangements are almost impossible now, due to the Federal Railroad Administration refusing (for crash safety reasons) to allow non-FRA compliant railcars (i.e., subway and light rail vehicles) to run on the same tracks at the same times as compliant railcars, which includes locomotives and standard railroad passenger and freight equipment. Notable exceptions in

3366-621: The Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) launched a series of flood protection projects along the Guadalupe River to ensure that residential and commercial areas near the river are protected from 100-year floods. A major component of the flood control project, designed to control a 100-year flood along the Lower Guadalupe, was completed in late 2008. The greatest Guadalupe River flood on record occurred in 1955 and

3465-613: The Smithsonian Institution on Dec. 31, 1855. Historical evidence of beaver in the area includes reference by Captain John Sutter who around 1840 recorded that 1,500 beaver pelts were sold "at a trifling value" by the Indians to Mission San José . In 1840, from the port of Alviso, California , beaver pelts, cattle hides and tallow were shipped to San Francisco . In addition, in 1828 fur trapper Michel La Framboise travelled from

3564-530: The medians of roads . If run in streets , trains are usually limited by city block lengths to about four 180-passenger vehicles (720 passengers). Operating on two-minute headways using traffic signal progression, a well-designed two-track system can handle up to 30 trains per hour per track, achieving peak rates of over 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction. More advanced systems with separate rights-of-way using moving block signaling can exceed 25,000 passengers per hour per track. Most light rail systems in

3663-412: The 1870s. Alviso Slough, also known as Steamboat Slough historically, was relatively straight, while Guadalupe Slough meandered extensively through the marshes. Alviso Slough was historically not fed by any upland streams, but simply carried tidewater in and out of the extensive salt marshes. The re-routing of the river to Alviso Slough in the 1870s also disconnected it from several tributaries, and had

3762-683: The 1876 Thompson & West maps. On July 9, 2005, the fossilized bones of a juvenile Columbian mammoth were discovered by San Jose resident Roger Castillo in the Lower Guadalupe River near the Trimble Road overcrossing. Roger founded the Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Group conservation organization and has served as a board member of the Guadalupe–Coyote Resource Conservation District. The Pleistocene mammoth

3861-619: The 1970s was proven to have been a technical failure by the following decade. After World War II, the Germans retained many of their streetcar networks and evolved them into model light rail systems ( Stadtbahnen ). With the exception of Hamburg , all large and most medium-sized German cities maintain light rail networks. The concept of a "limited tramway" was proposed by American transport planner H. Dean Quinby in 1962. Quinby distinguished this new concept in rail transportation from historic streetcar or tram systems as: The term light rail transit

3960-456: The Bay every spring to nest, migrating from as far away as Colombia . According to scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey , Caspian tern populations in the South Bay are declining at the same time that high levels of mercury are being found in their eggs. The highest mercury levels found in animals from the Bay were in the eggs of Caspian and Forster 's ( Sterna forsteri ) terns that nest near

4059-600: The Cargill salt ponds at the mouth of the Guadalupe River. A study conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found that nearly three-quarters of the eggs examined from black-crowned night heron ( Nycticorax nycticorax ) nests in the Guadalupe watershed contained mercury exceeding thresholds known to kill the embryos of other bird species. The river occasionally floods in downtown San Jose, south of downtown, as well as in Alviso. Flooding prompted President Clinton to declare

Blue Line (VTA) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4158-491: The French city of Bordeaux , the tramway network is powered by a third rail in the city center, where the tracks are not always segregated from pedestrians and cars. The third rail (actually two closely spaced rails) is placed in the middle of the track and divided into eight-metre sections, each of which is powered only while it is completely covered by a tram. This minimizes the risk of a person or animal coming into contact with

4257-482: The German word Stadtbahn , meaning "city railway". Different definitions exist in some countries, but in the United States, light rail operates primarily along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled together, with a lower capacity and speed than a long heavy rail passenger train or rapid transit system. Narrowly defined, light rail transit uses rolling stock that

4356-632: The Guadalupe River are closely related to fall-run Central Valley stock with a genetic affinity to the Feather River hatchery and genetically differentiated from coastal Chinook. Chinook salmon are adept at colonizing neighboring and even distant streams and rivers, as evidenced by the recent finding of juvenile Chinook salmon from the Klamath River in the Napa River , and hatchery fish are known to stray at higher rates than naturally spawned fish. In 2012,

4455-629: The Guadalupe line opened about six months later on June 17, 1988, with 2.3 miles (3.7 km) of track running from the Younger Street yard junction and a new, permanent Civic Center station in the north to Convention Center station in the south. This section also included a transit mall in downtown San Jose, where train tracks were laid into wide sidewalks, with nearby 1st Street (northbound) and 2nd Street (southbound) being narrowed down and having one lane dedicated to buses. The design allowed easy transfers between trains and buses, but because there

4554-554: The Sacramento River and would pass through San Francisco Bay to marine habitats, but rarely entered streams south of San Francisco Bay, and were not documented in the Guadalupe River watershed or other Santa Clara County streams prior to the 1980s. Both steelhead trout, which were recorded in select Santa Clara County streams historically, and Chinook salmon runs occur in the Guadalupe River watershed today when conditions are appropriate. Two genetic analyses found that Chinook salmon in

4653-693: The Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan reported that Chinook salmon currently spawn in the Guadalupe River and its tributaries, as well as Coyote Creek . Because Chinook spawn in early winter and juveniles may migrate to the ocean in their first spring, Chinook are able to use habitats that turn very warm or have low water quality in summer. On the Los Gatos Creek tributary a population of California Golden beavers ( Castor canadensis subauratus ) has been re-established between Lake Elsman and Lexington Reservoir . The beaver were re-introduced to

4752-590: The Santa Clara Valley Water District in November, 2009 voted to approve a $ 6 million project to clear bulrushes, tule reeds and thick sediment from the Guadalupe River in Alviso. The construction of salt evaporation ponds in the 1930s rerouted the river, cutting off tidal action. Later, in the 1960s, as Alviso was being annexed into San Jose, the Army Corps of Engineers and the water district straightened

4851-642: The US are the NJ Transit River Line from Camden to Trenton and Austin's Capital MetroRail , which have received exemptions to the provision that light rail operations occur only during daytime hours and Conrail freight service only at night, with several hours separating one operation from the other. The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa also has freight service at certain hours. With its mix of right-of-way types and train control technologies, LRT offers

4950-455: The US as a whole, excluding Seattle, new light rail construction costs average about $ 35 million per mile. By comparison, a freeway lane expansion typically costs $ 1.0 million to $ 8.5 million per lane mile for two directions, with an average of $ 2.3 million. However, freeways are frequently built in suburbs or rural areas, whereas light rail tends to be concentrated in urban areas, where right of way and property acquisition

5049-634: The United States and in North America . In Britain, modern light rail systems began to appear in the 1980s, starting with the Tyne and Wear Metro from 1980 and followed by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London in 1987, continuing into the 1990s including the establishment of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992 and the Sheffield Supertram from 1994. Due to varying definitions, it

SECTION 50

#1733094505918

5148-583: The United States are limited by demand rather than capacity (by and large, most American LRT systems carry fewer than 4,000 persons per hour per direction), but Boston's and San Francisco's light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour per track during rush hour. Elsewhere in North America, the Calgary C-Train and Monterrey Metro have higher light rail ridership than Boston or San Francisco. Systems outside North America often have much higher passenger volumes. The Manila Light Rail Transit System

5247-472: The United States, "light rail" has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. Light rail corridors may constitute a fully segregated corridor, a dedicated right-of-way on a street, an on-street corridor shared with other traffic, a corridor shared with other public transport, or a corridor shared with pedestrians. The most difficult distinction to draw is that between low-floor light rail and streetcar or tram systems. There

5346-415: The ability of buses to travel closer to each other than rail vehicles and their ability to overtake each other at designated locations allowing express services to bypass those that have stopped at stations. However, to achieve capacities this high, BRT station footprints need to be significantly larger than a typical LRT station. In terms of cost of operation, each bus vehicle requires a single driver, whereas

5445-862: The case of the Disney amusement parks , even a land train . (The usual British term for an aerial tramway is cable car , which in the US usually refers to a ground-level car pulled along by subterranean cables .) The word trolley is often used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States but is usually taken to mean a cart, particularly a shopping cart, in the UK and elsewhere. Many North American transportation planners reserve streetcar for traditional vehicles that operate exclusively in mixed traffic on city streets, while they use light rail to refer to more modern vehicles operating mostly in exclusive rights of way, since they may operate both side-by-side targeted at different passenger groups. The difference between British English and American English terminology arose in

5544-421: The closure of Glasgow Corporation Tramways (one of the largest in Europe) in 1962. Although some traditional trolley or tram systems continued to exist in San Francisco and elsewhere, the term "light rail" has come to mean a different type of rail system as modern light rail technology has primarily post-WWII West German origins. An attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle in

5643-415: The day. This combination of factors limits roads carrying only automobile commuters to a maximum observed capacity of about 3,000 passengers per hour per lane. The problem can be mitigated by introducing high-occupancy vehicle ( HOV ) lanes and ride-sharing programs, but in most cases, policymakers have chosen to add more lanes to the roads, despite a small risk that in unfavorable situations an extension of

5742-750: The direct translation, which is city rail (the Norwegian term, by bane , means the same). However, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of "intended for light loads and fast movement", rather than referring to physical weight. The infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in its Glossary of Transit Terminology, defines light rail as: ...a mode of transit service (also called streetcar, tramway, or trolley) operating passenger rail cars singly (or in short, usually two-car or three-car, trains) on fixed rails in

5841-509: The effect of shrinking the Guadalupe watershed. San Tomas Aquino Creek (current) and its Saratoga Creek tributary (previously known as San Jon Creek and Campbell Creek ) and Calabazas Creek (historic), used to enter the Guadalupe River upstream of Alviso. These tributaries were disconnected from the river and re-routed directly into Guadalupe Slough between 1876 and 1890 according to historic maps. Reportedly, Saratoga Creek (Campbell Creek) had steelhead and coho salmon runs. Large portions of

5940-464: The first one worked on. A recent ancient DNA sequencing study of salmonid remains excavated from Mission Santa Clara dating to 1781–1834 CE found that of 58 salmonid vertebrae analyzed, three samples had DNA sequences indicating Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), the other 55 were steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ). The same study also found 53 marine specimens at Mission Santa Clara. Chinook salmon were historically abundant in

6039-412: The gold. An estimated 6,500 tons of mercury was lost in the system of creeks and rivers along the coast between 1850 and 1920, and is currently being detected today in the local streams, animal life, and riverbeds of these affected tributaries. Mercury loads are mobilized during large storm events. An evaluation of mercury loads during the large January 2017 rainstorms was similar to data gathered during

SECTION 60

#1733094505918

6138-453: The late 19th century when Americans adopted the term "street railway", rather than "tramway", with the vehicles being called "streetcars" rather than "trams". Some have suggested that the Americans' preference for the term "street railway" at that time was influenced by German emigrants to the United States (who were more numerous than British immigrants in the industrialized Northeast), as it is

6237-524: The latter is described as light rail. In those places, trams running on mixed rights-of-way are not regarded as a light rail but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams. However, the requirement for saying that a rail line is "separated" can be quite low—sometimes just with concrete "buttons" to discourage automobile drivers from getting onto the tracks. Some systems such as Seattle's Link had on-road mixed sections but were closed to regular road traffic, with light rail vehicles and buses both operating along

6336-455: The light rail concept was the "Shaker Heights Rapid Transit" which started in the 1920s, was renovated in 1980-81 and is now part of RTA Rapid Transit . Many original tram and streetcar systems in the United Kingdom , United States , and elsewhere were decommissioned starting in the 1950s as subsidies for the car increased. Britain abandoned its tram systems, except for Blackpool , with

6435-668: The light rail line in its median, and had not yet opened to vehicle traffic when trains started running. The fourth and final section of the Guadalupe line also included a 1.25-mile (2 km) spur track to the Almaden Valley , that was served by the Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line until December 2019, when it was eliminated due to low ridership. On October 4, 2010, the VTA introduced a Commuter Express light rail service on this line, which operated between Baypointe and Santa Teresa stations. The service operated three trips in

6534-483: The line. The board of directors voted to discontinue the Commuter Express effective October 2018. Light rail Light rail (or light rail transit , abbreviated to LRT ) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology while also having some features from heavy rapid transit . The term was coined in 1972 in the United States as an English equivalent for

6633-403: The median of State Route 85 until the interchange with State Route 87 , where it exits the median and makes a sharp turn to serve Ohlone/Chynoweth station . The route then travels along the median of State Route 87 until just north of the interchange with Interstate 280 , where the Blue line exits the median to serve Children's Discovery Museum station . The Blue Line then immediately shares

6732-469: The median of State Route 87 , the Guadalupe Freeway, after which the line was named, itself named after the nearby Guadalupe River . The freeway was built in the 1980s to accommodate the rail line with a large center median and provisions for stations. The fourth and final section of the Guadalupe line opened the following year on April 25, 1991, with 9.7 miles (15.6 km) of track, continuing down

6831-470: The median of State Route 87 until it approaches the interchange State Route 85 , where the tracks briefly exit the median to serve Ohlone/Chynoweth station . After stopping at Ohlone/Chynoweth station, Blue Line trains enter the median of State Route 85 to continue on to Santa Teresa station in South San Jose. The line was constructed at the same time as State Route 85, which was also built to accommodate

6930-488: The morning (northbound to Baypointe) and three trips in the afternoon (southbound to Santa Teresa) that called at all stops, except for nonstop operation between the Convention Center and Ohlone/Chynoweth stations. It offered free WiFi access on all trains on this service, and promised time savings of six to eight minutes. Ridership was low, with Commuter Express trains serving 530 of the more than 20,000 daily riders on

7029-465: The old and new systems. Since the 1980s, Portland, Oregon , has built all three types of system: a high-capacity light rail system in dedicated lanes and rights-of-way, a low-capacity streetcar system integrated with street traffic, and an aerial tram system . The opposite phrase heavy rail , used for higher-capacity, higher-speed systems, also avoids some incompatibilities in terminology between British and American English, for instance in comparing

7128-402: The peak direction during rush hour. Guadalupe River (California) Much of the river is surrounded by parks. The river's Los Alamitos and Guadalupe Creek tributaries are, in turn, fed by smaller streams flowing from Almaden Quicksilver County Park , home to former mercury mines dating back to when the area was governed by Mexico . The Guadalupe watershed carries precipitation from

7227-598: The portion of Los Gatos Creek where it enters Lexington Reservoir sometime prior to 1997, and recently, a beaver reportedly served as "a hearty meal" for a local mountain lion. Video documentary by Greg Kerekes documented beaver in the Guadalupe River mainstem in downtown San Jose in April, 2013. These are the first beaver recorded in the Santa Clara Valley since zoologist James Graham Cooper captured one in Santa Clara for

7326-540: The required clearance height can be reduced significantly compared to conventional light rail vehicles. Reference speed from major light rail systems, including station stop time, is shown below. However, low top speed is not always a differentiating characteristic between light rail and other systems. For example, the Siemens S70 LRVs used in the Houston METRORail and other North American LRT systems have

7425-432: The right-of-way that is often separated from other traffic for part or much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley [pole] or a pantograph ; driven by an operator onboard the vehicle; and may have either high platform loading or low-level boarding using steps." However, some diesel-powered transit is designated light rail, such as

7524-454: The river because of mosquitoes in the summertime and flooding during the winter. Today Santa Clara Mission is 2 miles (3.2 km) away from the original location. Historically the Guadalupe River was even shorter, originating several miles further north, at the downstream end of a large willow swamp that is now Willow Glen . Its main tributary was known as Arroyo Seco de Guadalupe on 1860 maps and then as Arroyo Seco de Los Capitancillos on

7623-577: The river to improve flood safety, which inadvertently increased sedimentation into Alviso Slough. The current project will open a former Cargill salt pond (known as A8) as the beginning of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project , considered the largest tidal wetland restoration project on the West Coast. When complete, the project should restore 15,100 acres (61 km ) of industrial salt ponds to tidal wetlands. Pond A8 will be

7722-472: The river, and recently has started to promote watershed stewardship. Six major reservoirs exist in the watershed: Calero Reservoir on Calero Creek, Guadalupe Reservoir on Guadalupe Creek , Almaden Reservoir on Alamitos Creek, Vasona Reservoir , Lexington Reservoir , and Lake Elsman on Los Gatos Creek. Ending nine years of study and passionate debate about the future of the San Jose/Alviso waterfront,

7821-415: The road network might lead to increased travel times ( Downs–Thomson paradox , Braess's paradox ). By contrast, light rail vehicles can travel in multi-car trains carrying a theoretical ridership up to 20,000 passengers per hour in much narrower rights-of-way , not much more than two car lanes wide for a double track system. They can often be run through existing city streets and parks , or placed in

7920-401: The roads. Typically roadways have 1,900 passenger cars per lane per hour (pcplph). If only cars are allowed, the capacity will be less and will not increase when the traffic volume increases. When there is a bus driving on this route, the capacity of the lane will be higher and will increase when the traffic level increases. And because the capacity of a light rail system is higher than that of

8019-613: The same as the German term for the mode, Straßenbahn (meaning "street railway"). A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams after World War II except in Blackpool , eight major North American cities ( Toronto , Boston , Philadelphia , San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Newark , Cleveland , and New Orleans ) continued to operate large streetcar systems. When these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both

8118-679: The slopes of Loma Prieta and Mount Umunhum , the two major peaks of the Sierra Azul , the historical Spanish name ("Blue Mountains") for that half of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of California Highway 17 . Two of the Guadalupe River's major tributaries, Los Gatos Creek and Guadalupe Creek have their sources in the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve on the western and eastern flanks of the Sierra Azul. The Guadalupe River

8217-469: The south end of San Francisco Bay and thence through the eastern portions of the county on the return trip after exploration of parts of the East Bay. In 1777, the original Mission Santa Clara de Thamien and el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe were established on the banks of Mission Creek, un tiro de escopeta (a musket shot away) from its confluence with the Guadalupe River. Both had to be moved away from

8316-408: The standard gauge is that standard railway maintenance equipment can be used on it, rather than custom-built machinery. Using standard gauges also allows light rail vehicles to be conveniently moved around using the same tracks as freight railways. Additionally, wider gauges (e.g. standard gauge) provide more floor clearance on low-floor trams that have constricted pedestrian areas at the wheels, which

8415-551: The system was a success with the public, gaining up to 190,000 passengers per day. Automatic train operation is employed on light rail networks, tracking the position and speed of a train and hence adjusting its movement for safety and efficiency. One line of light rail (requires 7.6 m, 25' right of way) has a theoretical capacity of up to 8 times more than one 3.7 m (12 foot) lane on a freeway, excluding busses, during peak times. Roads have ultimate capacity limits that can be determined by traffic engineering , and usually experience

8514-460: The tracks with the Green Line as the two routes enter Convention Center station and through most of downtown and North San Jose along 1st Street until the Blue Line separates from the Green Line at Tasman station and joins the Orange Line to its terminus at Baypointe . Trains take approximately 55 minutes to complete the entire trip. The line formerly ran past Baypointe station serving stops all

8613-499: The trams, making it safe on city streets. Several systems in Europe and a few recently opened systems in North America use diesel -powered trains. When electric streetcars were introduced in the late 19th century, conduit current collection was one of the first ways of supplying power, but it proved to be much more expensive, complicated, and trouble-prone than overhead wires . When electric street railways became ubiquitous, conduit power

8712-427: The tributaries of the river were straightened and armored starting in the late 19th century and continuing through the 20th century first by farmers and then by the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) and its predecessor organizations. They now go dry in the summer months and their lower segments have become denuded ditches requiring continuous maintenance. Mission Creek used to harbor trout and salmon but today it

8811-455: The vast majority of light rail systems. This avoids the danger potentially presented by an electrified third rail . The Docklands Light Railway uses an inverted third rail for its electrical power, which allows the electrified rail to be covered and the power drawn from the underside. Trams in Bordeaux , France, use a special third-rail configuration where the power is only switched on beneath

8910-539: The way to Alum Rock. However, after the 2019 New Transit service plan, the line was cut back and service east of Baypointe is now served by the Orange Line. The Blue Line largely follows the path of VTA's original Guadalupe line that opened in phases between December 11, 1987, and April 25, 1991. The first section of the Guadalupe line opened on December 11, 1987, with 7.4 miles (11.9 km) of track allowing trains to operate between Old Ironsides station , located near

9009-434: The widest range of latitude of any rail system in the design, engineering, and operating practices. The challenge in designing light rail systems is to realize the potential of LRT to provide fast, comfortable service while avoiding the tendency to overdesign that results in excessive capital costs beyond what is necessary to meet the public's needs. The BART railcar in the following chart is not generally considered to be

9108-585: Was an area of intense activity during the California Gold Rush , with the quicksilver mines within Santa Clara County supporting the gold refinement process. Thus, mercury toxicity and its effects on surrounding humans and wildlife is a major concern for the area. Because mercury is an effective magnet for gold, miners during the Gold Rush would regularly line their sluices with Mercury to amalgamate

9207-527: Was coined in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA; the precursor to the Federal Transit Administration ) to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany, the term Stadtbahn (to be distinguished from S-Bahn , which stands for Stadtschnellbahn ) was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt

9306-662: Was introduced in North America in 1972 to describe this new concept of rail transportation. Prior to that time the abbreviation "LRT" was used for " Light Rapid Transit " and " Light Rail Rapid Transit ". The first of the new light rail systems in North America began operation in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta , adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by Calgary, Alberta , and San Diego, California . The concept proved popular, with there now being numerous light rail systems in

9405-665: Was named by the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition on March 30, 1776, Río de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe , in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe , the principal patron saint of the expedition. Specifically, Juan Bautista de Anza camped along the banks of the Guadalupe River at Expedition Camp 97 on March 30, 1776 near the present-day site of Agnews State Hospital (Santa Clara County, 2001). The historic de Anza Expedition explored much of Santa Clara County, traversing western areas en route from Monterey to San Francisco , and traveling around

9504-401: Was nicknamed "Lupe" by area residents and Lupe's fossils are exhibited at Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose . Historically, the Guadalupe River flowed into Guadalupe Slough, 1.0 mile (1.6 km) west of its current drainage into Alviso Slough. To make it easier to get sailboats up the Guadalupe River to the port of Alviso, the river was redirected into the straighter Alviso Slough by

9603-479: Was part of the legendary "Christmas Week Floods" when the Guadalupe River flooded 8,300 acres (34 km ). After four years of the harsh California drought , in July 2015, the river ran dry for an 8-mile stretch through the city of San Jose. This was due to inadequate storage in upstream reservoirs for the releases of water needed to sustain flow to the river mouth until winter rains returned. The Guadalupe watershed

9702-610: Was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. It initially drew current from the rails, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. An early example of

9801-517: Was used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires. In Europe, it was used in London, Paris, Berlin, Marseille, Budapest, and Prague. In the United States, it was used in parts of New York City and Washington, D.C. Third rail technology was investigated for use on the Gold Coast of Australia for the G:link light rail, though power from overhead lines was ultimately utilized for that system. In

#917082