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76-466: The Léman Express is a commuter rail network for the transborder agglomeration of Grand Genève ( Greater Geneva ) in west Switzerland and the French Alps ( Haute-Savoie and Ain ). Six lines serve Swiss and French towns along 230 km of railway. At the heart of the Léman Express system is the CEVA (Cornavin‒Eaux-Vives‒Annemasse) rail project linking Eaux-Vives station with Cornavin station in Geneva. This line, largely underground,

152-575: A century, the ring line project was reborn in the 1990s and a passenger service was introduced on the La Praille line as far as Lancy-Pont-Rouge station which opened on 19 December 2002 and is the present terminus for the regional trains coming from Coppet in Vaud , after passing through Geneva's Cornavin station . Pont Rouge acts as an interchange to the Geneva tram route 15. The first official CEVA project work

228-651: A city's central business district, and often share right-of-way with intercity or freight trains. Some services operate only during peak hours and others use fewer departures during off peak hours and weekends. Average speeds are high, often 50 km/h (30 mph) or higher. These higher speeds better serve the longer distances involved. Some services include express services which skip some stations in order to run faster and separate longer distance riders from short-distance ones. The general range of commuter trains' travel distance varies between 15 and 200 km (10 and 125 miles), but longer distances can be covered when

304-413: A headway rather than a published timetable and use dedicated tracks (underground or elevated), whereas commuter rail often shares tracks, technology and the legal framework within mainline railway systems, and uses rolling stocks with more seating and higher speed for comfort on longer city-suburban journeys. However, the classification as a metro or rapid rail can be difficult as both may typically cover

380-577: A metropolitan area exclusively, run on separate tracks in the centre, and often feature purpose-built rolling stock. The fact that the terminology is not standardised across countries (even across English-speaking countries) further complicates matters. This distinction is most easily made when there are two (or more) systems such as New York's subway and the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad , Paris' Métro and RER along with Transilien , Washington D.C.'s Metro along with its MARC and VRE , London's tube lines of

456-505: A shorter connection to Monthey , Martigny , Sion , Sierre , and Brig . It plans to carry out studies until 2022, start work around 2024, and open the railway in 2027. Commuter rail The term can refer to systems with a wide variety of different features and service frequencies, but is often used in contrast to rapid transit or light rail . Some services share similarities with both commuter rail and high-frequency rapid transit ; examples include German S-Bahn in some cities,

532-658: A trans-frontier conurbation, with thousands of cross-border daily commuters travelling between the Geneva area and surrounding regions of France. It links the CFF route Lausanne – Geneva Cornavin – Geneva Airport and the SNCF route Geneva Cornavin – Bellegarde-sur-Valserine – Lyon with lines in the Haute Savoie serving Thonon-les-Bains , Évian-les-Bains , and the Arve valley to St Gervais and Chamonix as well as Annemasse to Annecy . The origins of

608-642: Is a trip from Annemasse to the Geneva Airport, not even on the Léman Express network. Trips from outside Zone 10 to the other side of Zone 10, such as Annemasse to Coppet, are charged the full distance-based fare. Prior to the opening CEVA, local rail in Geneva consisted of two short services: the half-hourly Regio operating from Coppet to the main Genève-Cornavin railway station and (since 2002) on to Lancy-Pont-Rouge station (now sections of L1-L4), as well as

684-752: Is electrified with the Swiss 15 kV 16.7 Hz including a track to one of the Annemasse platforms. To simplify electrification situation in the Geneva area, the portion between Genève-Cornavin and Bellegarde was changed from 1500 V DC to 25 kV 50 Hz AC in summer 2014. The new service over the CEVA line opened in December 2019; it was branded as Léman Express and operated with new Stadler FLIRT electric multiple unit trains built in Switzerland by Stadler Rail . Since completion,

760-874: Is especially the case for lines operated by Korail , such as the Gyeongui-Jungang Line , the Gyeongchun Line , the Suin-Bundang Line , or the Gyeonggang Line . Even some lines not operated by Korail, such as the AREX Line, the Seohae Line or the Shinbundang Line mostly function as commuter rail. Lastly, even for the "numbered lines" (1–9) of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway which mostly travel in

836-591: Is heavily used by commuters in the Greater Tokyo Area , who commute between 100 and 200 km (62 and 124 mi) by Shinkansen . To meet the demand of commuters, JR sells commuter discount passes. Before 2021, they operated 16-car bilevel E4 Series Shinkansen trains at rush hour, providing a capacity of 1,600 seats. Several lines in China, such as the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway and

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912-417: Is often a case of asset sweating , by using a single large combined fleet for intercity and regional services. Loco hauled services are usually run in push-pull formation, that is, the train can run with the locomotive at the "front" or "rear" of the train (pushing or pulling). Trains are often equipped with a control cab at the other end of the train from the locomotive, allowing the train operator to operate

988-1884: Is one suburban rail called the Chittagong Circular Railway . Another suburban railway called the Dhaka Circular Railway is currently proposed. Karachi in Pakistan has a circular railway since 1969. Tehran Metro currently operates the Line 5 commuter line between Tehran and Karaj . Turkey has lines connecting Başkentray , İZBAN , Marmaray and Gaziray . Major metropolitan areas in most European countries are usually served by extensive commuter/suburban rail systems. Well-known examples include BG Voz in Belgrade (Serbia), S-Bahn in Germany, Austria and German-speaking areas of Switzerland, Proastiakos in Greece, RER in France and Belgium, Servizio ferroviario suburbano in Italy, Cercanías and Rodalies ( Catalonia ) in Spain, CP Urban Services in Portugal, Esko in Prague and Ostrava (Czech Republic), HÉV in Budapest (Hungary) and DART in Dublin (Ireland). London has multiple commuter rail routes: The Merseyrail network in Liverpool consists of two commuter rail routes powered by third rail, both of which branch out at one end. At

1064-470: Is operationally more like a typical metro system (frequent trains, an emphasis on standing passengers , short station spacings) than it is like commuter rail in other countries. Japanese commuter rail commonly interline with city center subway lines, with commuter rail trains continuing into the subway network, and then out onto different commuter rail systems on the other side of the city. Many Japanese commuter systems operate various stopping patterns to reduce

1140-526: Is still possible to tell them apart. Some operators, for example Thameslink , focus solely on commuter services. Others, such as Avanti West Coast and LNER , run solely intercity services. Others still, such as GWR and EMR , run a mixture of commuter, regional and intercity services. Some of these operators use different branding for different types of service (for example EMR brands its trains as either "InterCity", "Connect" for London commuter services, and "Regional") but even for those operators that do not,

1216-570: Is used in Australia (Sydney for example) to describe the regional trains operating beyond the boundaries of the suburban services, even though some of these "inter-city" services stop all stations similar to German regional services. In this regard, the German service delineations and naming conventions are clearer and better used for academic purposes. Sometimes high-speed rail can serve daily use of commuters. The Japanese Shinkansen high speed rail system

1292-426: Is widely used in many commuter rail trains to increase capacity in rush hours. Carriages are usually not organized to increase seating capacity (although in some trains at least one carriage would feature more doors to facilitate easier boarding and alighting and bench seats so that they can be folded up during rush hour to provide more standing room) even in the case of commuting longer than 50 km and commuters in

1368-900: The Brisbane ( Queensland Rail 's City network ) and Perth ( Transperth ) systems in Australia, in some systems in Sweden, and on the Genoa-Casella line in Italy. Some countries and regions, including Finland , India, Pakistan, Russia , Brazil and Sri Lanka, as well as San Francisco ( BART ) in the US and Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, use broad gauge track. Metro rail and rapid transit usually cover smaller inner-urban areas within 12 to 20 km (7 to 12 mi) of city centers, with shorter stop spacing, use rolling stocks with larger standing spaces, lower top speed and higher acceleration, designed for short-distance travel. They also run more frequently, to

1444-747: The Chennai MRTS , also covers over 300 stations and carries more than 2.5 million people daily to different areas in Chennai and its surroundings. Other commuter railways in India include the Hyderabad MMTS , Delhi Suburban Railway , Pune Suburban Railway and Lucknow-Kanpur Suburban Railway . In 2020, Government of India approved Bengaluru Suburban Railway to connect Bengaluru and its suburbs. It will be unique and first of its kind in India as it will have metro like facilities and rolling stock. In Bangladesh, there

1520-519: The Greater Tokyo Area , Seoul metropolitan area , and Jabodetabek area have to stand in the train for more than an hour. Currently there are not many examples of commuter rail in Africa . Metrorail operates in the major cities of South Africa , and there are some commuter rail services in Algeria , Botswana , Kenya , Morocco , Egypt and Tunisia . In Algeria, SNTF operates commuter rail lines between

1596-811: The Guangshen Railway have more frequent metro-like service. The two MTR lines which are owned and formerly operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ( East Rail line and Tuen Ma line which is integrated from the former West Rail line and Ma On Shan line in 2021), then the "KCR" ), and MTR's own Tung Chung line connect the new towns in New Territories and the city centre Kowloon together with frequent intervals, and some New Territories-bound trains terminate at intermediate stations, providing more frequent services in Kowloon and

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1672-571: The Jakarta city center with surrounding cities and sub-urbans in Banten and West Java provinces, including Depok , Bogor , Tangerang , Serpong , Rangkasbitung , Bekasi and Cikarang . In July 2015, KRL Commuterline served more than 850,000 passengers per day, which is almost triple of the 2011 figures, but still less than 3.5% of all Jabodetabek commutes. Other commuter rail systems in Indonesia include

1748-947: The Metro Surabaya Commuter Line , Commuter Line Bandung , KAI Commuter Yogyakarta–Solo Line , Kedung Sepur , and the Sri Lelawangsa . In the Philippines, the Philippine National Railways has two commuter rail systems currently operational; the PNR Metro Commuter Line in the Greater Manila Area and the PNR Bicol Commuter in the Bicol Region . A new commuter rail line in Metro Manila,

1824-597: The North–South Commuter Railway , is currently under construction. Its North section is set to be partially opened by 2021. In Malaysia, there are two commuter services operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu . They are the KTM Komuter that serves Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley area , and the KTM Komuter Northern Sector that serves Greater Penang , Perak , Kedah and Perlis in

1900-695: The Réseau Express Régional (RER) in Paris, the S Lines in Milan, many Japanese commuter systems, the East Rail line in Hong Kong, and some Australasian suburban networks, such as Sydney Trains . Many commuter rail systems share tracks with other passenger services and freight . In North America, commuter rail sometimes refers only to systems that primarily operate during rush hour and offer little to no service for

1976-753: The Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway , serve a similar role with many more under construction or planned. In South Korea, some sections of the high-speed rail network are also heavily used by commuters, such as the section between Gwangmyeong Station and Seoul Station on the KTX network ( Gyeongbu HSR Line ), or the section between Dongtan Station and Suseo station on the SRT Line. The high-speed services linking Zürich , Bern and Basel in Switzerland (200 km/h (120 mph)) have brought

2052-573: The Underground and the Overground , Elizabeth line , Thameslink along with other commuter rail operators , Madrid's Metro and Cercanías , Barcelona's Metro and Rodalies , and Tokyo's subway and the JR lines along with various privately owned and operated commuter rail systems. Regional rail usually provides rail services between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs in

2128-592: The Yamanote Line , Keihin Tohoku Line , Chūō–Sōbu Line services arguably are more akin to rapid transit with frequent stops, simple stopping patterns (relative to other JR East lines) no branching services and largely serving the inner suburbs; other services along the Chūō Rapid Line , Sōbu Rapid Line / Yokosuka Line , Ueno–Tokyo Line , Shōnan–Shinjuku Line etc. are mid-distance services from suburban lines in

2204-619: The 'CEVA' route and along the south side of Lake Geneva to St-Maurice. This was never realised due to competition from the Vaud canton which succeeded in keeping the Dijon – Vallorbe – Lausanne – St Maurice route as the main Simplon line to Italy. A contract of 1912 between the Confederation and the canton said that each partner would pay one third of construction costs of CEVA and SBB a further third. In 1949

2280-415: The 19th century line was closed for four years period whilst it was double-tracked and cut-and-covered. As part of the scheme and to avoid RER rolling stock needing three voltages, Cornavin – La Plaine – Bellegarde was re-electrified at 25 kV AC in summer 2014. This not only allows standard Swiss dual voltage (25 kV AC 50 Hz and 15 kV 16⅔ Hz) EMUs to work on the line but also improves the performance of

2356-495: The 300 km/h (186 mph) Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed railway . The regional trains Stockholm – Uppsala , Stockholm– Västerås , Stockholm– Eskilstuna and Gothenburg – Trollhättan in Sweden reach 200 km/h (120 mph) and have many daily commuters. In Great Britain , the HS1 domestic services between London and Ashford runs at a top speed of 225 km/h, and in peak hours

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2432-668: The CFF fare, and trips entirely in France are charged the TER fare. Cross-border fares are charged at the Léman Pass rate, which is calculated as a specific fare based on the distance between stations. All stations within the Unireso zone are charged at the same rate, so a 44 minute trip from Annemasse to Pont-Céard, the last station in Zone 10, is charged the same fare as a 7 minute trip from Annemasse to Chêne-Bourg—as

2508-517: The Central Business Districts (CBDs) of these three cities within 1 hour of each other. This has resulted in unexpectedly high demand for new commuter trips between the three cities and a corresponding increase in suburban rail passengers accessing the high-speed services at the main city-centre stations ( Hauptbahnhof ). The Regional-Express commuter service between Munich and Nuremberg in Germany runs at 200 km/h (120 mph) on

2584-402: The East Rail Line share tracks with intercity trains to mainland China . The three KCR lines are integrated into the MTR network since 2008 and most passengers do not need to exit and re-enter the system through separate fare gates and purchase separate tickets to transfer between such lines and the rest of the network (the exceptions are between the Tuen Ma line's East Tsim Sha Tsui station and

2660-444: The Genève-La Plaine line was re-electrified with 25 kV AC as they cannot use that voltage, to be replaced by RABe 522 EMUs. On February 20, 2020, about three months after the full opening of the network, a steering committee composed of Swiss and French representatives met to revive the Tonkin Railway , a 17.8 km section between Saint-Gingolph and Évian-les-Bains . Due to the geography of Lake Geneva , this would provide Geneva

2736-433: The Netherlands carry many commuters, while their equipment, range, and speeds are similar to those of commuter trains in some larger countries. The United Kingdom has a privatised rail system, with different routes and services covered by different private operators. The distinction between commuter and intercity rail is not as clear as it was before privatisation (when InterCity existed as a brand of its own), but usually it

2812-427: The RER line from Cornavin to La Plaine with services extending beyond to serve Bellegarde, and the local CFF services operating from Lancy (Pont Rouge) to Coppet through Cornavin. At the time of study, services carried some 7'000 commuters a day; with the improved network this was expected to grow to over 35'000 and cut up to 50'000 car journeys between France and Switzerland. The largest civil engineering project within

2888-414: The RER system. The studies were necessitated by the growing number of commuters living in France and working in Geneva, not only on the short, existing RER system but on the lines leaving the station at Eaux Vives on the south side of the lake. The new, enlarged, RER network was to cover the present Eaux Vives to Annemasse line with services at regular intervals beyond to serve Évian, St. Gervais and Annecy,

2964-431: The Rhône Express Régional (abbreviated to 'RER') line from La Plaine (in Dardagny ) to Genève-Cornavin station (now L5 and L6). The RER line used tram-trains derived from those on Lausanne métro's line M1 , required as it was electrified using 1,500 Volts direct current , unlike the 15'000 Volts alternating current rest of the Swiss Federal Railway network. Local trains to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (in France) joined

3040-433: The Swiss sector are covered by the Tout Genève ('whole of Geneva') rate, zones 11–17. This line used to be electrified at 1500 V DC and signalled to SNCF standards from the border to both Geneva's central passenger station and La Praille goods depot. Prior to the introduction of the "RER" brand in 1995 the Geneva – La-Plaine service was operated by two notoriously unreliable BDe 4/4 II railcars. Initially, service

3116-442: The TGV workings (Paris-Geneva TGVs no longer need to run under 1.5 kV DC). The French signalling and train control between Geneva and la Plaine was replaced with standard Swiss equipment, the points motors renewed and the line fully automated. The third track from Geneva to Coppet had passing loops installed at Chambésy and Mies stations where northbound and southbound trains can pass to allow for four trains per hour operation. As

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3192-411: The Tsuen Wan line's Tsim Sha Tsui station . In Taiwan, the Western line in the Taipei - Taoyuan Metropolitan Area, Taichung Metropolitan Area and Tainan - Kaohsiung Metropolitan Area as well as the Neiwan - Liujia line in the Hsinchu Area are considered commuter rail. In South Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway includes a total of 22 lines, and some of its lines are suburban lines. This

3268-467: The capital Algiers and its southern and eastern suburbs. They also serve to connect Algiers ' main universities to each other. The Dar es Salaam commuter rail offers intracity services in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania. In Botswana, the ( Botswana Railways ) "BR Express" has a commuter train between Lobatse and Gaborone . In Japan, commuter rail systems have extensive network and frequent service and are heavily used. In many cases, Japanese commuter rail

3344-417: The dense parts of Seoul, some track sections extend far outside of the city, and operate large sections at ground level, such as on the Line 1 , Line 3 and Line 4 . In Busan, the Donghae Line , while part of the Busan Metro system, mostly functions as a commuter rail line. In Indonesia , the KRL Commuterline is the largest commuter rail system in the country, serving the Greater Jakarta . It connects

3420-411: The first section of the ring was built, connecting Cornavin station to a large new freight marshalling yard at La Praille, but was used only for freight. Until 2013 the Eaux-Vives – Annemasse line remained an isolated shuttle served by SNCF trains, although the line (infrastructure) was legally the Geneva State Railway ( French : Chemin de Fer de l'Etat de Genève ). After numerous false starts over

3496-416: The former BR 's Regional Railways , France's TER ( Transport express régional ), Germany's Regionalexpress and Regionalbahn , and South Korea's Tonggeun and Mugunghwa-ho services. In some European countries, the distinction between commuter trains and long-distance/intercity trains is subtle, due to the relatively short distances involved. For example, so-called " intercity " trains in Belgium and

3572-462: The full launch of the network in December 2019, it was hoped ridership would be around 50,000 travellers per day by the end of the next year; at the beginning of March 2020 it had already reached 45,000 per day before the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic and travel shutdowns reduced ridership. As of June 2020, ridership had recovered to around 50% of pre-pandemic ridership, and by 2022 the ridership reached 70,000 passengers per day, 40% higher than

3648-405: The full route opened on 15 December 2019 to Léman Express and RegioExpress services. The project was to build the remaining section of an outer ring link connecting Geneva ( Cornavin station ) with Annemasse running through Geneva's west, south and south eastern suburbs. It was planned to enhance the public transport network of the Geneva region, which increasingly over the years has become

3724-406: The initial target set for the network. As the Léman Express is an international system between two countries, the fare system is complex. Until its entry into service, the cross-border agglomeration had a zone-based fare system named Unireso . Zone 10, "Tout Genève", covered all of the canton of Geneva. Fares inside this zone still use the Unireso Zone 10 ticket price. Trips to/from Vaud are charged

3800-399: The network on 3 December 2001. The line was subsequently upgraded to the standard 25 kV AC electrification (as used on much of the French railways) in conjunction with the development of the Léman Express system. On 8 February 2008, the Swiss and French Railways brought into being a study and marketing company, Transferis, to look into rolling stock, service, and marketing improvements for

3876-502: The northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. In Thailand, the Greater Bangkok Commuter rail and the Airport Rail Link serve the Bangkok Metropolitan Region . The SRT Red Lines , a new commuter line in Bangkok, started construction in 2009. It opened in 2021. Another commuter rail system in Southeast Asia is the Yangon Circular Railway in Myanmar . In India, commuter rail systems are present in major cities and form an important part of people's daily lives. Mumbai Suburban Railway ,

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3952-889: The number expected to rise even higher upon full completion of the Acharnes Railway Center . Eskişehir-Ankara and Konya-Ankara high speed train routes serve as high speed commuter trains in Turkey. Commuter/suburban trains are usually optimized for maximum passenger volume, in most cases without sacrificing too much comfort and luggage space, though they seldom have all the amenities of long-distance trains. Cars may be single- or double-level , and aim to provide seating for all. Compared to intercity trains, they have less space, fewer amenities and limited baggage areas. Commuter rail trains are usually composed of multiple units , which are self-propelled, bidirectional, articulated passenger rail cars with driving motors on each (or every other) bogie . Depending on local circumstances and tradition they may be powered either by diesel engines located below

4028-417: The oldest suburban rail system in Asia, carries more than 7.24 million commuters on a daily basis which constitutes more than half of the total daily passenger capacity of the Indian Railways itself. Kolkata Suburban Railway , one of the largest suburban railway networks in the world, consists of more than 450 stations and carries more than 3.5 million commuters per day. The Chennai Suburban Railway along with

4104-529: The opening of the railway in the 19th century, with local service continuing to Nyon and Lausanne. In 2004, as part of the Rail 2000 railway upgrade program, a third track was inaugurated between Geneva and Coppet, allowing service to be upgraded to a half-hourly frequency, but with local service being cut north of Coppet. Local stations between Coppet and Allaman, the southern extent of the RER Vaud , were closed: Founex, Céligny, Crans, Prangins, Gilly-Bursinel and Perroy. The Geneva RER or Rhône Express Régional

4180-409: The other, the Northern line continues out of the city centre to a mainline rail interchange, while the Wirral line has a city-centre loop. CEVA rail CEVA ( Cornavin‒Eaux-Vives‒Annemasse ) is an orbital rail line designed to connect the main railway station of Geneva , Switzerland ( Gare de Cornavin ) on the north of Lake Geneva with the Gare d'Annemasse in Annemasse , France , to

4256-581: The outer reaches of Greater Tokyo through operating into these lines to form a high frequency corridor though central Tokyo. Other commuter rail routes in Japan include: Commuter rail systems have been inaugurated in several cities in China such as Beijing , Shanghai , Zhengzhou , Wuhan , Changsha and the Pearl River Delta . With plans for large systems in northeastern Zhejiang , Jingjinji , and Yangtze River Delta areas. The level of service varies considerably from line to line ranging high to near high speeds. More developed and established lines such as

4332-423: The passenger compartment ( diesel multiple units ) or by electricity picked up from third rails or overhead lines ( electric multiple units ). Multiple units are almost invariably equipped with control cabs at both ends, which is why such units are so frequently used to provide commuter services, due to the associated short turn-around time. Locomotive hauled services are used in some countries or locations. This

4408-415: The passing loops were finished before the CEVA tunnel, quarter hourly service to Coppet was started on 9 December 2018, over a year in advance of the full rollout of the Léman Express. The completion of the project in December 2019 makes it the largest cross-border local transport network in Europe, at 230 route-km. Local Régio trains served the Geneva to Coppet section of the modern Léman Express since

4484-515: The plea in June 2011 but the opponents also took the last step, going to the Federal Court. On 28 March 2012, the Federal Administrative Court rejected all remaining objections, thus concluding the legal process and allowing the works to proceed freely. In 2012, Eaux-Vives station closed and the disused Chêne-Bourg station was reopened until 1 April 2013, when all train services stopped to allow construction to start. A substitute bus service from Annemasse to Eaux-Vives began running. The CEVA line

4560-402: The project go back to 1850. In 1888 the Eaux-Vives to Annemasse line was opened. At Eaux Vives, the abutments were built for a bridge across the main road on the alignment of the proposed link round to Cornavin. This Geneva ring was part of a proposed new link to the Simplon route to Italy, using a direct route from Paris and Dijon under the Jura mountains via the Faucille tunnel to Geneva, round

4636-552: The rest of the day, with regional rail being used to refer to systems that offer all-day service. Most commuter (or suburban) trains are built to main line rail standards, differing from light rail or rapid transit (metro rail) systems by: Compared to rapid transit (or metro rail), commuter/suburban rail often has lower frequency , following a schedule rather than fixed intervals, and fewer stations spaced further apart. They primarily serve lower density suburban areas (non inner-city), generally only having one or two stops in

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4712-488: The same right-of-way can drastically reduce system construction costs. However, frequently they are built with dedicated tracks within that right-of-way to prevent delays, especially where service densities have converged in the inner parts of the network. Most such trains run on the local standard gauge track. Some systems may run on a narrower or broader gauge. Examples of narrow gauge systems are found in Japan, Indonesia , Malaysia , Thailand , Taiwan, Switzerland, in

4788-427: The scheme was the CEVA line from Cornavin to Annemasse. Connecting the two stations had been proposed as early as the 1850s, with a preliminary section from Annemasse to Eaux Vives completed in 1888. However, no further work was completed until the 21st century. As part of the final project, the a tunnel was built connecting the marshalling yard at La Praille (Lancy-Pont Rouge) to Eaux Vives, and Eaux Vives and Annemasse

4864-443: The south of Lake Geneva. The link allows through running between the main Swiss rail network and the until then isolated line east of Annemasse in Haute-Savoie , which was served until 2013 by French SNCF services. A new station was constructed on the route at Gare des Eaux-Vives and the line between this station and the border was replaced with a double track line in tunnel. Track already existed as far as Stade de Genève station;

4940-461: The towns closer to Kowloon. They use rolling stocks with a faster maximum speed and have longer stop spacing compared to other lines which only run in the inner urban area, but in order to maximise capacity and throughput, these rolling stocks have longitudinal seatings, 5 pairs of doors in each carriage with large standing spaces like the urban lines, and run as frequent as well. Most of the sections of these four lines are overground and some sections of

5016-515: The train from either end. The motive power for locomotive-hauled commuter trains may be either electric or diesel–electric , although some countries, such as Germany and some of the former Soviet-bloc countries, also use diesel–hydraulic locomotives. In the US and some other countries, a three-and-two seat plan is used. Middle seats on these trains are often less popular because passengers feel crowded and uncomfortable. In Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, longitudinal (sideways window-lining) seating

5092-450: The trains can be full with commuters standing. The Athens Suburban Railway in Greece consists of five lines, 4 of which are electrified. The Kiato – Piraeus line and the Aigio – Airport lines reach speeds of up to 180 km/h (112 mph). The Athens – Chalcis line is also expected to attain speeds of up to 200 km/h (124 mph) upon upgrading of the SKA–Oinoi railway sector. These lines also have many daily commuters, with

5168-471: The trains run between two or several cities (e.g. S-Bahn in the Ruhr area of Germany). Distances between stations may vary, but are usually much longer than those of urban rail systems. In city centres the train either has a terminal station or passes through the city centre with notably fewer station stops than those of urban rail systems. Toilets are often available on-board trains and in stations. Their ability to coexist with freight or intercity services in

5244-418: The travel time to distant locations, often using station passing loops instead of dedicated express tracks. It is notable that the larger Japanese commuter rail systems are owned and operated by for-profit private railway companies, without public subsidy. East Japan Railway Company operates a large suburban train network in Tokyo with various lines connecting the suburban areas to the city center. While

5320-574: The type of train, amenities offered, and stopping pattern, usually tell the services apart. Russian commuter trains , on the other hand, frequently cover areas larger than Belgium itself, although these are still short distances by Russian standards. They have a different ticketing system from long-distance trains, and in major cities they often operate from a separate section of the train station. Some consider "inter-city" service to be that which operates as an express service between two main city stations, bypassing intermediate stations. However, this term

5396-470: The way inter-city rail does. Regional rail operates outside major cities. Unlike Inter-city, it stops at most or all stations between cities. It provides a service between smaller communities along the line that are often byproducts of ribbon developments , and also connects with long-distance services at interchange stations located at junctions, terminals, or larger towns along the line. Alternative names are "local train" or "stopping train". Examples include

5472-534: Was a commuter railway service running between Geneva Cornavin station , Switzerland using the dedicated Platform 5 and La Plaine (Swiss terminus) and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine in France. It used part of the Lyon–Geneva railway . It is probably not a coincidence that the initials correspond to the Paris suburban railway commuter network RER . The service was twice hourly in each direction weekdays, with additional hourly services to Bellegarde at peak hours. Fares within

5548-506: Was opened on 15 December 2019. The Léman Express marked the start of direct services from Genève-Cornavin station to the French cities of Évian , Thonon , Annemasse and Annecy as well as the population of the Arve Valley up to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains . The Léman Express operates daily from 5am to 12:30am and hourly overnight on Friday and Saturday nights between Coppet and Annemasse. Upon

5624-511: Was operated by five specially built two coach articulated railcars of class Bem550 . These were built by Vevey Technologies (formerly Ateliers de Constructions Mécaniques de Vevey , ACMV) with electrical equipment by Asea Brown Boveri in 1994. They ran under 1.5 kV DC wires, but were equipped with a diesel engine to enable them to reach the workshops. When the service frequency was expanded, some trains composed of RIO carriages hauled by BB25500 series locos. This rather antiquated rolling stock

5700-528: Was replaced progressively by Stadler FLIRT RABe 524 EMUs. From December 2010 to June 2014, Geneva – La Plaine services were operated by three Stadler FLIRT RABe 524 EMUs, which were not certified to run beyond la Plaine, while Geneva-Bellegarde services were operated by the Bem550s. The RABe 524 were taken temporarily from the Ticino railway network as they can also run on 1.5 kV DC. These sets went back to Ticino when

5776-459: Was undertaken in the last two years, and consisted of widening Cornavin station on its south side, to allow room for a platform for use by CEVA trains. This entailed the wholesale moving of a historic listed building by a few metres. Approval of the plans by the Federal Office of Transport was given on 5 May 2008, but opponents brought the case to court. The Federal Administrative Court rejected

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