Elevated railway

Elevated railway
"Elevated" redirects here. For the short film by Vincenzo Natali, see Elevated (film).
Liverpool Overhead Railway, 1951.
Green Line train in Downtown Chicago.
Chinatown station in Los Angeles.
Thiruvanmiyur station of the Chennai MRTS.
A train heading to EDSA station of Manila Metro.
A typical station on the Dubai Metro.

An elevated railway (known in Europe as overhead railway) is a form of rapid transit railway with the tracks built above street level on some form of viaduct or other steel or concrete structure. The railway concerned may be constructed according to the standard gauge, narrow gauge, light rail, monorail or suspension railway system. Elevated railways are usually used in urban areas where otherwise there would be a large number of level crossings.

Contents

History

The earliest example of an elevated railway was the London and Greenwich Railway which was built on a brick viaduct of 878 arches between 1836 and 1838. Various other lines were proposed for London during the 1840s but were never implemented.[1]

From the late 1860s elevated railways became popular in US cities. The New York West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway operated with cable cars from 1868 to 1870, but thereafter was locomotive hauled. This was followed by the Manhattan Railway in 1875, the Boston Elevated Railway (1887-), and the South Side Elevated Railroad, Chicago (1892-). The Berlin Stadtbahn (1882) is also principally on elevated track.

The first electrically-operated elevated railway, was the Liverpool Overhead Railway, which operated through Liverpool docks from 1893 until 1956.

Suspension railways

During the 1890s there was some interest in suspension railways, particularly in Germany, with the Schwebebahn Dresden, (1891-) and the Wuppertal Schwebebahn (1901). Two further H-Bahn suspension railways were built in Dortmund and Düsseldorf airport, 1975. The Memphis Suspension Railway was opened in 1982.

Monorail systems

Most monorail transport systems are also elevated railways, such as the Disneyland Monorail System (1959), the Tokyo Monorail (1964), or the Metro Monorail, Sydney (1988-). Maglev railways are also elevated.

See also

References

  1. ^ Jack Simmons and Gordon Biddle, The Oxford Companion to British Railway History, Oxford University Press, (1997), p.360.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Elevated railway — Elevated El e*va ted, a. Uplifted; high; lofty; also, animated; noble; as, elevated thoughts. [1913 Webster] {Elevated railway}, one in which the track is raised considerably above the ground, especially a city railway above the line of street… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • elevated railway — ☆ elevated railway or elevated railroad n. a railway elevated on a framework, leaving the street below free for other traffic * * * …   Universalium

  • elevated railway — ☆ elevated railway or elevated railroad n. a railway elevated on a framework, leaving the street below free for other traffic …   English World dictionary

  • elevated railway — BrE .elevated railroad AmE n a railway that is above the streets in a town …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Elevated railway — Railroad Rail road (r[=a]l r[=o]d ), Railway Rail way (r[=a]l w[=a] ), n. 1. A road or way consisting of one or more parallel series of iron or steel rails, patterned and adjusted to be tracks for the wheels of vehicles, and suitably supported on …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • elevated railway — noun a railway that is powered by electricity and that runs on a track that is raised above the street level • Syn: ↑elevated railroad, ↑elevated, ↑el, ↑overhead railway • Hypernyms: ↑railway, ↑railroad, ↑railroad line, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • elevated railway — BrE elevated railroad AmE noun (C) a railway that runs on a kind of continuous bridge above the streets in a town …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • elevated railway — A railway elevated above the streets upon an overhead roadbed. 55 Am J1st Urb Trans § 12 …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • elevated railway — railroad which runs above ground level to allow vehicles and pedestrians to pass beneath …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Boston Elevated Railway — The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a precursor first to the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Massachusetts , and now to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, operating rapid transit, streetcars and buses in the Boston,… …   Wikipedia

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