The term "Metro" seems to have been seized by corporate and marketing types
in recent years and used in their attempts to sell a train or rail line to
the wider community as something sleek, futuristic, glossy, etc.
However a Google search turns up Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain
de Paris, the Paris Metropolitan Railway Company Ltd which is shortened to
Le Metropolitain or Metro (which opened 120yrs ago). Interestingly, the
same article says the term Metro is an example of a genericized trademark
and has been adopted in many languages "...making it the most used word for
a (generally underground) urban transit *system*."
The metro marketing enthusiasts espouse "high capacity, high speed, high
frequency" trains as attributes that poop all over your regular suburban
operation. I've not visited Paris but I have used the London tube. On any
one line there, could the trains be described as high capacity? No, they're
all quite small carriages marshalled (from memory) as 6 or 8 car sets,
depending on the line. High speed? Hardly, they don't attain any great
speed but they're probably the quickest way around that big city so using
that criteria, yes to high speed. High frequency? On the centre section of
each line they run every 2 minutes or so in the peak so yes to frequency
although there is some short working involved so the outer ends of each
line miss out somewhat.
So does any one or two lines anywhere qualify as a Metro? Well nothing is
legislated so any individual is free to label anything as he or she sees
fit so if you want to brand Sydney's suburban line to Penrith as a Metro,
you absolutely can! (Not sure what you'll do to justify all those
intercity's, coal trains and the Indian Pacific though...) But if we're
talking about what seems to be internationally accepted convention, then
it's systems or networks with certain features that are Metro, not
individual lines.
That being the case, then Perth is the closest we have, although it's more
accurate to describe it as a high performance (rapid acceleration, hard
braking) suburban system, yes a "metro in waiting"!
The automated suburban line in Sydney may morph into a metro some time in
the future, if enough lines are added to make it a true system and not what
is currently planned which is one long north-west to south-west line and a
short east-west one.
S
On Sun, Jun 5, 2022, 23:37 Daniel Bowen danielbowen@...> wrote:
> Thanks Tony.
>
> I'm still not sure how Perth meets those criteria (and I appreciate there
> are shades of grey, and yes you're right, everyone has a different
> definition!).
>
> Perth's rail headways are mostly 15-30 minutes, not exactly high frequency
> except in peak. Not all trains stop all stops, a number of lines have
> express services.
>
> Is it fast? A quick comparison of the Fremantle line to Melbourne's
> Sandringham line (which of course is run by an operator with the name
> "Metro" but is really a suburban rail line) indicates similar length and
> average speed (37.4 km/h vs 35.8 km/h). Obviously Perth has some faster
> lines along the freeways.
>
> Interesting paper, thanks for that.
>
> But I'm afraid I'm not seeing what makes it a "metro".
>
>
> On Sun, 5 Jun 2022 at 22:51, TP historyworks@...> wrote:
>
>> Perth and Sydney Metro systems are rapid transit systems. This article
>> explores the concept in some detail.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_transit
>>
>> There are variations in detail and in names given to the system but the
>> common factors include high capacity, close headways, stopping at all stops
>> and very quick journey times. The conversion of the Perth system to a metro
>> (rapid transit) system is described in this paper by its principal creator.
>>
>>
>> https://cotma.org.au/documents/perth_2018/The%20story%20of%20electric%20trains%20coming%20to%20Perth%20-%20Alan%20Cotton.pdf
>>
>> Suburban or commuter rail is a different beast, although there are
>> naturally overlapping characteristics. Be warned, 1,001 different railway
>> enthusiasts will come up with 1,001 different arguments to challenge these
>> definitions, which is fair enough because there are inevitably grey edges
>> according to the requirements of different individual cities. However, the
>> basic concepts are distinct.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commuter_rail
>>
>> Tony P
>>
>> On Sunday, 5 June 2022 at 22:26:47 UTC+10danie...@... wrote:
>>
>>> Hey Tony, I'm interested to know how you classify a "metro" vs a
>>> "suburban rail system", and thus how Perth has transitioned from one to the
>>> other?
>>>
>>> I still think of Perth's network as suburban rail, along with Melbourne,
>>> Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney Trains. Sydney Metro is clearly different.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, 2 Jun 2022 at 14:21, TP histor...@...> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It is pretty much the same as other metros I've used, but probably best
>>>> to compare it with other automated metros. It doesn't quite have the
>>>> acceleration and deceleration of Prague but I think not many would! It's
>>>> more comfortable than most, more like Perth which was lucky enough to
>>>> replace its entire suburban system with a metro system. Sydney and Perth
>>>> metros are evenly matched for performance given the same parameters
>>>> (station spacing, number of stops).
>>>>
>>>> However, in situations like Sydney where there are two different types
>>>> of system running side by side doing the same job, the comparison is valid.
>>>> The metro smokes the suburban system on every criterion: speed and journey
>>>> time, capacity, frequency, reliability and customer satisfaction. A better
>>>> opportunity to compare will of course be when that line opens through to
>>>> Bankstown and the other lines start opening, particularly Metro West.
>>>> Melbourne will have its turn before too long.
>>>>
>>>> Tony P
>>>>
>>>> On Thursday, 2 June 2022 at 13:13:25 UTC+10eme...@... wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The other point is that metro operations should ideally be compared to
>>>>> other metro systems.
>>>>>
>>>>> How does Sydney compare to Paris, Washington, Prague, for example?
>>>>>
>>>>> If it's worse than these, explanations must be sought. If, otoh, it
>>>>> is better, then let's not be worried.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm also more concerned that in cities like Melbourne and Sydney, the
>>>>> rail system is trying to do the work that metros do elsewhere. Or, in the
>>>>> case of Adelaide, heavy rail is trying to do the work of trams on several
>>>>> routes. Using the wrong mode for the job always means inefficiencies that
>>>>> can be used to scrap that mode.
>>>>>
>>>>
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