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Interurban
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- In Australia, "interurban" is a general term for intercity rail.
An Interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad that enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. At present, such systems are usually categorized as light rail, along with urban streetcar lines. Interurbans were often extensions of streetcar lines running between urban areas or from urban to rural areas.
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Encyclopedia
- In Australia, "interurban" is a general term for intercity rail.
An Interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad that enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. At present, such systems are usually categorized as light rail, along with urban streetcar lines. Interurbans were often extensions of streetcar lines running between urban areas or from urban to rural areas. The lines were mainly electrified in an era when steam railroads had not yet adopted electricity to any large degree. Most did not survive following the widespread adoption of the automobile and the onset of the Great Depression. Some interurban lines did survive through the Depression, often by emphasizing and expanding freight service, but were abandoned just prior to World War Two. Examples: Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad, Indiana Railroad, Lake Shore Electric Railway. Some barely made it into World War Two but then enjoyed a war-related increase in business, only to decline into abandonment after the war's end up into the early 1950s. Examples: Bamberger RR, Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, Illinois Terminal, Jamestown, Westfield and Northwestern, Lehigh Valley Transit, Milwaukee Electric/Speedrail, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern. Those former interurban lines that have remained to the present day often had evolved into commuter railroads or freight short lines. Examples: Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad, Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company/Red Arrow Lines.
History of interurban rail in North America
The first interurbans were constructed in the 1880s, following the successful development of the electric traction motor and controller by Frank Sprague. States with numerous interurban lines were Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. States with less interurban density were Iowa, Utah, California, Texas, and Oklahoma. By 1900, just over of track had been laid. Mileage peaked in 1916 with over 15,500 miles. Always requiring extensive operating capital for rolling stock, rolling stock maintenance and shops, track and right-of-way infrastructure maintenance, and many employees, often interurbans would go bankrupt and into receivership even during a good year. One bridge washout, wreck, fire, strike, or dispute with a village or town over track issues and costs could cause bankruptcy. Beginning around the end of World War I the industry began a decline. This was accelerated in the 1920s by the growth in automobile ownership combined with state construction of durable concrete highways. Often these highways flanked the interurban lines. The Great Depression finally drove most interurbans into bankruptcy in the early 1930s. A few survived into the 1950s and a very few survived to the 1960s. Those that survived to the 1960s tended to be lines that had become commuter systems to large cities, such as Chicago's North Shore Line, South Shore Line, and Chicago Aurora and Elgin. Only the South Shore Line operates today, and this is with regional subsidies. The South Shore still shows part of its interurban past with its center of street operation in Michigan City. Other survivors had developed an unusually strong freight business like the Illinois Terminal, although the IT is now gone as a separate corporate entity, having been absorbed by competitive major railroads with parts of its former trackage abandoned.
To minimize cost of construction, an interurban typically ran along public right-of-way, either next to a public highway in rural areas, or on city streets in urban areas. Usually when an interurban was first constructed, the adjacent highway was unpaved and became bottomless mud during summer wet periods and in winter. Horses would struggle to move carts and wagons. The interurban was the only reliable means from farm to town both for moving people as well as some freight, such as farm produce and fresh milk. It was somewhat less common for interurbans to have long stretches of private right-of-way. Occasionally interurbans were operated adjacent to mainline steam railroads. Fares were cheaper than steam railroads, and service was more frequent and not necessarily slower. Due to the characteristics of the electric motor, interurbans could operate on steeper grades, going where steam engines could not, even with older interurban coaches re-geared to tow pulling two or three standard freight cars.
With the demise of the interurban, many routes were taken over by intercity bus services. Most local intercity services have since been discontinued; buses now typically run express between cities. A few interurbans, built to rather high standards, have survived, as have several that still operate only freight service, but the vast majority are long abandoned. Probably the closest present day trolley line resembling a 1920's interurban with city to countryside to small town, side of road, hill and dale operation is the present day broad gauge Upper Darby to Media 100 year-old former Red Arrow line of Philadelphia's SEPTA system. The last third of the Media line becomes single track private right-of-way with sidings. The cars move rapidly with a few "flag" stops, into and out of wooded ravines and along creek beds, to emerge into Media Borough where the cars run trolley-style down the center of Media's main commercial street, State Street. In the early 1900s, this was the Philadelphia and Westchester. At that time it operated all wood arch window heavy interurban cars typical of equipment used nation wide at that time.
Recognizing the need for more comfort, speed, and reduced power consumption to attract riders and reduce costs, even in the late 1920s and early 1930s, innovative interurban cars were developed using aluminum and streamlining to provide lower weight, a lower center of gravity, and improved ride on what often was rough track. The Cincinatti and Lake Erie in 1929 purchased light weight interurban cars called Red Devils that dramatically improved schedules and, for awhile, business. The Indiana Railroad did the same in 1930 with its lightweights of a similar design. And the "Bullet" cars built by Brill for the Philadelphia and Western and the Fonda, Johnstown, and Gloversville in 1932 were innovative.
The light rail movement essentially revived the concept of the interurban, but without using the word "interurban". Portland, the state of New Jersey, San Diego, and other places have built light rail systems with characteristics of the old interurbans.
Definition of "interurban"
Real-world lines fit on a continuum between wholly urban street railways and full-fledged railroads. George W. Hilton and John F. Due, in The Electric Interurban Railways in America, define an interurban as a system which shares most or all of four characteristics:
- Electric power
- Passenger service as primary emphasis
- Heavier, faster equipment than urban streetcars
- Operated on street trackage in cities but on roadside tracks or private rights-of-way in rural areas
The definition of "interurban" is necessarily blurry. Some streetcar systems evolved partly into interurban systems with extensions or acquisitions, while other interurban lines became, effectively, light rail systems with no street running whatsoever, or became primarily freight-hauling railroads with a progressive loss of passenger service.
Another distinction is made between "interurban" and "suburban". A suburban system is oriented toward a particular city center in a single urban area, serving primarily commuters who live in the suburbs of a city. An interurban is more like a regular railroad local train service, moving people from one city center to another with no single center. However, unlike a local train, the interurban serves a smaller region and has more frequent service, and is oriented to passenger rather than freight service, although some small-load freight service was common, especially in the days before trucks (lorries).
Interurban technology
In general, interurbans operated with technology somewhere between that of a streetcar line and a full-scale railroad. The vast majority of interurbans were electrified, utilizing simply strung overhead wire, or, on heavily trafficked high speed lines, the more complicated wiring system known as catenary. In either case, power was transferred from the wire to the locomotive (in the case of an interurban freight line) or interurban passenger car by way of a trolley pole or pantograph. Many interurbans transferred electricity to the trains by way of a third rail running parallel to, and outside of, the rails when running on private right-of-way while overhead supply was used elsewhere, notably in built up areas (i.e. Sacramento Northern Railway, and Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad). Power was transferred to the train using a "shoe" attached to the locomotive or car. Engineers working for Michigan United Railways devised a shoe with steel cutters which could remove ice from the tracks.
Electrification
Most interurban railways in North America were electrified using low-voltage direct current systems popular with street railways. This enabled interurbans to use urban street railway systems with ease. However, these systems had difficulty in maintaining voltage over long distances. Thus, interurbans developed the practice of generating power at higher voltages and stepping down power to the 600 volts needed to power the cars at substations spaced out along the line. By 1905, 600 volts had become the industry-wide standard.
The interurbans also had to develop their own powerhouses for electricity as there were few commercial power companies in existence at the time. Some of these steam driven power generation houses produced high-voltage AC power that would be stepped-down and converted to DC at the substations using what was called a "rotary converter." The rotary converter was an AC motor driving a DC generator. Because of owning a power house, many interurban railway companies became electric companies to their local regions.
Most power was distributed to the cars using overhead trolley wires or pantographs. Some companies preferred outside third rail. Third rail was cheaper to maintain and improved conductivity, but it was more expensive to construct as it did not mitigate the construction of transmission lines and poles. Third rail was also more dangerous to trespassers and animals. Also, in the winter, third rails were difficult to keep clear of ice.
In 1904, a single-phase alternating current system became available and was distributed by Westinghouse and General Electric. But the system soon proved expensive to maintain and operate, and it increased wear and tear on equipment and track. It was a short-lived experiment and none were installed after 1910.
Another experiment in electrification came in 1907 with high-voltage DC (1200 volts). This system was allowed for easy conversion from other DC systems and was cheaper to maintain. But it was developed so late that few railways adopted it.
Gauge
Most interurbans were built to standard gauge, but there were a fair number of exceptions. Interurbans often used the tracks of existing street railways through city streets, and when those street railways were not built to standard gauge, the interurbans had to use non-standard gauges as well or face the expense of building their own trackage through urban areas. Many municipalities had ordained the use of non-standard gauges so that railroad freight cars could never be switched onto public streets.
Exceptions
Passenger service
Freight service
Those interurbans carrying freight were typically the last to disappear. The Insull lines focus on freight allowed freight revenues to subsidize money losing passenger operations. Most of the smaller interurbans only carried LCL freight in box motors, while the bigger interurbans carried car load freight. The North Shore Line was an early adopter of TOFC trains, and the South Shore Line operated three 800-class "Little Joe" electric locomotives. Not only were these locomotives large for an interurban, they were some of the most powerful and large locomotives ever made for any railroad. Typical interurban freight operations, when not hauled in LCL fashion, were hauled behind box-cab or steeple-cab motors, with a footprint dimension similar to a GE 80-tonner diesel. Some interurbans had an auxiliary battery power system on their locomotives for operation on un-wired spurs.
North America
United States
In the late 1890s, electrified systems called streetcars, which had been developed by Frank Sprague, expanded rapidly. By 1900, just over of track had been laid, and by 1916, at their peak, over were in service. Most of the interurban track that had been laid was located in Ohio and Indiana; both states had of track. In Michigan and Illinois there was another of track which was interconnected. In Texas and in California, thousands of miles of additional track was also laid down by different companies. The first Interurban in Texas was the Denison and Sherman Railway, completed in 1901. In central Virginia, interurban lines connected City Point and Hopewell with Petersburg, and Petersburg with Richmond. Another connected Richmond with Ashland.
In the early 1900s, interurban transportation was very popular in both rural areas and cities. Electric cars offered greater acceleration and lower cost with higher frequency and more stops than mainline steam. After 1910, the popularity of the automobile began to diminish the interurban passenger load, and during the 1920s, many interurban systems were declared bankrupt. Many were also bought out in the Great American Streetcar Scandal and deliberately destroyed. As a result of this shift in transportation methods, the small and unprofitable lines were discontinued. By the 1930s, most of the interurbans had disappeared, although some of their rail lines were taken over for the use of freight drawn by steam engines. Most were replaced with buses. By the 1960s, very few lines remained; the Pacific Electric Railway in California was abandoned in 1961, and the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad near Chicago in 1963.
Remaining and new lines
Few historic interurban lines are still operated in their original form, although a number of more recently-constructed transit lines could be considered interurbans by Hilton and Due's standards above.
- The South Shore Line running from Millennium Station in Chicago to South Bend, Indiana is the successor of the passenger operations of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, part of Samuel Insull's once-great interurban empire. The line now serves commuters to Chicago from the suburbs of Northwest Indiana. It still includes a street running section (i.e. track running directly on city street without separation) in Michigan City, Indiana, but has evolved into many characteristics of a commuter rail operation, including sharing the trackage of the Metra Electric Line (formerly the Illinois Central Railroad) into downtown Chicago.
- The Chicago Transit Authority's Yellow Line, otherwise known as the Skokie Swift, is the southernmost five miles (8 km) of the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee's 1924 high speed Skokie Valley Route. The North Shore was also part of Samuel Insull's interurban empire.
- The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's SEPTA Route 100 (also known as the Norristown High Speed Line) operates over the old Philadelphia and Western Railroad's Norristown, Pennsylvania line. The line has full grade separation, third rail electrification and high platforms, characteristic of rapid transit systems but uses smaller cars with on-board fare collection, like light rail systems.
- In Los Angeles, the LACMTA Blue Line uses much trackage that was the Pacific Electric's route between Los Angeles and Long Beach. There is street trackage at both the Long Beach and Los Angeles ends of the line, and a short subway section at the Los Angeles terminus.
- Although it runs on diesel power, the RiverLINE of New Jersey is otherwise an interurban (it uses light rail, it runs in the streets of Camden, it is more comfortable than typical urban light-rail vehicles, such as the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail's trams, it runs outside of town). Fare collection is the current fashion for light rail (proof-of-payment). This line was recently built, mostly along a freight railroad right-of-way.
Other lines that have some characteristics of an interurban include:
- SEPTA Routes 101 and 102 Media and Sharon Hill lines, operating as light rail service mostly on dedicated rights of way but with some street trackage.
- The Green Line "D" Branch in Boston, a streetcar line on a grade-separated right-of-way formerly belonging to the Boston and Albany Railroad, a steam railroad
- The Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line in Boston, a streetcar line on a right-of-way formerly belonging to the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, a steam railroad
- The IRT Dyre Avenue Line in New York City, a rapid transit line on a section of the former New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, an interurban.
- The Iowa Traction Railroad (former Mason City and Clear Lake Railway) still operates electric freight service.
- Several former interurbans, such as the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway and Central California Traction Company now operate their trackage as diesel locomotive powered freight lines. The Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad also continues to operate freight service along the passenger South Shore Line.
- The relatively new Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system in Hudson County, New Jersey runs along a dedicated right-of-way on some stretches, but in Jersey City it runs in the streets.
Other portions of interurbans remain in service as parts of regular freight-hauling railroads. California features several former interurbans that survive for freight service. Portions of the Sacramento Northern Railway were operated by the Western Pacific Railroad. The longest surviving portion of the Sacramento Northern is now owned by the Sierra Northern Railroad. Most of the former Tidewater Southern Railway is still operated by the Union Pacific. Another California interurban company, the Central California Traction Company, still operates diesel freight service on its one-time electric line between Stockton and Lodi.
Present Day interurban style street-running freight train operation
Canada
In 1887 the St. Catharines and Niagara Central Railway, the first interurban line in the world, started operations. It ran between St. Catharines and Thorold, Ontario, Canada. Not only was this the first interurban line in the world, but it was also one of the first commercially successful implementations of electric streetcars in the world.
In Southern Ontario, intercity streetcar lines were called radial railways, because their routes generally radiated from a central city. The longest routes from Toronto included one running to Lake Simcoe and another to Guelph. A portion of one of these lines is preserved and plays host to a working museum of streetcars and other transit vehicles at the Halton County Radial Railway in Milton. A notable feature of Toronto's radial railways was that because the city streetcar tracks of the Toronto Railway Company (later taken over by the Toronto Transportation Commission) were built to a wider gauge (which is still used to this day), radial cars from the outlying areas could not pass the city limits, requiring passengers to change trains.
Some of the closer sections of Toronto's radial railways were assimilated into the city's streetcar network, and with the city's expansion, some communities once linked by radial railway now have relatively central stations on the Toronto subway. On a regional level, GO Transit's commuter railway network is designed on a similar radial principle, though it uses much heavier-capacity mainline trains.
There were also significant radial systems operating from Hamilton, St. Catharines, Windsor, and throughout the Grand River Valley, the last of which may see a revival should Grand River Transit obtain funding to build a light railway between Waterloo, Kitchener, and eventually Cambridge, running partially on the tracks of the former Grand River Railway. Hamilton and the Niagara Region are also investigating the possibility of reviving former interurban railway routes as modern light rail.
In British Columbia, five interurban lines were operated by the British Columbia Electric Railway Company. The private right-of-way of the Central Park line, between Commercial Drive in Vancouver and New Westminster, is now used by the SkyTrain's Expo Line. The Fraser Valley Line became the British Columbia Hydro Railway when BC Electric was nationalized in the 1960s; it was later privatized and is now the Southern Railway of British Columbia, a local shortline freight railway. The BCER also operated interuban trains between Vancouver and Marpole, and between Marpole, Steveston and New Westminster on the Vancouver and Lulu Island Railway, which it leased from Canadian Pacific. This railway is also known as Arbutus Corridor route. Likewise, the Millennium Line of the SkyTrain connects the same communities as the former Burnaby Lake Line; however, the new SkyTrain line does not follow the original right-of-way, which is now the route of Highway 1 through Burnaby. The fifth BCER interurban connected Victoria and Patricia Bay on the Saanich Peninsula. Its right-of-way is commemorated by Interurban Road in Saanich.
In Quebec, the Montreal and Southern Counties Railway operated electric interurban lines from central Montreal across the St. Lawrence Seaway to Longueuil and Granby from 1909 to 1956.
In Nova Scotia, the Cape Breton Electric RCompany operated interurban services between Sydney, Glace Bay and New Waterford from 1901 to 1947, and the Pictou County Electric Company operated interurban services between the five towns of Pictou County from 1904 to 1931.
Mexico
In the first decade of the 20th century, Canadian investors purchased the Mexico City tram operator Compañía de Tranvías de México, and attempted to create an interurban radial-railway system on the Canadian model, beginning work on lines that were intended to reach Toluca and Puebla. Typical US style interurban electric cars built by the St. Louis Car Company were imported for the service. Expenses due to Mexico's difficult terrain and political instability that culminated in the Mexican Revolution combined to end this project although lines were completed as far as La Venta and Tulyehualco and a popular suburban line was built to San Angel and Coyoacán. A portion of the ex-Puebla line operates today as the Xochimilco Light Rail system. Another Mexican system that would have been considered of an interurban type was the Playa Miramar high-speed line in Tampico.
The Mexican state of Yucatan had approximately 1,500 kilometers of interurban tramway network, mostly narrow gauge and either animal powered (mule or horsecars) or gasoline powered.
Cuba
The Hershey train is an electrified train from Havana to Matanzas that was built by the Hershey Company in order to facilitate transport of workers and products after it had bought sugar plantations in 1916. It is a commuter service running in northern Havana and Matanzas provinces, some original equipment still exists.
Europe
In Europe, lines that fit the interurban definition were rare historically. A whole large interurban system in continuous service exists however since 1894 at Upper Silesia in Germany connecting cities and towns of this densely populated region (See Silesian Interurbans for more information). More common were either wholly urban, street-running tram systems or light rail systems operating wholly on dedicated rights of way. In Europe, tram-trains began running on the streets in cities and on railway lines in the suburbs and countryside in the mid-late 20th century.
Netherlands
The Netherlands used to have an extensive "tram-system" that came very close to the American-style interurban. The standard gauge NZH trams in the area between The Hague, Leiden and Haarlem were fairly big electric trams running on 1200 volt with in-street running in towns and quite a lot of private right-of-way outside towns. Especially the "Budapester" trams (see picture) resembled American interurban cars. A typical tram was made up by coupling a motorised unit (A400 or A500 series) with one or two trailors (B400/B500). In common with American practice the NZH also had local streetcar lines in The Hague, Leiden and Haarlem sharing some of the track with the interurban routes. Power supply was entirely by overhead wire. Although there was a connection between tram and train tracks in Leiden it was not possible to convey railway cars on NZH track due to differing track and wheel geometry, curve radius and loading gauge. The A/B600 series of twin-cars, built around 1930, resembles those of Oaklands Key System 'Bridge Units' built slightly later.
Part of the NZH system was built to metre-gauge. In the 1920s the same "Budapester" interurbans were bought for use here (with narrower wheel-sets of course). It was envisioned that some of this track would be converted to standard gauge at a later date but the axe fell before this could occur. Because the terminus of one of these lines was in the centre of Amsterdam (where the streetcars use standard gauge) some three-rail track (combined standard/narrow gauge) existed there. Long after the demise of the NZH-interurbans the tree-rail track was still present in some streets with interesting pointwork where streets crossed.
Nowadays few lines remain, one of which is Line 1 of HTM, running from Scheveningen to Delft. NZH turned into a bus company and in 1999 was taken over by Connexxion. However Connexxion also runs the light-rail line from Utrecht to Nieuwegein that was built around 1980 but has roots in the steam-tram era. In addition, until 2006 Nederlandse Spoorwegen ran two regional lines between The Hague and Rotterdam Hofplein/Zoetemeer as a train (heavy-rail) service, and these were then changed into Randstadrail, a concept similar to the old interurbans. Interestingly this "Hofplein-line" started early 20th century as a separate company (ZHESM) modelled after the American style interurbans (running fully electric multiple-unit trains right from the start) but was included into the nationalised rail system later on.
Belgium
The Belgian Coast Tram, which has been in service since 1885, is a notable example of interurban tramway which survives to this day. With 70 stations along its 68-kilometre line, connecting the cities and towns along the entire Belgian (West Flanders) coastline, it is the longest tram line in the world.
Czech Republic
Two interurban lines exist, both connected to city street car systems, the Liberec-Jablonec line and the Most-Litvinov line. The Liberec-Jablonec line is notable for being metre-gauge.
Germany
In Germany, Interurbans that fit the whole definition were uncommon. However, in many instances the definition is almost met.
One of these cases are the many early sondary (connecting) railway lines that were built in the onset of the 20th century. Many of them were street-running in urban and suburban areas while using a dedicated right of way in less populated areas. Those lines were usually operated with mainline stock, however very few were electrified. Most of them have disappeared or were moved onto a fully dedicated right of way due to increasing street traffic and safety concerns. One of the few such railway lines still in service is the steam operated narrow-gauge Molli train between Bad Doberan and Kühlungsborn West on the shore of the Baltic Sea in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which is street-running inside Bad Doberan and has its own right of way on the rest of the line.
Another not uncommon case are interurban tramways. Germany has numerous areas where several larger cities are clustered together, and there were always places not served by mainline railway lines. Often urban tramways companies jumped at the opportunity and built over-land tramway lines, sometimes linking two existing tramway networks together. Those lines were run with standard tramway cars.
After World War II these Interurban tramways were modernised and now dubbed Stadtbahn. All of them are street-running in city areas and use a dedicated right of way between cities, and all of them are electrified. Rolling stock used is either standard tramway cars or special heavier cars which still qualify for tramway use in street-running lines as regulated in BOStrab. Generally, the stadtbahn systems fit the definition of an interurban once their network leaves city boundaries.
One particularly large effort was the Stadtbahn Rhein-Ruhr which was meant to grow to a length of 300 km (180 miles), spanning over 10 cities of the Ruhrgebiet industial area, building upon already existing interurban and urban tramway lines. Although those plans were later abandoned due to exploding costs, 17 Stadtbahn lines between Krefeld in the west and Dortmund in the east were finished and today one can travel from Krefeld to Bochum without using a single mainline train. The only link missing is between Bochum and Dortmund.
Switzerland
Switzerland has a large number of interurban electric rail lines, usually narrow gauge. Some are operated by Swiss Federal Railways, but most are privately owned companies or are Canton (County) owned. Examples are the Bierre-Apples-Morges line that operates north from Morges on Lake Geneva, known as BAM locally. The Nyon-St Cergue-LeCure line operates north from Nyon on Lake Geneva and is known as NStCM. Nyon is just east of municipal Geneva. Interurbans operated by the City/District of Aigle go primarily to ski resorts: Aigle to Leysin; Aigle to Ollon - Monthey - Champéry; Aigle to Sépey - Les Diablerets - Bex - Villars - Bretaye. Aigle, population 8,100 people, is 13km southeast of Montreux at the foot of the Alps.
Isle Of Man
The Manx Electric Railway survives after over 100 years of service using mainly original equipment. It links Douglas with Ramsey. The Snaefell Mountain Railway links the M.E.R with the summit of Snaefell the highest hill on the island.
Asia
Japan
Influence of US
In Japan, no clear distinction of the interurban from the ordinal heavy rail has been settled, but most of the major private railway companies, which now play important role in public transportation, had been influenced greatly by the systems of U.S. interurbans, such as motors and controllers of General Electric, Westinghouse Electric, air brakes of Westinghouse Air Brake Company, trucks of J. G. Brill and Company and Baldwin Locomotive Works, just to name some.
Pioneers
The first interurban in Japan was the Hanshin Electric Railway's main line which opened in 1905 between Osaka and Kobe. In the Greater Tokyo area in the same year, the present Keihin Electric Express Railway (Keikyu) extended its main line to the station of Kanagawa in Yokohama, to connect Tokyo. The followers of this earlier period were Keihan Electric Railway's main line between Kyoto and Osaka in 1910, Nagoya Electric Railway (present Nagoya Railroad) in Nagoya to surrounding towns such as Inuyama (present Inuyama Line) and Tsushima (Tsushima Line). The latter had operated throuh to the center of Nagoya via streetcar line, though the former had planned so in Osaka but the administrating authority refused.
Second generation
The second boom of Japanese interurban were in 1920s to 1930s, unlike the counterparts in the US that declined in this period. The difference of the countries is the motorization, in Japan until 1960s private automobile was not common. The operators of this generations built their exclusive tracks with heavier rail (e.g. 100 lb. per yard), less curves and rarely laid tracks on roads.
In Kansai region mostly from Osaka
- Kobe Line of Hankyu Electric Railway (present Hankyu Corporation)
- competing Hanshin's Main Line in the same region
- Kobe - Himeji Electric Railway
- western half of the main line of present Sanyo Electric Railway connecting Akashi and Himeji
- Shin-Keihan Railway
- concurrent to Keihan, later transferred to Hankyu
- Hanwa Electric Railway
- later merged to the governmental network under wartime condition, presently Hanwa Line
- Osaka Electric Tramway's main line (present Kintetsu)
- for Nara
- Nara Electric Railway's line (presently Kintetsu)
- Kyoto and Nara
- Sangu Kyuko Electric Railway
- Together with Osaka Electric Tramway line, from Osaka to Ise, exceeding 100km in distance
In Tokyo
- Tōbu Railway' Nikkō Line
- preceding main line Isesaki Line applied sterm traction, but a long branch to Nikkō was built electrified, more than 100km from terminus Asakusa in Tokyo on the main line.
- Odawara Express Railway's main line (present Odakyu)
- to Odawaara
- Keisei Electric Railway's main line
- to Narita
In other regions
Development
During the Japanese post-war economic miracle (1955-1975), rapid urbanizations increased the traffic and required the capacity expansion. Descendants of interurbans also extend the length of trains. presently, especially in and around Tokyo, companies such as Keikyu, Tobu, Odakyu operate trains of 200 m length.
Bibliography
See also
- List of interurbans
- Railway Electrification
- Box motor - an interurban car for freight transport
- Steeplecab- a style of electric locomotive popular on interurban lines for freight service. Built by General Electric and competitor Baldwin-Westinghouse or by the interurban's own shops.
- Boxcab - another style of electric locomotive.
- Tram - trolleys, street cars, and others.
- Light rail- light railway transportation in general, as opposed to "heavy"freight or passenger trains. Usually means recently built lines.
External links
- by Robert G. Koch
- , an extensive b&w and color collection of electric railroad, interurban, and streetcar photography from many eras.
- A partial list of post WW2 interurbams and abandonment year.
- "The last interurban"
- "History of the Sacramento Northern Railway (Very extensive Interurban in the San Francisco / Sacramento area)"
- [Trolleys of Pennsylvania in Color Vols I,II,III,and IV. Volkner and King. Morning Sun Books, Scotch Plains, NJ.]
- ["The Interurban Era," Wm. D. Middleton, Kalmbach Publishing, Milwaukee, WI.]
- ["The Electric Interurban Railways in America" George Hilton, John Due.
Original publication Stanford Press, 1960. Has been republished.]
- [Lehigh Valley Transit Company Liberty Bell Route- A Photographic History, Wm McKelvey, Jr. 1988.]
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