A
premetro is a
tramA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
way or
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
way which includes segments built to
rapid transitA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a
metroA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
railway, mainly by the construction of
tunnelA tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s in the central city area. Because tunnels are expensive, some premetros have not progressed to the Metro stage, such as has happened in
BergsjönBergsjön is a district in eastern Gothenburg, Sweden. On January 1, 2011, Bergsjön and Kortedala together became the Eastern District of Gothenburg, as a part of a larger reorganization of the City of Gothenburg where the number of district councils has been halved to ten. Bergsjön, as part of...
in
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Examples
- Antwerp Pre-metro
The Antwerp Premetro is a network, consisting of lines 2, 3, 5, 6 and 15 of the Antwerp Tram system. It is a 1000 mm rail gauge system, which runs underground in the city centre and further out on surface lines, which are separated from motor traffic...
- Green Line
The Green Line is a streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. It is the oldest line of Boston's subway, which is known locally as the 'T'. The Green Line runs underground downtown and on the surface in outlying...
, BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
- Brussels Metro
The Brussels Metro is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of a network with four metro line services with some shared sections. The metro has 49.9 km of network and 59 stations...
lines 3 and 4
- PreMetro (E2)
PreMetroThe PreMetro or Line E2 is a tram line that connects with the Buenos Aires Metro line E, at Plaza de los Virreyes station and runs to General Savio and Centro Cívico. It is operated by Metrovías....
, Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
- Charleroi Pre-metro
The Charleroi Metro is a express tram network in Belgium, consisting of a horseshoe-shaped line around central Charleroi and two branches towards the suburbs of Gilly and Anderlues. It was built between 1976 and 1996 with 26 stations, of which 20 are in service as of 1996, and 6 regular tram...
- Gothenburg tram
The Gothenburg tram network is part of the public transport system organised by Göteborgs Spårvägar AB, controlled by Västtrafik in the Swedish city of Gothenburg...
- Krakowski Szybki Tramwaj
- Kryvyi Rih Metrotram
The Kryvyi Rih Metrotram is a partially underground rapid tram system that serves the city of Kryvyi Rih, the eighth largest city in Ukraine...
- Port Authority of Allegheny County
Port Authority of Allegheny County is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 11th-largest in the United States. When considering that its service area is the 20th largest in the U.S...
, Pittsburgh
- Porto Metro
The Porto Metro , part of the public transport system of Porto, Portugal, is a light-rail network that runs underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs...
- Poznań Fast tram
- Frankfurt U-Bahn
The Frankfurt U-Bahn, together with the Frankfurt S-Bahn and the Frankfurt Straßenbahn, is the backbone of the public transport system of Frankfurt, Germany. Its name derives from the German term for underground, Untergrundbahn. The U-Bahn opened in 1968 and now consists of 87 stations on nine...
- San Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. The operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. , is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System ...
Green Line
- Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
, San Francisco
- Volgograd metrotram
- SEPTA Subway
The Subway–Surface Trolley Lines or Green Lines are five SEPTA trolley lines that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and in a shared subway with rapid transit trains in Philadelphia's Center City....
Green line, Philadelphia
- Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line, Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...