A rubber-tyred metro or rubber-tired metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tires that run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional railway steel wheels with deep flanges on steel tracks for guidance through conventional switches as well as guidance in case a tyre fails. Most rubber-tyred trains are purpose-built and designed for the system on which they operate. Guided buses are sometimes referred to as 'trams on tyres', and compared to rubber-tyred metros.
An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more driverless vehicles along its length. The vehicles are often rubber tired or steel wheeled, but other traction systems including air cushion, suspended monorail and maglev have been implemented. The guideway provides both physical support, like a road, as well as the guidance.
A trackless train — or tram, road train, land train, or parking lot train is a road-going articulated vehicle used for the transport of passengers, comprising a driving vehicle pulling one or more carriages connected by drawbar couplings, in the manner of a road-going railway train. Similar vehicles may be used for transport of freight or baggage for short distances, such as at a factory or airport. Often depending on use, land train may or may not be skeuomorphically styled to look like traditional, often steam trains.
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike railbus, trolleybuses or rubber-tyred trams, for part of their routes guided buses are able to share road space with general traffic along conventional roads, or with conventional buses on standard bus lanes.
Guided Light Transit was the name of guided bus technology and associated infrastructure designed and manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. It was installed in two French cities: Nancy and Caen. The Caen system was closed in 2017 and replaced by conventional trams, while the Nancy system was closed in March 2023 and is to be replaced by trolleybuses.
Translohr is a rubber-tyred tramway system, originally developed by Lohr Industrie of France and now run by a consortium of Alstom Transport and Fonds stratégique d'investissement (FSI) as newTL, which took over from Lohr in 2012. It is used in Paris and Clermont-Ferrand, France; Medellín, Colombia; and Venice-Mestre and Padua in Italy. In June 2012, Alstom Group and the Strategic Investment Fund acquired Translohr for €35 million.
The Caen guided light transit or Caen TVR, locally known as "the Tram", was an electrically powered guided bus system in Caen, France, which used Bombardier Guided Light Transit technology.
TEDA Modern Guided Rail Tram was a Translohr Light Rail line in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA). It was a modern, high-speed rubber-tyred tram line, the first in both China and Asia. The line was considered as part of the Tianjin Metro system. It was run by Tianjin Binhai Mass Transit Development Co., Ltd, which has been a subsidiary of Tianjin Rail Transit Group Corporation since 2017.
Zhangjiang Tram was a tram network operating in Shanghai that utilised a Translohr system. Shanghai originally had a steel wheeled electric tramway network in its urban center. Routes expanded gradually and reached largest extent in 1925 with 328 tramcars; this tram system shut down in 1975. Tram service returned to Shanghai with the opening of a rubber tired Translohr line in the suburban Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in 2010. It is the second rubber-tired tram system in both China and Asia, the first being TEDA tram in Tianjin.
Trams in France date from 1837 when a 15 km steam tram line connected Montrond-les-Bains and Montbrison in the Loire. With the development of electric trams at the end of the 19th century, networks proliferated in French cities over a period of 15 years. Although nearly all of the country's tram systems were replaced by bus services in the 1930s or shortly after the Second World War, France is now in the forefront of the revival of tramways and light rail systems around the globe. Only tram lines in Lille and Saint-Étienne have operated continuously since the 19th century; the Marseille tramway system ran continuously until 2004 and only closed then for 3 years for extensive refurbishment into a modern tram network. Since the opening of the Nantes tramway in 1985, more than twenty towns and cities across France have built new tram lines. As of 2024, there are 28 operational tram networks in France, with 3 more planned. France is also home to Alstom, a leading tram manufacturer.
A guide rail is a device or mechanism to direct products, vehicles or other objects through a channel, conveyor, roadway or rail system.
The Nancy Guided Light Transit or TVR was a guided bus system in Nancy, France. The system used Bombardier's TVR technology. The TVR replaced the trolleybus system in Nancy. The system was closed on 12 March 2023, and is to be replaced by conventional trolleybuses.
A roll way or running pad is the pad placed on a concrete slab or on the ties on the outside of the 1,435 mm conventional track along both running rails of a rubber-tyred metro or along the unconventional track of a tram. The rubber-tyred wheels roll directly on the roll ways.
The Padua Tramway serves Padova, a city in Veneto. In operation since 2007, it is 10.3-kilometre (6.4 mi) long, and comprises one line, linking the north with the south calling at the main station and then passing the historic city centre.
The Clermont-Ferrand tramway is a transit system located in the city of Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is a Translohr system, meaning it is guided by a single rail and powered by electricity from overhead wires.
Île-de-France tramway Line 5 is part of the modern tram network of the Île-de-France region of France. Line T5 connects the centre of Saint-Denis and Garges - Sarcelles station, in the Northern suburbs of Paris. Line T5 was Île-de-France's first rubber-tyred tramway line. The line has a length of 6.6 km (4.1 mi) and 16 stations. It opened to the public on 29 July 2013.
The Ayacucho Tram is a Translohr tram system that serves the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley in Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia. It started trial operations on 20 October 2015. The tramline consists of 9 stations with three of those allowing interchanges with the Medellín Metro and the Metrocable systems. The Ayacucho Tram is operated by Medellín Metro and is the only tram in Colombia.
Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) is a lidar guided articulated bus system for urban passenger transport. Developed and manufactured by CRRC through CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd, it was unveiled in Zhuzhou in the Hunan province on June 2, 2017. ART has been described as a combination between a bus and a tram. Its exterior is composed of individual fixed sections joined by articulated gangways, resembling a rubber-tyred tram.
Trams have been used since the 19th century, and since then, there have been various uses and designs for trams around the world. This article covers the many design types, most notably the articulated, double-decker, drop-centre, low-floor, single ended, double-ended, rubber -tired, and tram-train; and the various uses of trams, both historical and current, most notably cargo trams, a dog car, hearse tram, maintenance trams, a mobile library service, a nursery tram, a restaurant tram, a tourist tram, and as mobile offices.
