# MISC | Commuter vs Regional Rail



## phubben (Aug 5, 2005)

I'm not trying to know if you you think commuter is better than regional rail but what the diffence is between these 2 types of train sets.


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## Frog (Nov 27, 2004)

I think it probably depends on country, here in UK commuter is usually more than 2 coaches long, usually electric (overhead or third rail) 








This is a commuter train that I normally see. But as with most things there are some exceptions, I have seen 2 coach commuter trains and there are diesel commuter trains on some unelectrified lines.
Regional trains here are usually 2 coaches and mostly diesel 








There are probably some exceptions but i'd be surprised if there were electric regional trains as electrification is fairly poor in this country. Anyway for me that is generally the difference between commuter and regional trains, i'd be interested to see what its like in other countries


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

*In France*

The Commuter rails is the suburban trains 
It link the residencial districts at the CBD. It run only inside one the metropolitan area. 

_A commuter train in Paris_









Regional rail link cities or towns of the same region, it can link sereval metropolitan area but in the same region
Exemple a regional train link Lyon at Grenoble, It is two differant metroplitan area but in the same region : Rhone Alpes.

A regional train in France









A Commuter train is a regional train
but not all the regional train are commuter rail.

I prefer the commuter train in Japan

JR Chuo Sobu line








Tokyu Den-en-toshi 









In Germany It is
S Bahn for commuter train and R Bahn for Regional train.


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## newyorkrunaway1 (Nov 21, 2004)

this is a very simply put explanation, there is more to it than this, but gives you the general idea.

commuter rail and regional rail are very similar. commuter rail however has more stops closer together, and travels less distance.

regional rail has fewer stops, and travels much greater distances.


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## Trainman Dave (Mar 30, 2007)

newyorkrunaway1 said:


> this is a very simply put explanation, there is more to it than this, but gives you the general idea.
> 
> commuter rail and regional rail are very similar. commuter rail however has more stops closer together, and travels less distance.
> 
> regional rail has fewer stops, and travels much greater distances.


These considerations lead to significant design differences:

Commuter Rail is designed for short journeys with wide doors to reduce the time need to load and unload at each station. In turn this often reduces the number of rows of seats.

Regional Rail tends to cover longer journeys and will maximise the number seats and reduce the size of the doors.

Of course there is a wide range of variations between these extremes but it will very interesting to observe the design decisions made for the new Thameslink trains in London which will have to serve both markets!


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## phubben (Aug 5, 2005)

Thanks! I think a combination of all your infos might make a good definition!

Although I'm not sure a commuter rail "has" to run within a metropolitan area's limits, of course it applies to Paris since its whole region is consdered a metropolitan area.
I was more interested by the differences between the train sets and I'm satisfied with what you explained... 
but still I'm quite sure that the latest Intercity/Regional train sets I've seen around Lille (like the oe minato ku put in his post) do have wide doors!


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## forrestcat (Apr 21, 2006)

minato ku said:


> I prefer the commuter train in Japan
> 
> JR Chuo Sobu line
> 
> ...


I see narrow gauge commuter trains  .Nice!!!


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## phubben (Aug 5, 2005)

forrestcat said:


> I see narrow gauge commuter trains  .Nice!!!


That's right, I didn't notice! I thought only a few tram networks had narrow jauge!


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## Augusto (Mar 3, 2005)

phubben said:


> That's right, I didn't notice! I thought only a few tram networks had narrow jauge!


The Kuala Lumpur KTM Kommuter network is narrow gauge too. So is the Metro in Gauteng (Johannesburg/Pretoria). There are some narrow gauge networks in Europe (Barcelona, Bern,..)


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## forrestcat (Apr 21, 2006)

KTM Komuter on narrow gauge tracks.


nazrey said:


> 81 Class, Jenbacher, Austria
> by TS. Bok





nazrey said:


> 83 Class - Hyundai, South Korea
> by haxa


KTM Komuter connects KL with its outer suburbs or satellite cities. There are three cities and a large town connected by KTM Komuter, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya,Shah Alam and Seremban(large town) ,the,farthest station,about 50km from Kuala Lumpur). 

So from what I gather in this thread, does the KTM Komuter qualify both as a regional and commuter service.:nuts: .


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

phubben said:


> That's right, I didn't notice! I thought only a few tram networks had narrow jauge!


All the trains in Japan have a narrow gauge exept the Shinkansen (High speed trains), Tokyo Metro Ginza line and Tokyo metro Marunouchi line.


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## Unsing (Apr 15, 2006)

In Japan, the most obvious difference is the arrangement of the seats.
Commuter rail is designed to have more capacity and be easier for passengers to get on and off.

Commuter rail









Regional rail


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## phubben (Aug 5, 2005)

Unsing said:


> In Japan, the most obvious difference is the arrangement of the seats.
> Commuter rail is designed to have more capacity and be easier for passengers to get on and off.
> 
> Commuter rail
> ...


By the look of it Paris' RER is a regional rail network even though it goes less far (is 'less far' correct) than the suburban rail networks!...

I'm getting confused... :nuts:


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## forrestcat (Apr 21, 2006)

KTM Komuter also have 2 seating configuration.



nazrey said:


> EMU03 - Interior (New)
> Photos by kelvinkhew of Ktmrailwayfan.com


This seating arrangement is typical of the class 81. Typically used for long haul journeys such as to Seremban. There no seats facing the side of the train or facing backward to prevent motion sickness among the passengers during the lengthy journey.




nazrey said:


> KTM Komuter Class 83 EMU
> 
> interior



The other seating configuration resembles the ones in LRTs with fewer seats but could carry more people between shorter distances.

I believe that's the difference between regional and commuter trains as Unsing said.I get it.This makes sense.:banana:


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## invincible (Sep 13, 2002)

Commuter rail is any service that can reach the city in a reasonable time (~1 hour) for people to commute to daily.

Over here, that would be all suburban lines and about half of the state's regional rail network.


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## spindoctor (Apr 28, 2007)

This is SPRINTER of THAILAND. class 158.


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## Rohne (Feb 20, 2007)

*In Germany*

Our Commuter Rail is called S-Bahn.








S-Bahn-Systems can be found in:
Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Munich, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Cologne, Ruhr-Area, Rostock and Stuttgart.
All trains are electric (except one line in Rostock). While the systems in Dresden, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Nuremberg, Cologne/Ruhr-Area and Rostock mostly use push-pull trains (Dresden, Leipzig, Magdeburg and Rostock double-decker), the other systems are only operated by mulitple units. But the future looks like that all systems will use MUs earlier or later.
When the trains can use their own tracks platform heights are 960 mm, else 760 mm. Newer trains normally look like this one:








S-Bahn Berlin:









Regional trains can be found all over Germany.
There is the Regionalbahn (R-Bahn/RB), which stops at every station. When reaching an area served by the S-Bahn, RB trains only stop at the most important stations.
StadtExpress (SE) is nearly the same, but they are mainly used to connect cities while RB trains are only used to link the countryside.
Fastest regional trains are Regionalexpress (RE) which often run on the same lines like RB trains, but only stop at most important stations and can reach speeds up to 200kph.
Regional trains are mostly locomotive-hauled trains (RE mostly double-decker), but there are also many multiple units in use.


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## Yardmaster (Jun 1, 2004)

The word "commuting" is of American origin, although derived from Latin roots. A Google/Wikipedia search turned up an appropriate definition, especially for "commuter rail" ... it means rail transport for which you can get from home to work or wherever and back in a day.

We called it the suburban system ... you can comfortably get home and back on much of the regional system here too (with time to earn a living and pay for your fares in between).

So is it time or distance? Or just rolling-stock which makes the difference? Or is it just a matter of definition?


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## Trainman Dave (Mar 30, 2007)

Yardmaster said:


> The word "commuting" is of American origin, although derived from Latin roots. A Google/Wikipedia search turned up an appropriate definition, especially for "commuter rail" ... it means rail transport for which you can get from home to work or wherever and back in a day.
> 
> We called it the suburban system ... you can comfortably get home and back on much of the regional system here too (with time to earn a living and pay for your fares in between).
> 
> So is it time or distance? Or just rolling-stock which makes the difference? Or is it just a matter of definition?


The problem here is that each country has its own defintions which reflect their specific regulations.

In the US, Commuter rail is distiguished from both "light rail systems" and "heavy rail metros" because Commuter rail shares the railway tracks with freight trains. This brings into play a completely new set of regulations for the design and operation of the trains and they use much heavier and stronger carriages on Commuter Rail systems.

"light rail systems" and "heavy rail metros" are completely segregated from the freight trains and conform to different regulations.


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## Trainman Dave (Mar 30, 2007)

Trainman Dave said:


> The problem here is that each country has its own defintions which reflect their specific regulations.
> 
> In the US, Commuter rail is distiguished from both "light rail systems" and "heavy rail metros" because Commuter rail shares the railway tracks with freight trains. This brings into play a completely new set of regulations for the design and operation of the trains and they use much heavier and stronger carriages on Commuter Rail systems.
> 
> "light rail systems" and "heavy rail metros" are completely segrated from the freight trains and conform to different regulations.


There is another important difference in the US. Commuter Rail is distinguished from Intercity rail service in that it authorized and supported by the States and it does not have to be operated by Amtrak. On the other hand all inter city trains by Federal Law must be operated by Amtrak.


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