A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as running in mixed traffic. Tram and light rail systems frequently run on streets, with light rail lines typically separated from other traffic. For safety, street running trains travel more slowly than trains on dedicated rights-of-way. Needing to share the right-of-way with motor vehicles can cause delays and pose a safety risk. Stations on such routes are rare and may appear similar in style to a tram stop, but often lack platforms, pedestrian islands, or other amenities. In some cases, passengers may be required to wait on a distant sidewalk, and then board or disembark by crossing the traffic. The last street-station in the United States was in Michigan City, closing in 2022.

Examples

The following list is non-inclusive of tram and light rail systems and is otherwise non-exhaustive.

Argentina

Australia

Canada

Notable examples in Canada include:

Croatia

Czechia

Germany

For tramways the legal separation of a street running trackbed and an exclusive trackbed in urban traffic is given in § 16 BOStrab tramway regulations. Germany has some street-running railways:

Hong Kong

The KCR British Section had two street running stretches: a spur line to Whampoa Dockyard through Baker Street, Kowloon, another across Salisbury Road, Kowloon and Canton Road to the Kowloon Godowns.

Indonesia

Japan

Laos

New Zealand

Poland

Switzerland

Swiss law does not distinguish between trams and railways, making the distinction between street running by trams and that by railways legally indistinct.

United Kingdom

Street running railways have been much rarer in the United Kingdom than elsewhere. This is due to 19th-century laws requiring railways to be enclosed by fences, which had the consequence that railways could not be built along existing roads and had to use their own rights of way. In cases where street running was unavoidable, the roads were often legally treated as level crossings with trains and road vehicles not permitted to use them at the same time. Some examples are:

United States

A selection of the many examples:

Alabama

Alaska

California

Colorado

Florida

Illinois

Kentucky

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Minnesota

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia