Commuter trains
Also called: Suburban railway · Topic: World Transport and Communication · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 7 "Transport and Communication"
Meaning
Commuter trains carry people between the suburbs (outer parts of a city) and the city centre. Millions of people use them every day to travel to work and back. They are popular in the UK, the USA, Japan and India. They can carry very large crowds, so they reduce road traffic in big cities.
Example
Mumbai's suburban railway carries millions of commuters every day. Its lines connect suburbs such as Virar, Kalyan and Panvel with the city centre in south Mumbai.
Don't confuse with
- Underground railway (metro): a railway that runs mostly in tunnels under a city. Commuter trains usually run on surface tracks and reach far out into the suburbs.
Related concepts
- Stockton and Darlington Railway
- Underground railway
- Rail network of Europe
- Channel Tunnel
- Rail network of North America
- Trans-Andean Railway
- Uspallata Pass
- Benguela Railway
- Tanzania-Zambia Railway
- Blue Train