Tram

From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

Tram (tramway, also known as streetcar in US) is a rail vehicle for the usage in the cities. Trams are almoust exclusively used for public transport, though there are also few cargo trams, for example current cargo tram operations are excecuted in Dresden and Zürich.

Trams run on elecricity from the overhead wires. The few exceptions, like trams in Bordeaux with ground-level power supply.

The main difference between tram and metro is that tram lines can run in the streets, so tram participates in the other traffic, while metro is always separated from all other traffic. There are still some systems inbetween tram and metro, for example in Volgograd, Russia, where tram vehicles use segregated infrastructure.

In Asia, trams still run in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Philippines and Kolkata (India).

The other similar system is light rail. There is no well-defined difference between the two, but light rail is generally faster, uses longer trains and has more segregated infrastructure.