Medium capacity system

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Judging by the capacity, Ma On Shan Rail, KCR can also be considered as a medium capacity system.
Judging by the capacity, Ma On Shan Rail, KCR can also be considered as a medium capacity system.

In the rail transport, medium capacity system (MCS) is a term coined to differentiate from the system of light rail to heavy rail. A medium capacity system is advised when the city requires a rapid transit service but the predicted ridership falls between the gap of other 2 rail levels. Unlike light rail, a medium capacity system must have its own rail tracks and never shares the space with road traffic, also the trip among the stations is much longer.

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[edit] Suggested system

The definition of a medium capacity system is that each train can load 10,000~35,000 passengers per hour (pph) (or 6,000~20,000 pph in other region's definition). The train may have shorter configuration than the standard metro system, usually 4 to 6 cars, allowing shorter platform to be built.

Except for the steel wheel, rubber tire is also suggested due to their low running noise, the ability to climb steeper grade and turn tighter curves, which making the route alignment more flexible.

[edit] Variation

VAL 256 in 4-car configuration, serving on the Taipei Rapid Transit System's Muzha Line.
VAL 256 in 4-car configuration, serving on the Taipei Rapid Transit System's Muzha Line.

The term may vary in different country. In Russia, the light rail Л1 - Butovskaya Line has been built to serve the residents of outer Moscow. This line connects the passengers with the main routes of Moscow Metro. VAL, the French rubber-tyred fully automated metro system, also applies the term "Light Metro" to define its capacity (up to 30,000 pph).[1] They can also be categorized into the medium capacity system family.

[edit] Disadvantage

Medium capacity system has a latent weakness that once the service district grows up in population, the increasing transportation demand might find its bottleneck. To avoid this, some railway planner may have their platforms to be built longer initially so that they will be able to accept the train with more or longer cars. Ma On Shan Rail of Hong Kong has even applied the metro standard (with less car configuration) for a possible joinder with the other existing heavy rail route without reconstructing the current system.

[edit] Railway systems under MCS' definition

[edit] References

  1. ^ Website Siemens TS about the VAL and NeoVAL
  2. ^ MTR South Island Line official construction plan
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