ABSTRACT

In response to mobility demands in metropolitan areas, a new transport system called tram-train has been developed since nineties in Europe. This system consists on the use of conventional railway lines to extend, without changing the vehicle, the tram or light rail urban services, inserting them among rail circulations, and getting a greater profitability of these lines, often underused. In such a way, direct transport services can be offered in a more extensive zone, removing waiting and interchange times between different modes, with a much lower cost by kilometre than if new light rail lines to that zones were built. This use of light rail vehicles over conventional railway infrastructures entails several technical issues that must be solved, and that will be treated in this paper.

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