Interurban - wikipedia Interurban `` Interurbans '' redirects here. For the publishing company once known by that name, see Interurban Press. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2015 ) An interurban tram from the Philadelphia & Western Railroad, which survived long in the interurban business The interurban ( or radial railway ) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar - like light electric self - propelled railcars which run within and between nearby cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 and 1925 and were used primarily for passenger travel between cities and their surrounding communities. The interurban still exists in Europe, particularly in Switzerland, and Asia. Interurban, as a term, refers to the the companies, their infrastructure, and the passenger cars that ran on the rails. The interurban, especially in the United States, in the early 1900s was a valuable cultural institution. Most roads and even town streets were unpaved dirt : deep rutted mud in winter and heavy dust in summer. Transportation was by horse - drawn passenger carriages and freight carts. The interurban provided a new vital and reliable transportation link between the city and countryside regardless of weather. In 1915, 15,500 miles ( 24,900 km ) of interurban railways were operating in the United States. As an industry, it was the fifth - largest industry in the United States. Kusttram, The Belgian Coast Tram, is a European interurban By 1930, most interurbans were gone. A few survived into the 1950s. Oliver Jensen, author of American Heritage History of Railroads in America, wrote ``... the automobile doomed the interurban whose private tax paying tracks could never compete with the highways that a generous government provided for the motorist. '' Contents 1 Definition of `` interurban '' 2 History 2.1 Emergence 2.2 Growth 2.3 Decline 2.4 Survivors 3 Infrastructure 3.1 Right of way 3.2 Trackage 3.3 Electrification 4 Trains 4.1 Rolling stock 4.2 Passenger trains 4.3 Freight trains 5 Preservation 6 See also 7 References 8 Notes 9 Further reading 10 External links Definition of `` interurban '' A map showing the Detroit United Railway 's network in 1904. Interurban routes link street railroads in Detroit, Port Huron, and Windsor. The term `` interurban '' was coined by Charles L. Henry, a state senator in Indiana. The Latin, inter urbes, means `` between cities ''. The interurban fit on a continuum between urban street railways and full - fledged railroads. George W. Hilton and John F. Due identified four characteristics of an interurban : Electric power for propulsion. Passenger service as the primary business. Equipment heavier and faster than urban streetcars. Operation on tracks in city streets, and in rural areas on roadside tracks or private right - of - way. The definition of `` interurban '' is necessarily blurry. Some town streetcar lines evolved into interurban systems by extending streetcar track from town into the countryside to link adjacent towns together, and sometimes by the acquisition of a nearby interurban system. There was a large amount of consolidation of lines following initial construction. Other interurban lines became, effectively, light rail systems with no street running whatsoever, or they became primarily freight - hauling railroads due to a progressive loss of their initial passenger service over the years. In 1905 the United States Census Bureau defined an interurban as `` a street railway having more than half its trackage outside municipal limits. '' It drew a distinction between `` interurban '' and `` suburban '' railroads. A suburban system was oriented toward a city center in a single urban area and served commuter traffic. A regular railroad moved riders from one city center to another city center and also moved a substantial amount of freight. The typical interurban similarly served more than one city, but it served a smaller region and made more frequent stops, and it was oriented to passenger rather than freight service. History Emergence See also : History of trams Postcard of electric trolley - powered streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, in 1923, two generations after Frank J. Sprague successfully demonstrated his new system on the hills in 1888. The intersection shown is at 8th & Broad Streets The development of interurbans in the late nineteenth century resulted from the convergence of two trends : improvements in electric traction, and an untapped demand for transportation in rural areas, particularly in the Midwestern United States. The 1880s saw the first successful deployments of electric traction in streetcar systems. Most of these built on the pioneering work of Frank J. Sprague, who developed an improved method for mounting an electric traction motor and using a trolley pole for pickup. Sprague 's work led to widespread acceptance of electric traction for streetcar operations and end of horse - drawn trams. The late nineteenth century United States witnessed a boom in agriculture which lasted through the First World War, but transportation in rural areas was inadequate. Conventional steam railroads made limited stops, mostly in towns. These were supplemented by horse and buggies and steamboats, both of which were slow and the latter of which was restricted to navigable rivers. The increased capacity and profitability of the city street railroads offered the possibility of extending them into the countryside to reach new markets, even linking to other towns. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. It was not a major success, but others followed. The development of the automobile was then in its infancy, and to many investors interurbans appeared to be future of local transportation. Growth 1911 map showing interurban services across the Midwest From 1900 to 1916, a large network of interurban lines was constructed in the United States, particularly in the states of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Utah, and California. In 1900, 2,107 miles ( 3,391 km ) of interurban track existed, but by 1916, this had increased to 15,580 miles ( 25,070 km ), a seven-fold expansion. During this expansion, in the regions where they operated, particularly in Ohio and Indiana, ``... they almost destroyed the local passenger service of the steam railroad. '' To show how exceptionally busy the interurbans radiating from Indianapolis were in 1926, the immense Indianapolis Traction Terminal ( nine roof covered tracks and loading platforms ) scheduled 500 trains in and out daily and moved 7 million passengers that year. At their peak the interurbans were the fifth - largest industry in the United States. Decline The last day of electric operation on the Sacramento Northern Railway, February 1965. At left is the California Zephyr. The fortunes of the industry declined during World War I and particularly into the early 1920s. Many interurbans had been hastily constructed without realistic projections of income and expenses. They were initially financed by issuing stock and selling bonds. The sale of these financial instruments was often local with salesmen going door to door aggressively pushing this new and exciting `` it ca n't fail '' form of transportation. But many of those interurbans did fail, and often quickly. They had poor cash flow from the outset, higher expenses than expected, and struggled to raise essential further capital from a wary financial community. Interurbans were very vulnerable to acts of nature damaging track and bridges, particularly in the Midwestern United States where flooding was common. Receivership was a common fate when the interurban company could n't pay its payroll and other debts, so state courts took over and allowed continued but temporary operation while suspending the company 's obligation to pay its bond interest. With the interest payments suspended, the company had enough cash flow to meet its other cash obligations, but it was expected by the court that Receivership would eventually end and the company would resume its interest payments. Otherwise the company would be forced to quit, and many did. In addition, the interurban honeymoon period with the municipalities of 1895 -- 1910 was over. The large and heavy interurbans, some weighing as much as 60 tons riding on track designed for lighter street cars, caused damage to city streets which led to disputes and lawsuits over who should bear repair costs. The rise of automobile traffic in the middle 1920s aggravated those trends. As the interurban companies struggled financially, they faced increasing competition from cars and trucks on newly paved streets and highways, and many municipalities sought to remove interurbans from city streets. Some companies exited the passenger business altogether to focus on freight, while others sought to buttress their finances by selling surplus electricity to local communities. Several which attempted to exit the rail business altogether ran afoul of state commissions which required that interurban trains remain running `` for the public good, '' even at a loss, such as the Indiana Railroad 's forced passenger operation from Indianapolis to Seymour in 1939. Many financially weak interurbans did not survive the 1920s ; others went bankrupt during the Great Depression. A few struggling lines tried combining to form much larger systems in an attempt to gain operating efficiency and a broader customer base. This occurred in Ohio in year 1930 with the long Cincinnati & Lake Erie Railroad ( C&LE ), and in Indiana with the very widespread Indiana Railroad. Both had limited success up to 1937 -- 1938 primarily from growing revenues earned from freight. The 130 - mile ( 210 km ) long Sacramento Northern Railway stopped carrying passengers in 1940 but continued hauling freight using heavy electric locomotives into the 1960s. Survivors A Pullman Company electric interurban unit heading west toward Michigan City on the South Shore Line in 1980 Interurban business increased for the survivors during World War II due to fuel oil rationing cutting car use and large wartime employment. When the war ended in 1945, riders quickly went back to their automobiles, so most of these lines finally abandoned. Several systems managed to struggle into the 1950s, including the Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad ( passenger service ended 1950 ), Lehigh Valley Transit Company ( 1951 ), West Penn Railways ( 1952 ), and the Illinois Terminal Railroad ( 1958 ). The West Penn was the largest interurban to operate in the east at 339 miles and had provided the very hilly Pittsburgh area coal country towns with hourly transportation since 1888. Four lines serving commuters in three major cities lasted into the 1960s : the North Shore Line and the South Shore Line in Chicago, the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, and the Long Beach Line in Long Beach and Los Angeles ( the last remaining part of the Pacific Electric system ). The Long Beach Line was cut in 1961, the North Shore Line in 1963, and the Philadelphia Suburban 's West Chester route 103 line in 1966. The South Shore Line is now owned by the state of Indiana and uses mainline - sized electric multiple units, although one section of street running in Michigan City, Indiana, remains. The Skokie Valley portion of the North Shore Line from Dempster Street to Howard Street was acquired by the Chicago Transit Authority and is now the Yellow Line. The Yellow Line initially operated with third rail from Howard Street to the Skokie Shops and switched to overhead wire for the remainder of the journey to Dempster Street, until 2004 when the overhead wire was replaced with third rail. SEPTA operates three former Philadelphia interurbans : the former Philadelphia and Western third rail Norristown High Speed Line heavy rail line, and the former Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Red Arrow Route 101 and 102 as light rail trolley lines. Some former interurban lines retained freight service for up to several decades after the discontinuance of passenger service. Most were converted to diesel operation, although the Sacramento Northern Railway retained electric freight until 1965. Several museums and heritage railways, including the Western Railway Museum and Seashore Trolley Museum, operate restored equipment on former interurban lines. Several former interurban rights of way have been reused for modern light rail lines, including the Los Angeles MTA 's former Pacific Electric Railways Long Beach Blue Line and Santa Monica Expo Line, and one section of the Baltimore Light Rail on former Baltimore and Annapolis right - of - way. Infrastructure Right of way Main article : Right - of - way ( railroad ) Interurbans typically ran alongside or on a public right - of - way. In towns, interurbans ran in the street using a town 's existing street car tracks. While track sharing limited an interurban 's operating costs, it required sharp street car turns for sixty foot long, 35 ton interurban cars and made operations susceptible to later year auto traffic congestion with unhappy town councils. Unlike conventional railroads, it was rare for an interurban to construct long unencumbered stretches of private right - of - way. The lines often meandered alonside what at that time were dirt roads, even switching from one side of the road to the other. The torque characteristics of electric traction motors operation allowed interurbans to operate on steeper grades than conventional steam locomotives. Trackage Main article : Track ( rail transport ) Compared to conventional steam railroad trackage, interurban rail was light and ballasted lightly, if it all. Most interurbans were built to standard gauge ( 4 ft 8 ⁄ in or 1,435 mm ), but there were exceptions. Interurbans often used the tracks of existing street railways through city and town streets, and if these street railways were not built to standard, the interurbans had to use the non-standard gauges as well or face the expense of building their own separate trackage through urban areas. Some municipalities deliberately mandated non-standard gauges to prevent freight operations on public streets. In Pennsylvania, many interurbans were constructed using the wide `` Pennsylvania trolley gauge '' of 5 ft 2 ⁄ in ( 1,588 mm ). In Los Angeles, the Pacific Electric Railway, using standard 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 ⁄ in ) gauge track, and the Los Angeles Railway, the city 's streetcar system, using 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow gauge, shared dual - gauge track in downtown Los Angeles with one rail common to each. Electrification Overhead lines in Haubstadt, Indiana, circa 1924 Main article : Railway electrification Most interurban railways in North America were constructed using the same low - voltage 500 to 600 V DC trolley power in use by the street railways to which they connected. This enabled interurban cars to use the same overhead trolley power on town street car tracks with no electrical change on the cars to accommodate a different voltage. However, higher voltage became necessary to reduce power loss on long - distance routes, though substations were established to boost voltage. In 1904, a high voltage single - phase alternating current ( AC ) system where AC was delivered directly to the interurban car became available and was promoted and distributed by Westinghouse and competitor General Electric. Both 3300 and 6600 V AC were used. However, AC systems proved expensive to maintain and were not widely adopted. More common were high - voltage DC systems -- usually 1200 V DC, introduced in 1908 by Indianapolis & Louisville Traction Company for their Dixie Flyer and Hosie Flyer services. In the streets, where high - speed service was not feasible, the cars ran at half speed at 600 V or got a changeover device. A 2400 V DC third - rail system was installed on the Michigan United Railways 's Western Division between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids in 1915, but was abandoned because of the safety hazard. Even 5000 V DC was tested. Most interurban cars and freight locomotives collected current from an overhead trolley wire. The cars contacted this wire through the use of a trolley pole or a pantograph. Others designs collected current from a third rail. Some interurbans used both : in open country, the third rail was used and in town, a trolley pole was raised. An example of this was the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin Railroad where a trolley pole was used in both Aurora and Elgin, Illinois. Third rail was cheaper to maintain and more conductive, but it was more expensive to construct initially and it did not eliminate the need for AC transformers, AC transmission lines, and AC / DC conversion systems. In addition, third rail posed a serious danger to trespassers and animals and was difficult to keep clear of ice. Trains Rolling stock A pre-1910, all - wood heavy interurban car of the Fort Wayne & Wabash Valley Traction Company, preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum A preserved box motor from Iowa From 1890 to 1910, roughly, interurban cars were made of wood and often were very large, weighing up to 40 short tons ( 35.7 long tons ; 36.3 t ) and measuring as long as 60 feet ( 18.29 m ). These featured the classic arch - window look with truss - rods and cow - catchers. Three of the best known early companies were Jewett, Niles, and Kuhlman, all of Ohio. By 1910, most new interurban cars were constructed of steel, weighing up to 60 short tons ( 53.6 long tons ; 54.4 t ). As competition increased in the 1920s interurban companies and manufacturers were attempted to reduce car weight and wind resistance in order to reduce power consumption. The trucks were improved to provide a better ride, acceleration, and speed but with reduced power consumption. In the 1930s, better quality steel and aluminum reduced weight, and cars were redesigned to ride lower in order to lower wind resistance. Car design peaked in the early 1930s with the Red Devil cars of the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad. In addition to passenger cars, interurban companies acquired freight locomotives and line maintenance equipment. A `` box motor '' was a powered car exclusive for freight that looked like a passenger interurban without windows and had wide side doors for loading freight. A freight motor was geared for power rather than speed and could pull up to six freight cars depending upon the load and grades. Freight cars for interurbans tended to be smaller than those for steam railroads, and they had to have special extended couplers to prevent car corner contact at the very tight grinding turns at city street corners. Maintenance equipment included `` line cars '' with roof platforms for the trolley wire repair crew, snow plows and snow sweepers with rotating brushes, a car for weed control and to maintain track and ballast. In order to save money, many companies constructed these in their shops using retired or semi-wrecked passenger cars for the frame and the traction motor mounted trucks. Passenger trains The first passenger interurban to Bellefontaine, Ohio on July 1, 1908 Passenger interurban service grew out of horse - drawn rail cars operating on city streets. As these routes electrified and extended outside of towns interurbans began to compete with steam railroads for intercity traffic. Interurbans offered more frequent service than steam railroads, with headways of up to one hour or even half an hour. Interurbans also made more stops, usually 1 mile ( 1.6 km ) apart. As interurban routes tended to be single - track this led to extensive use of passing sidings. Single interurban cars would operate with a motorman and conductor, although in later years one - man operation was common. In open country, the typical interurban proceeded at 40 -- 45 miles per hour ( 64 -- 72 km / h ). In towns with the middle of the street operation, speeds were slow and dictated by local ordinance. The result was that the average speed of a scheduled trip was low, as much as under 20 miles per hour ( 32 km / h ). Freight trains Many interurbans did substantial freight business. An interurban could move freight and packages regionally more quickly and less expensively than competitive steam railroads. In 1926, the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway moved 57,000 short tons ( 50,893 long tons ; 51,710 t ) of freight per month. By 1929, this had risen to 83,000 short tons ( 74,107 long tons ; 75,296 t ) per month. During the 1920s freight revenue helped offset the loss of passenger business to automobiles. A typical interurban freight train consisted of a powered box motor pulling one to four freight cars. These often operated at night as local ordinances forbade daytime freight operation on city streets. Interurban freight in the Midwest was so extensive that Indianapolis constructed a very large freight handling warehouse which all of Indianapolis ' seven interurbans companies used. Preservation Numerous museums and societies have preserved equipment : California State Railroad Museum Connecticut Trolley Museum East Troy Electric Railroad Museum Electric City Trolley Museum Halton County Radial Railway Illinois Railway Museum Museum of Transportation Orange Empire Railway Museum Oregon Electric Railway Museum Rockhill Trolley Museum Seashore Trolley Museum Shore Line Trolley Museum Western Railway Museum See also Indianapolis Streetcar Strike of 1913 Interurban Press Light rail, a modern successor to interurbans List of interurbans Rapid transit Streetcar suburb Tram - train, a similar concept with streetcars sharing intercity rail lines for interurban sections Vicinal tramway Iowa Traction Railway References Jump up ^ Hilton and Due, p17. Jump up ^ Jensen 1993 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 13 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, p. 9 Jump up ^ Keenan, pages 84, 85... `` managers had little hope of reviving passenger traffic, but... road could survive... new freight business. '' Jump up ^ Bureau of the Census 1905, p. 5 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, pp. 6 -- 7 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, pp. 7 -- 8 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, pp. 8 -- 9 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, p. 12 Jump up ^ Rowsome & Maguire 1956, pp. 119 -- 140 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, p. 186 Jump up ^ Bruce 1952, pp. 407 -- 408 Jump up ^ Rowsome & Maguire 1956, p. 138 ; 179 Jump up ^ Patch, David ( 27 May 2007 ). `` Toledo was hub of interurban 100 years ago ''. Toledo Blade. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015. Jump up ^ Keenan, p57, 64,129. Jump up ^ Bradley, p177 - 9, the fatal head on collision on the Seymour tripper that forced total abandonment. Jump up ^ Keenan 2001, p. 4 Jump up ^ Rowsome & Maguire 1956, p. 176 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, p. 287 Jump up ^ Hilton and Due p178 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, p. ix Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, p. 400 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 21 - 23 Jump up ^ Keenan, p 12 ; Rowsome, pp 47 - 52. Jump up ^ Bradley, chapter covering construction of the THI&E from Indianapolis to Terre Haute. Jump up ^ Rowsome & Maguire 1956, p. 67 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 21 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, pp. 51 -- 52 Jump up ^ Hilton & Due 1960, pp. 53 -- 65 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 425 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 113 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 155 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 162 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 425 Jump up ^ Keenan, appendix : Equipment Roster Jump up ^ Bradley 1991, p. 187 Jump up ^ Grant 1980, p. 55 Jump up ^ Harwood, p223 - 230. `` Operations in the 1928 - 1929 Peak. '' Jump up ^ Keenan 2001, p. 3 Jump up ^ Middleton 1961, p. 393 Jump up ^ Keenan, 2001 & p86 - 7 Jump up ^ Rowsome & Maguire 1956 Notes Bradley, George K. ( 1991 ). Indiana Railroad : The Magic Interurban. Chicago : Central Electric Railfans ' Association. ISBN 0 - 9153 - 4828 - 4. OCLC 24942447. Bruce, Alfred W. ( 1952 ). The Steam Locomotive in America. New York : Bonanza Books. OCLC 1197341. Bureau of the Census ( 1905 ). Street and Electric Railways, 1902 : Special Reports. Washington, D.C. : GPO. OCLC 6024669. Grant, H. Roger ( Spring 1980 ). `` Arkansas 's `` Paper Interurbans '' ``. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 39 ( 1 ). JSTOR 40023151. Template : Harwood, Herbert H. ; Korach, Robert S. ( 2000 ). The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story. Bloomington, IN : Indiana University Press. ISBN 0 - 253 - 33797 - 6. Hilton, George W. ; Due, John Fitzgerald ( 1960 ). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8047 - 4014 - 2. OCLC 237973. This is a scholarly book by university professors covering the physical nature, the economics, and the operational history of the Interurban. Jensen, Oliver ( 1993 ). American Heritage History of Railroads in America. New York : Bonanza Books. ISBN 9780517362365. OCLC 27976092. Keenan, Jack ( 1974 ). Cincinnati & Lake Erie Railroad : Ohio 's Great Interurban System. San Marino, CA : Golden West Books. ISBN 0 - 8709 - 5055 - X. The author of this 226 page book was the son of an executive of the C&LE. Keenan, Jack ( 2001 ). `` The Fight for Survival : the C&LE and the Great Depression '' ( PDF ). Indiana Historical Society. Middleton, William D. ( 1961 ). The Interurban Era. Milwaukee, WI : Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978 - 0 - 89024 - 003 - 8. OCLC 4357897. This is an exceptionally detailed book on the subject including text with numerous photographs, equipment diagrams, and electrical considerations of the Interurban companies that operated within the United States and Canada. Rowsome, Frank M. ; Maguire, Stephen D. ( 1956 ). Trolley Car Treasury. New York : Bonanza Books. OCLC 578061777. Further reading Brough, Lawrence A. ; Grabener, James H. ( 2004 ). From Small Town To Downtown : A History of the Jewett Car Company, 1893 - 1919. Bloomington, IN : Indiana University Press. ISBN 0 - 253 - 34369 - 0. Demoro, Harre W. California 's Electric Railways : An Illustrated Review. Glendale, CA : Interurban Press. ISBN 091 - 6374 - 742. Due, John F. ( 1966 ). The Intercity Electric Railway Industry in Canada. Toronto : University of Toronto Press. OCLC 238045. Kulp, Randolph L. ( 1966 ). History of Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Allentown, PA : Lehigh Valley Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. OCLC 4649131. Marlette, Jerry ( 1980 ) ( 1959 ). Electric Railroads of Indiana. Indianapolis : Hoosier Heritage Press. OCLC 7364454. Meyers, Allen ; Spivak, Joel ( 2004 ). Philadelphia Trolleys. Images of rail. Charleston, SC : Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0 - 7385 - 1226 - 5. Middleton, William D. ( 2009 ). Frank Julian Sprague : Electrical Inventor & Engineer. Bloomington, IN : Indiana University Press. ISBN 0 - 253 - 35383 - 1. Schramm, Jack E. ; Henning, William H. ; Andrews, Richard R. ( 1988 -- 1994 ). When Eastern Michigan Rode the Rails. Glendale, CA : Interurban Press. ISBN 0 - 91637 - 465 - 3. Springirth, Kenneth C. ( 2007 ). Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys. Charleston, SC : Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7385 - 5043 - 5. Trimble, Paul C. ( 2005 ). Sacramento Northern Railway. Images of rail. Charleston, SC : Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 073 - 8530 - 522. External links Central Electric Railfans Association Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society East Penn Traction Association National Railway Historical Society, Lehigh Valley Branch Philadelphia Trolley Tracks Public transport Bus service Bus list Bus rapid transit Charabanc Express bus Guided bus Intercity bus driver Open top bus Public light bus Rail replacement bus Shuttle bus Transit bus Trolleybus Rail Cable car Commuter rail Funicular Heavy rail Heritage railway Heritage streetcar High - speed rail Horsecar Inter-city rail Interurban Light rail Medium - capacity rail transport system Monorail Rapid transit Regional rail Rubber - tyred metro Street running Tram Tram - train Vehicles for hire Auto rickshaw Boda - boda Cycle rickshaw Gondola Hackney carriage Limousine Motorcycle taxi Paratransit Personal rapid transit Pulled rickshaw Share taxi Taxicab Carpooling Car jockey Flexible carpooling Real - time ridesharing Slugging Vanpool Ship Cable ferry Ferry Hovercraft Hydrofoil Ocean liner Water taxi Other transport Aerial tramway Airline Airliner Bicycle - sharing Carsharing Elevator Escalator Gondola lift Horse - drawn vehicle Maglev Moving walkway People mover Trackless train Locations Airport Bus bulb Bus garage ( bus depot ) Bus lane Bus stand Bus station Bus stop Bus terminus Bus turnout ( bus bay ) Dry dock Hangar Harbor Interchange station Kassel kerb Layover Metro station Park and ride Port Queue jump Taxicab stand Train station Tram stop Transit mall Transport hub Ticketing and fares Automated fare collection Bus advertising Contract of carriage Dead mileage Exit fare Fare avoidance Fare evasion Farebox recovery ratio Free public transport Free travel pass Integrated ticketing Manual fare collection Money train Paid area Proof - of - payment Reduced fare program Smart cards Ticket machine Transfer Transit pass Routing Circle route Cross-city route Network length Non-revenue track Radial route Transport network Facilities Checked baggage First class Sleeper Standing passenger Travel class Scheduling Bus bunching Clock - face scheduling Headway On - time performance Public transport timetable Short turn Politics Airport security Rail subsidies Security Transit district Transit police Transit - oriented development ( TOD ) Transportation authority Other topics Boarding Crush load Destination sign Hail and ride Prohibited activities Request stop Passenger load factor Transit map Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Interurban&oldid=807381247 '' Categories : Interurban railways Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from July 2015 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from July 2015 All articles with failed verification Articles with failed verification from April 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017 Articles with unsourced statements from July 2015 All pages needing factual verification Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from July 2015 Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Русский Suomi Svenska Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 27 October 2017, at 16 : 01. 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Question: the major source of profits for promoters of interurban electric railroads was
Answer: issuing stock