Talk:Stadtbahn

message: While I logged a few hours on cleanup, this article still needs much work. I have only a rudimentary knowledge of German, and I would prefer not to guess at the meaning of what I assume are literally-translated figures of speech for fear of changing the intended content. Examples:
*Under "1980s: 'Renaissance' of the Tramway" - 
**-"As the conventional tramways had been regarded by many decision-makers as overcome systems for several decades,..." (italics mine)
**-"Since this time, the "Stadtbahn" term faces the - partially even modish - expansion..." (italics mine)
I will continue to clean up this article; please post if similarly disposed.  --Mythman87 20:57, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that the article needs much work - in my view, some heavy copyediting - in particular to make it read far less like an (uncertain) translation. I have applied this to one section (The Tram logo) to indicate the kind of bold editing I think is needed. I will not be so bold, however, as to do any more for the moment before waiting to see if there are any adverse reactions! -- Picapica 13:01, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I strongly suspect that the correct English meaning of "overcome systems" may not be the obvious one. I would like to have the original German text (where is it?) to look at, but I see a potential connection with the Swedish word överspelad, which means "no longer relevant or of interest." I think "outmoded" may be a better translation and would seem to fit the context better. But as I say, I can't be at all sure of this without seeing the original German text and checking a dictionary for confirmation. --Tkynerd 19:50, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article Needs Copyediting 

message: Made a number of spelling and grammar changes.
Biggest change was with "signet" to "logo".  I think this is the best translation.  Perhaps I could have used "emblem", but as it is used as an advertising and marketing symbol, I felt logo fit better.  In American English, signet does mean about the same thing, but is very rarely used, and would not usually be used in a marketing or advertising context.  If you can find a better word, or feel that maintaining the original article translation closely is more important, feel free to change it.
I will check back sometime later for another pass and see what things I have missed.
Atom 02:59, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I just did a fair amount of linguistic cleanup myself. Please review and edit as appropriate. (Specifically, Picapica, your work on "The Tram logo" appears to be EngEng, while mine is USEng; you may wish to make changes there, if any are needed. I don't care which variant of English we use in this article.) Another tip: In the third paragraph of "Public perception," I changed the word "by" to "alongside," but I'm not 100% sure that's what was intended. And the following sentence just makes my brain hurt. --Tkynerd 20:14, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  proofread 

message: A very good and illustrative source for this complex history/eveolution of the Stadtbahn term can be find here, written in German:
* Hintzen Matthias. Was ist eine "Stadtbahn"? Der Versuch einer begrifflichen Bestimmung. - published in Straßenbahn Magazin 3/96 (issue 101, 27th year), page 68 to 73. ISSN 0340-7071, EAN 4394091724003.
The magazine's target group are tramway amtauers and it is written in a very precise way, so that the evidence should come out clear, but the reader should be capable oft more than a basic language lavel. The current version of this Wikipedia lemma is derrived from the article, mainly through updates. 
Scientific descriptive-normativ approaches can be found in: 
* Verband Deutscher Verkehrsbetriebe. Das Fachwort im Verkehr.  
* Forschungsgesellschaft für Straßen- und Verkehrwesen. Begriffsbestimmungen - Teil: Verkehrsplanung, Straßenentwurf und Straßenbetrieb. FGSV-Nr. 220. 
Whoever is interested enough might check the lemma against this sources. Me, I haven't enough time, but so far the article is already very correct in ways of approaching to what the Stadtbahn term means, is used to and is (not) percepted and so on. 
--141.30.207.240 (talk) 16:32, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I would like to add, that this English article goes much more systematically (because alongside the historic evolution of the term) through the spectrum of use and possible definitions of what a Stadtbahn is than the one in the German Wikipedia does ... --141.30.207.240 (talk) 16:36, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  German sources on the term 

message: The 1980s section of this article (and possibly the 1990s and 2000s sections, as well) should probably be rewritten - I've added some 'tags' to that section to indicate my concerns.
But if the term "Stadtbahn" is most analogous to the North American term "light rail", then the criteria that most differentiates "Stadtbahn"/"light rail" from "Straßenbahn"/"streetcar"/"tram" is operating in exclusive rights-of-way for the former and street-running (in car traffic) for the latter. This may or may not involve tunnels or elevated sections, but certainly doesn't require either. 
The way the 1980s section of the article is written, though, is written from a point-of-view that a lack of tunnels and/or elevated sections means "no Stadtbahn" and "same as streetcar/Straßenbahn". That is clearly not the case - as long as the vast majority of the system is in exclusive rights-of-way, then it qualifies as "light rail", and thus as "Stadtbahn". It almost seems as the author of that section was confusing "Premetro" (as the French use the term) and "Stadtbahn". 
I suggest that section be rewritten. If no one does it in the near future, I may give it a shot when I get the chance (which likely won't be soon...). --IJBall (talk) 03:10, 29 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rewriting of 1980s Section Needed