Since you apparently missed the opportunity to speak about the difference between pantographs, trolley poles, lyres, plows, and other means of getting the electricity from the overhead wire (or conduits, et.al.), we must have a video on that topic to look forward to! 😃👍🏻

Actually, here in Karlsruhe, Germany, we have Trams that operate on a line-of-sight basis within the city of Karlsruhe but that also travel on regular tracks outside of the city, so they are indeed compatible with heavy rail. The overhead lines in the "tram"-area are dc while the overhead lines on the main line are ac and they can switch them during operation.

On the topic of weird distinctions, I operated streetcars for a while in Dallas, and we were legally classified as “trains” rather than “motor vehicles” solely due to having fixed tracks. And trains legally have right of way over both pedestrians and cars-but not boats, oddly. After several incidents of our motormen getting a ticket from clueless cops, we were prohibited from carrying our car driver’s license and given a number to call if a cop ever had a problem with that.

Interesting to note that in Hungarian, the word for tram, 'villamos', literally translates to 'electric'. Horse-drawn trams were always referred to as omnibuses.

I have read that a lot of private industrial railways were technically trams because while you needed an act of parliament to build a railway, you didn't to build a tram line so the distinction can be no more than a legal technicality.

Nice to see the Dublin "Luas" Trams which operate on and off street (on old railway allignments) in your video!

I always worry when people make video's attempting to define something. So I'm glad you arrived at the correct conclusion, which is to say that there isn't one. And despite not having answered the question you posed, we still learned something about trams. Great video :)

Sheffield Supertram has the Class 399s which operate on both Line of Sight and regular signalling, and runs on both heavy and light rail systems 😅

There once was a man who said, "Damn! It is borne in upon me I am, An engine that moves, In predestinate grooves; I'm not even a bus, I'm a tram!"

In the 1990s I had a German teacher called Ruth (a wartime escapee from Germany, lovely lady.) One week Ruth, knowing my interest in things that ran on rail brought in an article entitled The Strass bahn, asking me what this was & expecting the N.American term Streetcar. My response, it’s a tramway! Ruth said yes it’s a tramway. Eyes raised in amazement.

Thanks Jago for using a picture of the LUAS tram system for this video. It's a great system and I love using it when going into town as us Dubliners say 😊😊😊😊😊 the LUAS North Dublin line, the Green line, also uses i believe former train way lines for it's routes..... LUAS in Irish language means speed.... pronounced LEWIS

Thank you for giving a balanced and considerate take on this issue. Far too many commentators are ignorant or outright tramsphobic, and never take the time to understand what a tram really is.

Whatever they are, we need more of them in Britain, every city and large town should have trams.

IIUC, "tram" was originally short for "trammelled car", i.e. a car that is restricted in its movements by rails or similar. That aspect would rule out wannabe motor busses that go anywhere, but could include guided busways and possibly trolley busses that are tied to the overhead network.

So little corretion on Trolley and Trolleybuses, the Trolley is the wheel/wheels on top of the trolley poles that run along the the cable for pickup, this is in contrast to pantographs which do not "troll" along the cable but just slide along it with a carbon pad, to spread the wear patch, pantograph cables zigzag above the rails dragging the cable sideways relative to the pantograph as the vehicle travels down the line. Tram runs on tramway if we want to be technical, this is technically a different rail shape where here is a groove the flange site in so that when you lay the asphalt/concrete surface for road running. Of course marketing and history mucks this up somewhat always has, always will. I tend to go with passenger carryiing self-propelled electric rail vehicle (so EMU or railcar) with at least some road running.

In the UK, it's nice and simple. A tram is vehicle that means the requirements of the Tramway Act of 1870.

Another North American term for trams is Streetcars. Where I live, these run in some of the oldest parts of the city. I live near one of these routes, and I love to hear the rumble they make.

The Green Line in Dublin when it gets onto the old Harcourt Street line is a train in all but name. It starts to feel and ride line a train. I really like your definition.

Here in Australia the term Light Rail vehicle is used more for those cities that have reintroduced Light Rail/Tram Networks. Such as Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra & The Gold Coast. Tram is used in the long-standing established networks of Melbourne and Adelaide. Sydney even uses a Big ‘L’ “roundell”/indicator for the tram/light rail keeping T for the Trains

The Sheffield tram line to Rotherham uses heavy rail alignments alongside trains. This line uses Vossloh-built trams capable of running on heavy rail lines. In fact they have a TOPS designation as Class 399 stock. But they are trams and run as such in Sheffield. In The Hague, tram lines 3 and 4 to Zoetermeer in part run on the same tracks as metro line E to/from Rotterdam, which itself was a heavy rail line converted to metro operation. The trams on lines 3 and 4 run on streets elsewhere along their routes.

To be pedantic enough to make Jago proud, the part where he reads that a tram is electric and powered by overhead wires....we have "trams" in the Midlands that, on part of the system, aren't powered by OLE, they are powered by onboard batteries. Although, those batteries are charged by the OLE where the tram is under wires.

the Yellow Route on the Sheffield tramway partly reuses an old railway (the spur to Doncaster from the former Great Central Railway between Sheffield and Lincoln); as this made it relatively easy to build, it was the first section to open Sheffield was also the location of the first tram-train service in the UK, with a short spur being constructed from the Yellow Route near Meadowhall to the main heavy-rail line through the existing station at Rotherham Central and terminating at the Parkgate retail park the plan was originally for it to run up to Barnsley, but there were many practical difficulties - there are multiple Victorian-era low bridges and a long tunnel on the route, so no room for overhead wires, and the line itself is on the opposite side of Meadowhall Interchange to the tram terminal, meaning a massive bridge or a long tunnel would have been required to link it to the rest of the network

Here in Edmonton, Alberta, we have two passenger rail systems both called LRT. The older one, dating from the later 1970s is partially underground and is like a metro line. The new LRT, opened in late 2023 is what I'd call a tram. They were built by Bombardier and look like the Croydon trams. Car & truck drivers have had to learn to share the road with the new system.

Couple of additional (pedantic?) points- Here in Luxembourg, our trams are powered by overhead wires outside the city centre, but by buried induction loops at each station within the city centre which give the trams just enough juice to get to the next station. Pantographs are raised and lowered accordingly at the beginning/end of each section as applicable. Otherwise, all very normal tram-stuff, two parallel rails at street level, line of sight, etc... Also, the guided busses used in the French city of Nancy (about 110 Km from Luxembourg) gave trouble since day 1 and have recently all been decommissioned... They lasted all of 20 or 25 years, IIRC. Sic transit gloria mundi...

I'd be interested to know what the National Tramway Museum consider a tram to be.

The signalling is a major part of it, and in railway parlance “signalling” means track control. Trams are not centrally controlled; the driver is in the loop at all times, and even switches points from the cab to change direction. I think this is part of the “light” in light rail but I have to dig more into that.

In the UK, I think Light Railways are subject to a Light Railway Order. Many preserved railways are Light Railways under this Act, even though they are former traditional, i.e., “heavy” railways. They are subject to a 25 MPH speed limit, although one notable exception is the Great Central which can, under some circumstances, operate trains at up to, I believe, 60 MPH for testing purposes. I think they have to be empty of passengers for this to be allowed. I think the trams in Manchester are real Trams, since they run on tramways in the City streets, but they also run out to Bury, for example, on former mainline railway tracks, when I think they must exceed 25 MPH. It’s an interesting topic, to be sure, and well done to you for covering it in an interesting way.

Having worked in a transport museum for several years, that's the best answer I've heard at 7:20! Brilliant. And, you blurred the edges about 'trolleys'. A trolley is technically the wheel or contact that runs on the overhead wire providing electricity to the vehicle. So, some trams have trolleys!

For me a tram is specially designed to run in towns/cities in the streets and on seperate tracks (in some cities those trams are running to neighbouring places as well). Modern trams are at least partly low-floor. Than there are the Inter-urban trams: fit to run in cities and beyond to other places over greater distances. A nice example of that is the Belgium coastal tramway from Knokke to Adinkerke: with a length of almost 70 kilometres that is the longest tramline in the World. And than we have the tram-trains which were first introduced in Karlsruhe (Germany): it is combining tram- and railway technic in one vehicle and that was unheard off at the time... It was (and still is) a huge succes because that is creating direct connections where that was never possible before. In a few places they have introduced simular tram-train systems but never on the scale Karlsruhe has done. You did also mentioned the high platform systems as there are in Manchester (completely above the ground) and Stuttgart (partly underground). In "my book" that are not trams but small metro's, but than: "what's in a name?" When it works it's fine. And to finish with there are Hybrid trams which are capable of running on electricity and on diesel. The first one was introduced in 2004 in Nordhausen (Germany) where there is a very small tram company and it is still running sucesfully. You can find this concept in a few other places in Germany as well: Chemnitz and Kassel are two examples of that.

London Trams also used to get power from a conduit from between the rails rather than overhead cables.

I grew up with trams in Leeds (we shared a cosy house). The trams largely ran on segregated tracks - one section through Middleton woods. What made it a tram was that it rain on rails, and did not require a platform. I still stick with those two as being necessary for a vehicle to be considered a tram. Here in Brum although there are low platforms (or raised footways) one can get on the trams from street level, so they are trams. In Manchester platforms are _necessary_ , so Metrolink vehicles are _faux_ trams, and more like railways.

Once again, Jago, you make a video that us mere mortals didn't anticipate, and you increase everyone's knowledge in a few fleeting moments. Thanks 👍🏼

Couple of points from Swansea. We had articulated tram-buses called ftrMetro. Cost a fortune, required massive amounts of road modifications, and lasted 6 whole years before scrapping. They gave a lovely comfortable ride, but in every other way - cost included - they were a disaster. So beware of the claims made for tram-buses - at least the London ones are electric and not articulated. Bendy buses have advantages but are a nightmare for pedestrians and other road users. Also, longer ago we had the Mumbles Train. Which looked like a tram, was electric, ran alongside (though not on) public roads but was never called a tram. Possibly because the original line was the Swansea and Oystermouth Railway and it was steam operated as a railway for many years. The old carriages look pretty tram-like, but the locos were ordinary tank engines, which had to have plenty of power as holiday trains could pack in up to a thousand passengers.

In some countries at the Continent, at least in the days of steam, there was a legal distinction between a train and a non-train rail vehicle, called tram. By law the maximum speed of a tram was much lower and there were less safety features (e.g. no signals, track not separated from the streets). And by law sometimes trains weren't allowed in city centers, which didn't apply for trams. Therefore, when a proper railway was too expensive, they build a tram line instead of a branchline. This tram also carried freight. Since busses became cheaper at some point, those tram lines disappeared, unless passenger numbers required too many busses. Nowadays the lightrail is invented and trams are electrified. This is however, at the Continent, not relevant for the answer to the question 'When is a tram, a tram?' because this question was answered a century ago. Non the less, I liked the video very much!

There are also Tram Trains which share operation on heavy rail routes & draw power off the 25KV overhead.

I think the defining feature is it runs on the street along a route that's fixed (and thus has to have priority, strictly no parking, and is easy to communicate) and very precise (so it can come within centimetres of platforms or obstacles). Whether that's accomplished by tracks or some digital guidance is secondary, but tracks also do a non-technical job: they communicate and assert the route. To fit the concept of a tram, a trackless vehicle has to have another way to say "Oi, this here is a tram line"

To throw even more confusion into the mix are Interurbans. These were vehicles that straddled the line between trams and EMUs; they could and often did run parts of their route on track that was shared with normal trams, but they could also use their own heavy rail lines when going between communities. They also often carried freight and multiple classes of passengers. Interurban railways were very popular in the USA and Canada from the early 1900's to roughly the 1950's; they were cheaper to build and operate than conventional railways and more flexible, able to bring people directly into the heart of a city's downtown and still link smaller rural communities that steam railways might not consider profitable. Some notable examples include the North and South Shore Lines around Chicago, the latter of which still operates a short stretch of street running to this day and once featured the stylish Electroliner streamlined cars, the Texas Transportation Company that once ran a system from Fort Worth all the way to the Oklahoma border, and perhaps most of all Pacific Electric, which ran both trams and interurbans throughout the Los Angeles area. Sadly, nearly all interurban railways died off around the 1950's; their tight profit margins and niche service meant that they often couldn't compete with new bus and trucking lines once road haulage became practical.

Like the use of Dublin's Green Luas (Irish for Speed) tram in the current video. This line uses a lot of the former Harcourt Street line that went all the way to Bray at one time. Remnants of the old stations still exist at Harcourt Street and Dundrum although their use now changed.

I thought you were about to nail it towards the end. I'd define a tram as a rail vehicle which travels wholly or mostly along a public right-of-way. A train can sometimes travel on a tramway, but it's a "special working" in railway-speak, and is subject to certain conditions.

6:41 “A tram is a light rail vehicle.” Throughout the video I had been saying just that and was glad when you finally got to it. (Although people still call them “streetcars” in San Francisco, the closest large city to me, the term “light rail vehicle” or LRV for what the thing _is_ - as opposed to what you’re waiting for or what might be late - is used often enough as well.)

Some bits of the Manchester Metrolink, I believe the original former rail lines out to Bury & Altrincham, only recently converted to full line of sight working, so there's another way they didn't qualify. Rotterdam blurs the lines even more. It's metro has a weird section out in the Eastern suburbs that runs as a "sneltram" (fast tram) because of the at grade working with level crossings etc. Then, further north one line up to Den Haag joins the lines in from Zoetermeer which run as trams while it runs still as a metro, with separate height platforms

On RTE television there is a comedy about Dublin lady tram conductors. It is called LUAS women.

Not forgetting that a electric tram wasn't always powered by overhead electric cables. A lot of trams back in the day used the conduit collection method so it didn't use overhead cables.

I live near the Croydon Tramlink (or whatever it's called this week) and I have always considered it to be a light railway that has street running in places. To my mind, it would only be a tram if it was nearly all street running and didn't look so much like a train.

I was born and raised in Sheffield. The so-called Supertram network is a pale shadow of the earlier, local authority operated, tramway system.

In many places, e.g. in Budapest, they used to haul heavy rail vehicles on tram tracks on the street, to reach certain industries, either by heavy rail diesel locomotives, or by "freight trams", resembling to maintenance vehicles.

We had the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway bear us, it inspired Rev Audrey to write the Thomas stories, used to see J70 tram engines (Toby) pulling fruit trains to Wisbech station in the early 60s, running along the road .

An interesting conundrum, if that's the word.. I particularly liked the museum piece shots of various trams & poss not trams, also the definitely not trams. Mild amusement was caused some years ago when Manchester's Metrolink tram service was opened, and the people dubbed it 'Abba', an impure acronym for "Altrincham to Bury and back again". Happy New Year to you and all supporters of your excellent channel. ⭐👍

The last answer was the best I've heard so far for the definition of a tram.

I'm not sure if this was raised by anyone yet, but "trambus" also used to mean buses that didn't have their engines sticking out into the front, but instead they had a flat front and the driver sat over the front axles, making them look more like trams than conventional buses. I don't think this distinction is used anymore though.

Just a small comment, Wantage Tramway #5 was constructed for the Sandy and Potton Railway in Bedfordshire and just known as Shannon. I am sure other people have pointed this out, but they are in amongst thousands of (rightly) complementary comments below (wood for trees etc).

It's interesting that you bring up freight haulage, here in the US there used to be a lot of electric railroads which hauled freight in an urban environment around the turn of the 20th century. Pacific Electric is probably the most well-known but lots of interurbans (based on your video about light railways the older meaning of this term is probably the most equivalent in UK English, except interurbans were almost exclusively electric) also handled freight. Iowa Traction is the last surviving of these, using a couple of motors built in the 1920s. A lot of these companies described themselves as "electric traction" or just "traction" companies, which the term used by modellers over here as a catchall for anything that runs under wires or with 3rd rail/conduit.

Jago missed cable powered railways(think San Francisco). They ran in streets and separated private right of way. The US had the largest number, but Britain had a share. And there were a few non-passenger vehicles, mostly mail carriers.

I heard that trolleybuses were the first vehicles to use indicators, rather than pop-out trafficators, to show that they were turning as they were condisered (in London?) as being trams not road vehicles,

There's the Silverton Tramway in New South Wales, which went nowhere near a street and was actually a railway (albeit a narrow gauged 3 foot 6 inches). Called a tramway to get around NSW regulations about what was a railway. The Wiki page gives an almost comical history of interstate and inter-union rivalry surrounding the line: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverton_Tramway There was also the Camden Tramway in NSW (closed 1962) , operated entirely by tank conversions of Jago's favourite 0-6-0 tender locos. It did though run alongside the Campbelltown-Camden Road for much of its length.

A more obvious distinction between a “tram” and a “bus” is that tram will always travel along a predefined route. Notionally the rails don’t move. Overhead power pickup doesn’t uniquely define a tram. Steel wheels on rails don’t uniquely define a tram, but do exclude a bus. So this almost demands a table of properties to clarify the possibilities. I draw up a table if anyone is interested.

"A form of light-rail vehicle capable of operation on tracks laid into public-access, typically urban, roadways, conventionally powered by overhead electrical cables and carrying passengers."

Sheffield's Supertram system includes rolling stock that runs on heavy rail into Rotherham Central Railway Station and on to Rotherham's Parkgate retail park, although to be fair; these vehicles are referred to as "tram-trains".

actually, trolleybuses are called that because of their current collector- the trolley pole (well, two of them for trolleybuses and a handful of tram systems) trolleys were called that for the same reason- though the name stuck even after some systems switched to other current collectors

I really like those tram buses! Irizar is a company from the north of Spain, so we do have lots of their buses in many cities (also here in Valencia, where I live).

As this video started I thought...what about light rail although I recall what makes light rail, light rail...and then you threw it in...and I burst out laughing. Thank you for making my day!

The Isle of Wight used to have petrol-powered trams (manufactured by Dewey). They ran along Ryde Pier (parallel to the railway). On alighting from the ferry passengers were greeted with a large sign proclaiming ‘Tramway To Esplanade’.

There used to be a "tramway" that ran 40km from my home city of Port Lincoln to Coffin Bay that was laid by mining giant BHP to transport line sand for use in steelworks around Australia. It was most certainly a standard gauge railway with diesel electric locomotives hauling the hopper trucks. Apparently it was called a tramway because of a law that stated that only the state government was allowed to operate a "railway".

If line-of-sight operation is a factor, i'd point out that the Manchester Metrolink used block signalling originally. It only changed over to line-of-sight as part of the phase 3 expansions, which is part of the reason it is so much slower than it used to be.

I believe the reason we try to define a tram is because trains exist.We try to define the difference between a train and a tram only on the basis of comparison between the two.I don't believe there is a clear cut definition. Trains and trams came from one concept and "evolved " to meet the needs of their different operations. So it is difficult to exactly define what either is as different systems of rail use some aspects of both trains and trams,the Docklands light railway being an example. My Father always said that the difference between a train and a tram was a train always has priority over road traffic,after all you never see a train stopping for traffic at a level crossing!! So I think we only try to define trams because of trains.

In Nantes, France, they have a newish 'tram-train' system which runs on tramway lines within the city and then joins the regional express rail lines and runs north to Chateaubriant l. I haven't tried it but the vehicles look more like trams than trains I believe.

This required some exceptionally clear thinking to put together, methinks. Complex, so many ifs and buts, but all beautifully put together to make perfect sense. Respect.

The TramTrain between Sheffield and Rotherham stretches things a bit by sharing some regular rail track. What a fun conundrum!

I've heard the Manchester trams called street trains due to their high speed on segregated lines and their high floor hight due to using old platforms on the old train lines. Trams I feel should also have level-ish boarding from the street so you don't need large infrastructure to run them, even if that helps and is implemented.

Trains tend to have toilets and their stations/halts/stops are generally futher apart from one another. In terms of train stations, there are station buildings, trams typically only have some sort of shelter at their stops. Buses don't require rails and offer lower capacity compared to the trams

The word "trolley" actually originally refers to the wheel at the end of a trolley pole; an early way for electrical trams (and eventually buses) to collect current from overhead wires. It was first functionally developed in 1885, a handful of years before the first "proper" pantographs were invented and used. I guess since "trolley" is a delightful word, it quickly came to be used for the entire vehicle as well, so that's where the impression that "trolley" was being used equivalently to "tram" comes from. But… it was probably only used for *electrical* trams in its time, whereas "tram" was also used for horse trams and steam trams. Thank you for another great video! Always a delight. For once, I had something to contribute!

Best end to a video ever. A non-specific noise that means 'dunno' that every one will get. Keep up the good work, have a splendid 2024, and I look forward to more vids.

As a diesel powered fire fighting vehicle for use in tram tunnels, I feel left out. 😅

Your videos are always the most interesting little things. Thank you and please never stop.

A tram is a lightweight train that can run on the street and doesn't need (but can) use train signals. For example we have a "randstadrail" here in the Netherlands, that shares its tracks with a subway/metro from Rotterdam (to/from The Hauge) rides over old train railtrack (power is limited to 230V instead of the kilovolts heavy rail uses, for both the tram and metro). We even use 2 different terms here: tram and fast tram.

In the US,there were Streetcars,and Interurbans,both ran over the same trackage,in the cities and towns! However,the streetcar operators,liked to build up suburbs[ala The Metropolitan],and many villages,and towns,still have trolley,and Interurban street names! You just have to know where to look! Also,in Brooklyn,the streetcars,Elevateds,and later Subways,overlapped each other,and during the early 1900's,along with the Dual Contracts,there was,literally a rebuilding of both Manhattan,Brooklyn,Queens and the Bronx! What is accepted,as a given,wasn't there 100 years ago! The history is as convoluted as London's,and far too much too cover in two paragraphs! Thank you,Jago,and the amount of variables among streetcars,trams,and such,really requires 3 or 4 videos! Thank you 😇 😊!

jago, your videos never fail to be interesting

Isn't a 'tram' defined (in the UK) by the 'Act' that enables it's construction - max axle weight, track standards, max speed, signalling and so on. How it's powered and passenger/non-passenger is irrelevant?

Wow, a hundred more questions i was totally unaware of unanswered. I'm glad we got all that sorted out, call it a tram and it's a tram, unless it's not.

Fun Fact: "A Streetcar Named Desire" is the title of a famous play, referencing a New Orleans streetcar line that used to run in the city until 1948. That fact illustrates the durability of the term "streetcar" in the USA. On many LRT lines in the States, the cars even have gongs, although they are usually synthesized sounds. Real gongs were mounted under the operator's cab, with a simple mechanism activated by foot pedal. "Clang, Clang, Clang, went the Trolley!"/"Ding, Ding, Ding, went the Bell!" as "The Trolley Song" goes.

Tram; A train with indicators.

Technically all of the U.K. railway network, (or at least ones that are connected to Weymouth) are trams, because, you said that part of the route has to be on the road, and Weymouth tramways is and connected to the national network, so every train in the U.K. is a tram

A tram is a rail vehicle with indicators. 🙂 Regarding the overhead line, there are trams that are wholly (Seville) or partly (Nice; Kingsway tram tunnel) without overhead lines. So that definition can go in the bin as well.

As a St. Louisan, any light rail vehicle that is primarily street-running with overhead power will always be a TROLLEY! :]

🍺🇮🇪🍺🇮🇪🍺🇮🇪🍺🇮🇪 DUBLIN MENTIONED 🍺🇮🇪🍺🇮🇪🍺🇮🇪🍺🇮🇪 WHAT THE HELL IS A METRO

0:00 🚋 The video explores the definition of trams and their varied characteristics. 1:14 ⚡ Trams are traditionally defined as passenger vehicles running on electricity-powered overhead cables on public roads with rails. 3:07 🚂 Trams historically used diverse power sources, including horses, steam, and electricity; electricity isn't a strict requirement. 4:32 🚌 Vehicles like tram buses blur the definition by resembling trams but operate differently, using Pantagraph recharging and internal layouts similar to trams. 5:16 🚦 Defining trams is complex; their characteristics vary from being passenger vehicles to using parallel rails for guidance, differing from traditional trains in operations. 6:05 🚊 UK tram industry defines trams as vehicles running wholly or partly along streets for passengers, guided by parallel rails, and allowing line of sight operation. 6:38 🚦 Trams operate differently from trains, assuming potential obstacles on tracks, allowing close operation, quick stops, and at present, cannot be driverless. 6:52 🚈 Trams are generally considered light rail vehicles, suitable for street running and not classified as heavy rail. 7:17 📏 Defining a tram is challenging; characteristics vary, including electric power, passenger use, street capability, and line of sight operation.

Another characteristic that usually differentiates trams from trains is that they do not have toilets. I am told this will be the case with those stretches of the South Wales Metro that employ train-trams. They will not have low floors because they will be using BR legacy high platforms, and they will also inherit many stations with inadequate, frequently vandalised or no toilets. My guess is people will soon get used to that, in just the same way that they do not usually expect toilets on commuter buses, in their own cars, on their own bikes, or while they are walking to work. They will just have to develop regular toilet habits, which should also mean more sensible eating and drinking habits. ;-) (In other words, avoid drinking too many Banks' Ales the night before a workday.) But if caught short, you can always hop off at a bigger station with toilets nearby, or hop off at a rural halt and just dive behind the nearest convenient bush. And then hop back on the next (higher frequency) tram. Or arrive a bit earlier and use the more comfortable facilities at your workplace. Now retired, I have all the time in the World to sit and ponder such weighty issues. 😂 But somewhat more practically it is because I want to live long enough to see well thought-out metro systems where I live in Southern Thailand. Certainly, the locals are not too spoiled by numerous places to do their ablutions on the way to work. They won't be expecting too much travel time convenience, and so already have the ingrained habits to deal with it well. Mustn't grumble!

And for his next trick, Mr Hazzard Will explain tram-trains (class 398 in Wales and class 399 in South Yorkshire)…

Tram Buses? Well, from the land where streetcars are often called Trolleys (See San Diego, et al), such pretend trams on rubber tires are easily dismissed as Fake Trolleys, or Folleys. Note the care they give to hiding those big, rubber tires, like the cheap plastic disguised as wood on low-end 1970s cars. It is always the cheap and inferior substitute that has to pretend to be something it is not. It isn't like you see loads of trams with big circle designs on the side, trying to attract passengers by convincing them that these are really buses, right?

Bus-Tram is NOT a tram, it doesn’t run on rails, it’s a bus…made by its Spanish manufacturer to look a bit like a tram by giving it a sloping front and partially covering its wheels (how long will that last when it needs maintenance?). In other words; trying to con the travelling public into thinking they’re getting a snazzier form of transport, when all it is is a cheap bus in a cheap frock from Matalan, which Irizar is no doubt charging a huge amount of money for. Still, we live in a scam world, so it’s just another scam. The end.

Seaton Tramway provides a good example of a tram that doesn't follow the UK Tram rules. It does not have any on-street running, and uses tokens and rudimentary signals for control (Although it's slow enough that LOS would avoid collisons, the signals are just to keep trams in their passing loops). And yet no-one would reasonably argue that it's actually a train, not a tram.

Historically there were three types of railway track defined as tramways, light railways and railways - each governed by different legislation and having no regard to the type of power used to move the vehicles, nor indeed the cargo. Line speed, fencing and signalling regulations defined each one. Tramways are, generally speaking, not fenced off from the public. Something which runs on a tramway is a tram car.

Sheffields Supertrams are heavy rail. Gareth Dennis has a flowchart about classifying transport systems.

in germany trams are mostly called Strasenbahn and i think that puts it to the point a road train (Strassenbahn) for passenger transport that at least partly shares public roads

In Nice in France it amazes me to see the trams initially had no overhead wires to only see at covered stations they raised their pantograph to charge great concept. Also the fact they had grass etc just astounded me initially

Really enjoyed this video and the changing definition of tram! Missed opportunity to show the old trams still running in HK, whenever I go on business I always love riding the tram up and down central HK for a single dollar! (Largest double deck tram fleet in the world I believe and electric from day 1 in 1904)

I love the long pause after giving the answer to the title question. Masterful editing and pacing !

To further add to the confusion: I live in Vienna/Austria which has an extensive tram network. There is a route almost directly from the city center which follows the street for a while but has a section of track which is under the ground. On this section vehicles use block signaling instead of the line-of-sight operation mode they use on almost all other parts of the system. The tracks then emerge from under the ground and continue running on the street. At Meidling rail station the tracks continue running on the street and there is tram line 62 which runs from the city center towards this point and continues to run on street level. However there is another line called "Wiener Lokalbahn" (which translates to "Vienna local train") running on the same track so far but now branching off to continue on mainline tracks, complete with block signaling and tracks separated from the street. They use island platforms on some stops and even share the track with regular heavy rail (only used for freight trains though). They run to the city of Baden, a town approx. 30 km south of the city, where the tracks start running on the street again until they hit their terminus in the city center. There are two kinds of rolling stock used, the older of which are trains made by Bombardier which, except for details like door + seat layout, interior design, presence of side-mirrors, etc., are identical to the trains used on underground line U6. So, you have a public transport line line which is operated as a street level tram, an underground tram, a street level tram again, a main-line railway and then a street level tram again, all while using underground rolling stock. I challenge you to show me a line which combines more different types of train-systems. 🙂

I appreciate the decision to have the Luas be on the thumbnail. Anyways I was visiting London this weekend. I didn’t go on the trams, but I did go on the London Underground.

The Jerusalem system is called 'light rail', but runs along a street, and contends with cars. The Tel-Aviv system (the first of 3 lines just opened, the others are well advanced) is also called light rail but runs in it's own system, and spends a lot of time underground (the only bit 'open' are the crossing in the open section).