North American Heavy Rail Transit Comparative Car Dimensions
9 min readAug 20, 2023
“Could the MBTA 01800s run on the NYC Subway?”
Questions like these pop up occasionally, and the answer is typically “no” or “not without substantial modification”. North American heavy rail transit construction has traditionally not been standardized (though there are some exceptions, such as the rubber-tired Montreal and Mexico City systems which are not included here). Each system tends to have its own standard dimensions, control and signaling system, electrical distribution standard, and sometimes unique track gauge. However, there are some noticeable similarities between many of the systems, and I’ve constructed a chart for easy comparison (posted here as an image and a text table).
+--------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| System | Vehicle Height | Vehicle Length |
+--------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Market-Frankford Line | 12'10" | 55'6" |
| Broad Street Line | 12'4" | 67'6" |
| PATCO Speedline | 12'4" | 67'6" |
| MBTA Red Line | 12'4.325" | 69'9.75" |
| MBTA Orange Line | 11'11.75" | 65'0" |
| MBTA Blue Line | 12'7.325"** | 48'10" |
| Los Angeles Metro (B, D Lines) | 12'0" | 75'0" |
| Miami MetroRail | 12'0" | 75'0" |
| Baltimore SubwayLink | 12'0" | 75'0" |
| MARTA Rail | 12'2" | 75'0" |
| GCRTA Red Line | 12'0"*** | 75'10" |
| Toronto Subway | 12'4" | 75'0" |
| Tren Urbano | 12'6" | 75'0" |
| BART | 10'6" | 75'0" |
| Washington Metro | 10'10" | 75'0" |
| Chicago 'L' | 12'0" | 48'0" |
| NYC Subway A Division | 12'0" | 51'0" |
| NYC Subway B Division | 12'1.5" | 75'0" |
| Staten Island Railway | 12'1.5" | 75'0" |
| PATH | 12'0" | 51'8" |
| State of the Art Car | 12'1.5" | 74'8.5" |
+--------------------------------+--------------+---------+--------+
+--------------------------------+--------------+---------+----------+
| System | Vehicle Width |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Market-Frankford Line | 8'6.64" (platform), 9'2.55" total |
| Broad Street Line | 10'0"* |
| PATCO Speedline | 10'0" |
| MBTA Red Line | 10'0"(platform), 10'2" total |
| MBTA Orange Line | 9'3" |
| MBTA Blue Line | 9'3" |
| Los Angeles Metro (B, D Lines) | 10'0" |
| Miami MetroRail | 10'0" |
| Baltimore SubwayLink | 10'0" |
| MARTA Rail | 10'6" |
| GCRTA Red Line | 10'4" |
| Toronto Subway | 10'4" |
| Tren Urbano | 10'3" |
| BART | 10'6" |
| Washington Metro | 10'0" (platform), 10'1.75" total |
| Chicago 'L' | 8'8" (platform), 9'4" total |
| NYC Subway A Division | 9'0" |
| NYC Subway B Division | 10'0"****** |
| Staten Island Railway | 10'0" |
| PATH | 9'3"******* |
| State of the Art Car | 9'9" |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+--------------------------------+--------------+---------+------------+
| System | Floor Height | Voltage | Source |
+--------------------------------+--------------+---------+------------+
| Market-Frankford Line | 3'6.5" | 700V | 1 |
| Broad Street Line | 3'10.5" | 600V | 2, 3 |
| PATCO Speedline | 3'10.5" | 750V | 2, 4 |
| MBTA Red Line | 4'1" | 600V | 2, 5, 6, 7 |
| MBTA Orange Line | 3'9" | 600V | 5, 8, 9 |
| MBTA Blue Line | 3'5.25" | 600V | 2, 10 |
| Los Angeles Metro (B, D Lines) | 3'8.75" | 750V | 11 |
| Miami MetroRail | 3'6.5" | 750V | 12 |
| Baltimore SubwayLink | 3'6.5" | 700V | 12 |
| MARTA Rail | 3'8" | 750V | 13 |
| GCRTA Red Line | 3'6" | 600V | 14 |
| Toronto Subway | 3'7" | 600V | 15, 16 |
| Tren Urbano | 3'7" | 750V | 17 |
| BART | 3'3" | 1000V | 18, 19 |
| Washington Metro | 3'4" | 750V | 20 |
| Chicago 'L' | 3'6.25"**** | 600V | 21 |
| NYC Subway A Division | 3'8.75" | 600V | 2, 22 |
| NYC Subway B Division | 3'9.55" | 600V | 2, 23, 24 |
| Staten Island Railway | 3'9.55" | 600V | 2, 23 |
| PATH | 3'9.125" | 600V | 25, 26, 27 |
| State of the Art Car | Variable | 600V | 28 |
+--------------------------------+--------------+---------+------------+
+--------------------------------+--------------+---------+------------+
| System | Third Rail (Height, Center Offset) |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Market-Frankford Line | Underrunning 6"; 4'10.125" |
| Broad Street Line | Overrunning 3.5"; 4'8.375" |
| PATCO Speedline | Overrunning 3.5"; 4'8.375" |
| MBTA Red Line | Overrunning 6.25"; 4'0.6875" |
| MBTA Orange Line | Overrunning |
| MBTA Blue Line | Overrunning |
| Los Angeles Metro (B, D Lines) | Overrunning |
| Miami MetroRail | Overrunning |
| Baltimore SubwayLink | Overrunning |
| MARTA Rail | Overrunning |
| GCRTA Red Line | None (Overhead) |
| Toronto Subway | Overrunning |
| Tren Urbano | Overrunning |
| BART | Overrunning |
| Washington Metro | Overrunning |
| Chicago 'L' | Overrunning 5.833"; 4'0.325" |
| NYC Subway A Division | Overrunning 3.5"; 4'7.8125" |
| NYC Subway B Division | Overrunning 3.5"; 4'7.8125" |
| Staten Island Railway | Overrunning 3.5"; 4'7.8125" |
| PATH | Overrunning |
| State of the Art Car | Overrunning (variable) |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
*nycsubway.org has Kawasaki B-IV at B-IV at 10'1.5" wide and 12'3" tall, see https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/SEPTA_Broad_Street_Subway
** Includes overhead pantograph; cars would be several inches lower without overhead equipment.
** Height to top of roof without installed pantograph. Source unverified.
***Platform height varies to the point some cars are fitted with system to adjust car height at each stop, listed at 3'-6-1/4"+5/8"/-1/4".
****Note 75' cars have tapered sides to 9'0" at the top of the carbody to meet clearances, unlike other systems, and are not cleared for the BMT Eastern Division. 60' cars are cleared throughout the B Division and can be flat sided.
***** Note: original Hudson & Manhattan car dimensions were 48'5" long, 8'10" wide and 12'0" tall.
Sources
1. "M5 Metro Railcar Procurement Technical Specification." Septa.org. Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, June 2023. https://www5.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/bid/JGCY20230256-23-00085-AJAC-M5-Metro-Rail-Cars-Technical-Specification.pdf
2. "Detail Specification for State-of-the-Art Car." FRA.org. Urban Mass Transportation Administration, May 1973. https://web.archive.org/web/20190102095021/https://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/15828
3. "Cars That Increase Subway Capacity." Electronic Railway Journal, vol.73, no.8, February 23, 1929. https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Broad_Street_Subway_News_%281915-1931%29
4. Mekosh Jr., George. "Wheel/Rail Force Prediction and Measurement for Three Transit Trucks Operating at PATCO." metro.net. Urban Mass Transportation Administration, November 1985. https://libraryarchives.metro.net/dpgtl/usdot/1985-wheel-rail-force-prediction-and-measurement-for-three-transit-trucks-operating-at-patco-final-report.pdf
5. Washington, Robin. "On the T, One Size Doesn't Fit All.". Boston Globe, 25 February 2015. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/02/25/one-size-doesn-fit-all-and-costs-more/kJg2qK2A0ZHjSLzG4UFCCM/story.html
6. "Red Line Transit Vehicle for Boston's MBTA." crrcma.com. CRRC MA Corporation. Accessed August 2023. https://www.crrcma.com/product/red-line-transit-vehicle-for-bostons-mbta/#
7. "Vehicle Data Sheet 40002: MBTA Red Line 01600-Series Rapid Transit Car 1970." Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 5 October 1970. https://bostonintransit.com/products/mbta-red-line-01600-series-rapid-transit-cars-1970
8. "Orange Line Transit Vehicle for Boston's MBTA." crrcma.com. CRRC MA Corporation. Accessed August 2023. https://www.crrcma.com/product/orange-line-transit-vehicle-for-bostons-mbta/
9. "Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority No. 12 Orange Line Vehicle Evaluation." FRA.org. Urban Mass Transportation Administration, October 1981. https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/fra_net/16093/1981_MASSACHUSETTS%20BAY%20TRANSPORTATION%20AUTHORITY%20NUMBER.PDF
10. "Ridership and Service Statistics, Eleventh Edition, 2007." mbta.org Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, October 2007. https://old.mbta.com/uploadedFiles/documents/Bluebook%202007.pdf.
11. "Los Angeles HRV." ansaldobreda.it. AnsaldoBreda. Accessed August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20071006220344/http://www.ansaldobreda.it/files/prodotti/LosAngeles.pdf
12. Kozel, Scott M. "Baltimore Metro Subway." roadstothefuture.com, 13 October 2002. http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Baltimore_Metro.html
13. "Atlanta HRV." ansaldobreda.it. AnsaldoBreda. Accessed August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20071006220845/http://www.ansaldobreda.it/files/prodotti/Atlanta.pdf
14. "GCRTA Rail Car Information 5-3-2017". Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, 03 May 2017. https://archive.org/details/gcrta-rail-car-info-5-3-2017
15. Bow, James, and Lubinski, Robert. "The Camshaft Control Hawkers (Series H1, H2, H3, and H4)." transittoronto.ca. Transit Toronto, 4 May 2021. https://transittoronto.ca/subway/5503.shtml
16. "Class H-1 Car." transittoronto.ca. Toronto Transit Comission. Accessed August 2023. https://transittoronto.ca/images/subway-5503-01.gif
17. Russell, Bruce; Vigrass, J. William, and Berger, Raymond R. "Tren Urbano: San Juan's New Rapid Transit Line." Headlights, Electric Railroader's Association, vol. 61, no. 1-6, January-June 1999. https://erausa.org/pdf/headlights-previews/1999-headlights-01.pdf
18. "Final Environmental Impact Report/Final Environmental Impact Statement Vol. II: Responses to Comments." archive.org. San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, June 1996. https://archive.org/details/bartsanfrancisc1996oakl_0/page/n3/mode/2up
19. "System Facts." bart.gov, Bay Area Rapid Transit. Accessed August 2023. https://www.bart.gov/about/history/facts
20. "WMATA Summary - Level Rail Car Performance for Design and Simulation". wmata.com, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Accessed August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20160114052554/http://www.wmata.com/business/procurement_and_contracting/solicitations/uploads/RFP%20Energy%20Storage-Attachment%20B-Rail%20Car%20Performance%20for%20Design-Simulation.pdf
21. "Request for Proposals (RFP) for Rapid Transit Cars." jobstomoveamerica.org. Chicago Transit Authority, 16 October 2014. https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Chicago-Transit-Authority_C14FI101554098_RFP_Advertised_101614.pdf
22. "R-142 Datasheet from NYCT Revenue and Non-Revenue Car Drawings". nycsubway.org. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Accessed August 2023. https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?/img/cars/sheet-r142.jpg
23. "R-44 Datasheet from NYCT Revenue and Non-Revenue Car Drawings". nycsubway.org. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Accessed August 2023. https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?/img/cars/sheet-r44.jpg
24. "R-143 Datasheet from NYCT Revenue and Non-Revenue Car Drawings". nycsubway.org. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Accessed August 2023. https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?/img/cars/sheet-r143.jpg
25. "New York PATH Railway Upgrade." Railway Technology, 16 November 2009. https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/ny-path/
26. Chiasson, George. "Rails Under the River Revisited - The Hudson and Manhattan". ERA Bulletin, Electric Railroader's Association, vol. 58 no. 6, June 2015. https://erausa.org/pdf/bulletin/2010s/2015/2015-06-bulletin.pdf
27. Chiasson, George. "Rails Under the River Revisited - The Hudson and Manhattan". ERA Bulletin, Electric Railroader's Association, vol. 58 no. 11, November 2015. https://erausa.org/pdf/bulletin/2010s/2015/2015-11-bulletin.pdf
28. "SOAC (State-of-the-Art Cars)." chicago-l.org. Accessed August 2023. https://www.chicago-l.org/trains/roster/SOAC.htmlHere are some associated notes:
- The United States Department of Transportation’s Urban Mass Transportation Administration (now the Federal Transit Administration) built a two-car train called the State-of-the-Art Car, which was built to operate on several systems, indicating that a compatible car could be built (albeit with some compromises) to operate on multiple systems. The original procurement specifications were very helpful for this effort.
- Systems typically fall into two general camps; ‘elevated’ size and ‘railroad’ size.
- ‘Elevated’ dimensions are around 50' long and 9' wide, which were originally dictated by street geometry as cars were (and are) required to take sharp curves above city streets. The Chicago ‘L’, NYC Subway ‘A’ Division, and Market-Frankford Line are in this category, as are PATH and the MBTA Blue Line. MBTA’s Blue Line never had elevated operation, but the East Boston Tunnel was originally built for streetcars which had to contend with the same type of curvature.
- ‘Railroad’ dimensions are around 10' wide and 70'-75' long, as pioneered by the Boston Elevated Railway (now the MBTA Red Line) in 1912 and generally adopted by most systems built afterward. The NYC Subway initially standardized on 60' cars for the B Division, probably due to clearance issues on existing elevated lines that were adapted to heavier steel subway cars. Certain lines were later adapted to accommodate 75' cars, though none have been procured since the late 1980s and the MTA has gone back to standardizing on 60' cars that can operate on all of the B Division lines.
- The MBTA Orange Line is an interesting hybrid; originally constructed as an elevated, the elevated sections were gradually removed and the original 46'7" and later 55' cars were replaced with 65' cars after the sharp curves had been eliminated. The original width, however, was retained.
- The original Hudson & Manhattan (later PATH) cars were built to similar dimensions as IRT (NYC A Division) elevated and subway cars (and the first 48' cars were actually tested on the Second Avenue El), but PATH cars have taken advantage of additional above-the-platform width in their tunnels. This is noticeable as a visibly more tubular carbody with outward bulges at the belt rail, and these cars wouldn’t fit the NYC Subway tunnels.
- The SEPTA Broad Street Line and PATCO Speedline (the original Philadelphia — Camden stretch, at least) were once connected as one system, with the original idea for there to be a loop around the city center that was never constructed. There is now a fence visible from PATCO trains in the tunnel where the Broad-Ridge Spur and Bridge Line once connected, and the two systems are now incompatible voltages (600V vs 750V DC).
- The general internet wisdom is that the Los Angeles Metro Rail B and D lines were constructed to the same specifications as the Baltimore and Miami systems, which were designed to use Budd’s Universal Transit Vehicle. Breda’s specification sheet for the LA Metro show the platform height to be 2.25" lower, however, which is a significant difference. Photos of a Miami trainset in Los Angeles in 1992 do exist, however, though it is possible they were leased for testing only. It would be interesting to know why the floor height choice was made, since the system’s car dimensions are otherwise identical. In general, platform height appears to be the major dimensional difference between most ‘railroad’ sized systems.
- BART’s original engineers made a variety of unique design choices, which are noticeable here. Not listed in the table above is the track gauge, at 5'6". The only other non-standard gauge system is the Market-Frankford Line, which operates on 5'2.5" Pennsylvania trolley gauge (and has been upgraded from 600V to 700V DC).
- Washington Metro’s cars are only around 12–16 inches shorter than the roughly 12' height that serves as a de facto standard, but it’s enough to give them a distinctive look.
