Transportation Glossary
Term Description
Subway
An underground rapid rail transit system or the tunnel through which it operates. The term is sometimes used for the entire rail rapid transit system of which only a portion may be beneath the ground surface. It is an electric railway with the capacity for a "heavy volume" of traffic and characterized by exclusive rights-of-way, multi-car trains, high speed and rapid acceleration, sophisticated signaling and high platform loading. (Also known as heavy rail, rapid rail, elevated railway, or metropolitan railway "Metro")