Third rail railways predominantly operates in urban areas. Notable exceptions are (or were) mainline electrics of the former Southern Region of British Railways and a few interurban railways in the US. In Europe top contact third rail tends to be limited to early electrified urban railways (the current conductor is normally left naked on top), contrary to North America where it usually has a protecting cover. Considered safe, the covered top contact conductor also appeared at most North American systems built relatively recently. Modern European systems predominantly make use of bottom or side contact power rails.
There are numerous urban rail systems, including these running mostly in tunnels, which do not use third rail at all. Such systems can be found in Asia, which may have been influenced by the overhead power supply formula followed by Tokyo Metro after 1960. All South Korean systems use overhead wires (or rigid conductors), as do most modern mainland Chinese metros. In Europe all significant Spanish systems now have overhead power supply. Modern Latin America urban rail also uses overhead wires, though with some important exceptions.
Special group of bottom power supplied railways are rubber-tyred systems. In fact, it may be difficult to classify them beyond any doubt. They may be trains but are they still railways? And do they still have 'third' rails? Despite doubts, such guided systems have been included in the list below.
The list does not include conduit system trams (trolleys), once quite popular in some countries, but none survive.
Notes: t/c top contact; others have bottom or side contact power rails (or rail type not known) gr/c combined with guiding rail on rubber-tyred systems (including light metros such as VAL) b/c b/c – bottom contact
Europe
Country Location Name of System Notes Link Armenia Yerevan Yerevan Metro Austria Vienna Vienna U-Bahn (b/c) Except line U6 Azerbaijan Baku Baku Metro Belarus Minsk Minsk Metro Belgium Brussels Brussels Métro/Metro (STIB-MIVB) STIB-MIVB Bulgaria Sofia Sofia Metro Czech Republic Prague Prague Metro (b/c) Denmark Copenhagen Copenhagen Metro Metro Finland Helsinki Helsinki Metro France Paris Paris Metro (all lines on rails: t/c) (all lines on tyres: gr/c) Orlyval (gr/c) Culoz–Modane railway (gr/c) 1925–1976 Lyon Lyon Metro Line C is a rack railway and thus uses overhead wires Marseille Marseille Metro (gr/c) Rennes Rennes VAL (gr/c) Toulouse Toulouse VAL (gr/c) Lille Lille VAL (gr/c) Bordeaux Tramway de Bordeaux (partly) Villefranche-de-Conflent Yellow Train (t/c) Haute-Savoie Ligne de Saint Gervais - Vallorcine (t/c, covered occasionally) Georgia Tbilisi Tbilisi Metro Germany Berlin Berlin S-Bahn Berlin U-Bahn (small profile lines: t/c) Hamburg Hamburg S-Bahn (side contact) Hamburg U-Bahn Munich Munich U-Bahn Nuremberg Nuremberg U-Bahn Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Airport :de:SkyLine PM (gr/c) Greece Athens Athens Metro t/c except Line 3 between and . Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Metro b/c Hungary Budapest Budapest Metro (t/c) except 'Földalatti' (now Line M1) Italy Brescia Brescia Metro AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro Milan Milan metro line 1 4 rails Milan metro line 5 AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro Ferrovie Varesine Former System (1901–1951), t/c) Turin Turin VAL (gr/c) Superga Rack Railway Naples "metropolitana FS" Former system (1925–1935), t/c Netherlands Amsterdam Amsterdam Metro (b/c) Except Sneltram alignments Rotterdam Rotterdam Metro (b/c) Except Sneltram alignments Norway Oslo Oslo T-bane T-bane Poland Warsaw Warsaw Metro (b/c) Portugal Lisbon Lisbon Metro (t/c) Romania Bucharest Bucharest Metro (b/c), except sidings where overhead wire is used Russia Moscow Moscow Metro Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Metro Novosibirsk Novosibirsk Metro Kazan Metro Yekaterinburg Metro Nizhny Novgorod Metro Omsk Metro Samara Metro Spain Madrid Madrid Barajas International Airport PM (gr/c) Barcelona Barcelona Metro Former System (until 2002): Line 1 (t/c, covered) and lines 3 and 4 (b/c) Sweden Stockholm Stockholm T-bana (t/c, covered) Switzerland Chemin de Fer de Martigny au Châtelard partly 3rd rail Turkey İzmir İzmir Metro Ankara Ankara Metro Istanbul Istanbul Metro Ukraine Kyiv Kyiv Metro Kharkiv Kharkiv Metro Dnipro Dnipro Metro United Kingdom Brighton Volk's Electric Railway (t/c) Glasgow Glasgow Subway (t/c) Hythe Hythe Pier Railway London Docklands Light Railway (b/c) London Underground (four-rail, t/c) LNWR suburban electrification (four-rail, t/c at inception, but now three-rail, t-c between Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction, three-rail, t-c between Acton Central and Gunnersbury, third-rail, t-c between Shoreditch and Highbury & Islington, and overhead electrified between Dalston and Acton Central. Adjacent sections of overhead and third rail, t-c between Dalston and Highbury & Islington. Still four-rail, t-c on sections shared with London Underground (Gunnersbury-Richmond, Queens Park-Harrow & Wealdstone). Shoreditch to Broad Street section now closed) Northern City Line (t/c) Liverpool Merseyrail (t/c) Southern England Southern Region (t/c), (large area covering most of the current South Western, Island Line, Southern and Southeastern TOCs ) Stansted Airport Airport people mover Transfer between terminals
United Kingdom
Former:
Giant's Causeway Tramway (elevated third rail; later replaced by overhead wire) Bessbrook and Newry Tramway (t/c) Liverpool Overhead Railway (t/c) Manchester Victoria - Bury (by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) (side contact) Tyneside Electrics (t/c) Switzerland Former: Chemin de fer Fribourg–Morat–Anet (1903–1947)
Asia
Country Location Name of System Notes China Beijing Subway Tianjin Metro t/c, covered Wuhan Metro Guangzhou Metro Line 4&5 India Kolkata Metro t/c Kanpur Metro b/c Namma Metro b/c Kochi Metro b/c Rapid Metro Gurgaon b/c Ahmedabad Metro b/cIndonesia Palembang Palembang LRT Jakarta Jakarta LRT Iran Tehran Metro Japan Hiroshima Astram Line (gr/c) Kobe Portliner (gr/c) Rokkoliner (gr/c) Nagoya Nagoya Municipal Subway Higashiyama, Meijō and Meikō lines OsakaOsaka Municipal SubwayMidōsuji, Tanimachi, Yotsubashi, Chūō and Sennichimae lines Kita-Osaka Kyūkō Railwayreciprocal service with Midōsuji LineKeihanna Linereciprocal service with Chūō Line New Tram (gr/c) Sapporo Sapporo Municipal Subway Namboku Line Tokyo Yamaman Yukarigaoka Line (gr/c) Tokyo Metro Ginza and Marunouchi Lines (t/c, covered) Yurikamome Line (gr/c) Seibu Yamaguchi Line (gr/c) Saitama New Shuttle (gr/c) Yokohama Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line Kanazawa Seaside Line (gr/c) Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Ampang Line Kelana Jaya Line North Korea Pyongyang Pyongyang Metro Philippines Metro Manila MRT-7 Under construction;; Singapore Singapore Light Rail Transit (LRT) Three separate systems Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Except North East Line South KoreaBusanBusan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit (b/c)SeoulUi LRT (b/c) UijeongbuU Line (gr/c)YonginEverline (t/c) Taiwan Taipei Taipei MRT (VAL Line: gr/c) Kaohsiung Kaohsiung MRT Thailand Bangkok MRT BTS skytrain United Arab Emirates Dubai Dubai Metro Uzbekistan Tashkent Tashkent Metro
Japan
Sapporo Chikatetsu - Namboku Line: rubber-tyred with central guiding/return rail and a flat power rail (t/c) which is also one of the rollways for the rubber tyres; Tōzai and Tōhō Lines: rubber-tyred with o/h power supply, a flat return rail which is also one of the rollways for the rubber tyres and a central guiding rail Nagoya Chikatetsu - Higashiyama, Meijō, Meikō Lines (t/c, covered) Osaka Chikatetsu - except Sakaisuji, Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi and Imazatosuji Lines (t/c, covered) Kinki Nippon Tetsudō - Keihanna Line (t/c, covered) Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway (t/c, covered)
Former: Shin'etsu Line at Usui Pass (Yokokawa-Karuizawa) - mainline system Komaki Peachliner (rubber-tyred, but power supply separate from guiding rail; closed in 2006)
Africa
Country Location Name of System Notes Egypt Cairo Cairo Metro Line 2 (Shobra - El Mounib)Line 3 (Attaba - Al Ahram) Nigeria Lagos Lagos Rail Mass Transit Blue Line
North America
Country Location Name of System Notes Canada Montreal Montreal Métro (gr/c) Toronto Toronto subway and RT (t/c, covered) Vancouver Vancouver SkyTrain (t/c, covered) Mexico Mexico City Mexico City Metro All lines (gr/c), except Line A (overhead) United States Chicago Chicago 'L' Chicago 'L' and Subway, (t/c) New York City Airtrain JFK Amtrak Penn Station complex, north and east river tunnels on Northeast Corridor, Empire tunnel and Sunnyside Yard for diesel/electric engines and LIRR service to Penn Station (t/c, covered) Long Island Rail Road NYC commuter system (t/c, covered); (Portions run on diesel & diesel/electric hybrid) Metro-North Railroad NYC commuter system (b/c); (Portions run on diesel & diesel/electric hybrid); (New Haven Line trains switch between third rail and overhead catenary power between Mount Vernon East and Pelham, at speed) New York City Subway (t/c, covered) PATH (t/c, covered) Staten Island Railway (t/c, covered) San Francisco BART AirTrain SFO (gr/c) Washington DC Washington Metro (t/c, covered) Boston Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Red, Orange and Blue (partly) Lines (t/c) Philadelphia SEPTA Metro (t/c, covered) (B, L, M) PATCO (t/c, covered) Atlanta MARTA (t/c, covered) Atlanta International Airport PM (gr/c) Los Angeles Metro Rail Red Line (t/c, covered)Miami Miami Metrorail (t/c, covered) Miami Metromover (gr/c) Baltimore Baltimore Metro Subway (t/c, covered) Detroit Detroit People Mover Chicago O'Hare International Airport Transit System (gr/c) Tampa Tampa International Airport PM (gr/c) Denver Denver International Airport PM (gr/c) Seattle Satellite Transit System PM in Airport (gr/c) Dallas Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport PM (gr/c) San Juan, Puerto Rico Tren Urbano Semi-suspended inverted collector railSan Juan Tren Urbano Light Rail System, Puerto Rico (b/c?)
United States
Former:
World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, 1893) railway (t/c) Pennsylvania Railroad, suburban network New York - New Jersey (t/c, covered) Albany & Hudson Railroad (t/c) Baltimore Belt Line, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Scioto Valley Traction Co. (Ohio) (t/c?) Oneida Railway (NY Central RR) (b/c) Detroit River Tunnel (Detroit - Windsor), Michigan Central Railroad Michigan Rly.: Grand Rapids - Kalamazoo and branch lines Central California Traction Co., Sacramento – Stockton (b/c) Sacramento Northern Railway (t/c) Laurel Line (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA) Aurora Elgin & Chicago Railroad (t/c) Key System - on San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (t/c, covered) Jacksonville VAL (gr/c) Nantasket Beach Branch; Greenbush Line Braintree-Cohasset, suburban New Haven Railroad, (t/c, center of track)
South America
Country Location Name of System Notes Argentina Trenes de Buenos Aires Mitre and Sarmiento railwaysBuenos Aires Metrovías Urquiza railway, Buenos Aires subway line B (t/c, covered) Brazil São Paulo Metro (b/c), except Line 5 (overhead) and 15 (monorail) Rio de Janeiro Metro (t/c, partly covered) Federal District Metro (b/c) Chile Santiago Metro Line 1, Line 2 and Line 5 (gr/c), Line 4 and Line 4A (t/c) Venezuela Caracas Caracas Metro
References