Tracking Tracks — Motivation

 

Ideas and innovation are never generated on-demand; rather, they’re the product of perpetual thought and a keen eye for improvement.

 

Naturally, the best source of exposure is directly in the field. And with every station, line, segment, and mile offering something different, traversing a system’s entirety is the only way to guarantee comprehensive exposure and a true fostering of rumination (the “systems-level” approach).

 

Below, you’ll find a listing of the systems I’ve covered as my quest for covering new segments expands:

Systems

Stations

Route Miles

EXO

REM

TFL London Underground

London Cable Car

DLR

Montmarte Funicular

IDFM Paris Metro

RER B & E

CDGVAL

TECO Streetcar

TPA SkyConnect

Cincinnati Connector Streetcar

Cincinnati Airport People Mover

San Diego Trolley

NCTD Sprinter

NCTD Coaster

Getty Center Tram

Angel's Flight

Odense Light Rail

Lund Light Rail

DSB S-Train

Copenhagen Metro

MTA New York City Transit

SEPTA Regional Rail

MBTA Rapid Transit

SEPTA Heavy Rail

MTA Maryland

WMATA Metrorail

DC Streetcar

NJ Transit Light Rail

NJ Transit Rail Operations

Amtrak NEC

Amtrak Keystone

LA Metro

SFRTA Tri-Rail

Miami-Dade Transit

PATH

PATCO

AirTrain JFK

AirTrain EWR

ATL – The Plane Train

DFW Skylink

LIRR

CTA

Walt Disney World (Monorail & Railroad)

Disneyland Monorail

Chicago ORD ATS

SunRail

Virginia Railway Express

Seattle Streetcar

SoundTransit Central Link

SoundTransit Central Link

SoundTransit Tacoma Link

TriMet MAX Light Rail

TriMet WES

Portland Aerial Tram

Caltrain

SF Cable Cars

SF Muni Metro

SF Market Street Railway

BART

MARTA

Atlanta Streetcar

ATL SkyTrain

Chipman Central Railroad

Shore Line East

MBTA Commuter Rail

Amtrak Downeaster

Brightline

CTrail Hartford Line

Roosevelt Island Tramway

PAAC

Amtrak Empire Corridor

Amtrak Knowledge Corridor

Buffalo Metro Rail

Falls Incline Railway

TTC Subway

UP Express

YYZ Link Train

MTA Metro-North Railroad

Société de transport de Montréal

O-Train

AirTrain (SFO)

SacRT Light Rail

Capitol Corridor

SkyTrain

West Coast Express

Seattle Center Monorail

Sea-Tac Satellite Transit System

PHX SkyTrain

Valley Metro

The Hop MKE

Amtrak Hiawatha

DEN AGTS

RTD Light Rail & Commuter Rail

MetroTransit Light Rail

Northstar

MSP Airport Trams

Amtrak Piedmont

CATS LYNX

Reno Tram

SMART Train

Morgantown PRT

Greater Cleveland RTA

PIT Airport People Movers

Amtrak Norfolk Service

The Tide

CapMetro MetroRail

Hermann Park Railroad

Harris County METRORail

IAH Subway & Skyway

MARC Train

WeGo Transit "Music City" Star

Miami Airport Skytrain & e-Train

IAD AeroTrain & Mobile Lounge Shuttles

DART Light Rail

Dallas Streetcar

McKinney Ave Trolley

Denton County A-Train

Trinity Rail Express

TEXRail

JTA Skyway

ION Light Rail

Q-LINE

Detroit People Mover

Greenfield Village Railroad

Amtrak Wolverine

Metra BND, MED, & RID

  • BN District (BNSF Line)
  • Metra Electric District (Main Line, South Chicago, and Blue Island Branches)
  • Rock Island District (Rock Island Main Line, Rock Island Beverly Branch, Southwest Service, Heritage Corridor)

Altamont Corridor Express

UTA TRAX

FrontRunner

Agency/Division Systems Services Lines Stations Distance Every Mile as of Notes
EXO Canada Train 6 6 63 158 September 2024 Includes the former Deux-Montagnes EXO line
REM Canada 1 1 5 10 September 2024
Transport for London UK London Underground 11 27 272 250 June 2024
Transport for London UK Docklands Light Rail 5 7 45 24 June 2024
Transport for London UK London Cable Car 1 1 2 1 June 2024
Île-de-France Mobilitiés France RER B; RER E 4 6 72 87 June 2024
Île-de-France Mobilitiés France Paris Metro 16 18 314 144 June 2024 ✪ Inaugural Trip of Line 11 Rosny Extension
Île-de-France Mobilitiés France Montmarte Funicular 1 1 2 0 June 2024
Paris Aéroport France CDGVAL 2 2 8 3 June 2024
HART TECO Streetcar 1 1 11 3 February 2024
TPA Airport SkyConnect 1 1 3 1 February 2024
SORTA Cincinnati Connector 1 1 18 2 January 2024
CVG Airport People Mover 1 1 3 0 January 2024
Utah Transit Authority TRAX & S-Line 4 7 58 47 November 2023
Utah Transit Authority FrontRunner 1 1 17 88 November 2023
Altamont Corridor Express 1 1 10 85 November 2023
SDMTS Trolley 3 5 62 65 August 2023
NCTD Coaster & Sprinter 2 2 22 63 August 2023
Getty Center Tram 1 1 2 1 July 2023
Angel’s Flight 1 1 2 0 July 2023
Odense LetbaneDenmark 1 1 26 9 May 2023
Lund Tramway Sweden 1 1 9 4 May 2023
DSB Denmark S-Tog 7 7 86 105 May 2023
Copenhagen Metro Denmark 4 5 39 24 May 2023
Metra BNSF, ME, & RI (RI, SWS, & HC) Districts 5 8 118 194 April 2023 BNSF as of October 2019
Amtrak Wolverine 1 3 16 304 April 2023
Greenfield Village Railroad 1 1 3 3 April 2023
Detroit People Mover 1 1 13 3 April 2023
Q-Line 1 1 12 3 April 2023
ION Light Rail Canada 1 1 19 10 April 2023
JTA Skyway 1 2 8 3 February 2023
TEXRail 1 1 9 27 January 2023
Trinity Rail Express (TRE) 1 1 10 34 January 2023
DCTA A-Train 1 1 6 21 January 2023
McKinney Ave Trolley M-Line 1 1 2* 3 January 2023
DART Light Rail & Streetcar 8 5 71 95 January 2023
MWAA AeroTrain & Mobile Lounge Shuttle 2 2 7 3 November 2022
Miami Airport Airside Transport Skytrain & e-Train 2 2 6 1 September 2022
WeGo Transit Music City Star 1 1 7 32 May 2022
MARC Train 4 4 42 203 April 2022
Houston Airport System (IAH) Subway & Skyway 2 2 9 2 February 2022
Harris County METRO METRORail 3 3 39 23 February 2022
Hermann Park Railroad 1 1 4 2 February 2022
CapMetro MetroRail 1 1 9 32 February 2022
Hampton Roads Transit The Tide 1 1 11 7 December 2021
Amtrak Norfolk Branch 1 1 2 113 December 2021
Greater Cleveland RTA Rapid Transit; Light Rail 3 4 44 29 November 2021
Morgantown PRT 1 1 5 4 November 2021
PAAC Light Rail; Inclines 5 7 57 26 November 2021 Inclines as of October 2011
SMART 1 1 12 45 August 2021
Caltrain Main Line + Gilroy 3 1 31 77 August 2021 Main Line (SF-Tamien) as of August 2017
Circus Circus Reno Reno Tram 1 1 2 0.1 August 2021
CATS LYNX Light Rail 1 1 26 19 January 2020
Amtrak Piedmont 1 1 9 173 January 2020
MSP Airport Trams Hub Tram & C Concourse People Mover 2 2 5 1 November 2019
Northstar Commuter Rail 1 1 7 40 November 2019
MetroTransit Light Rail 2 2 37 22 November 2019
RTD Light Rail & Commuter Rail 12 10 75 101 November 2019 Updated August 2022 (N Line)
DEN AGTS 1 1 4 1 November 2019
The Hop Milwaukee Streetcar 1 1 10 2 October 2019
Amtrak Hiawatha Service 1 1 5 86 October 2019
Sea-Tac Airport Satellite Transit System 3 3 6 2 September 2019
Seattle Center Monorail 1 1 2 1 September 2019
West Coast Express Canada 1 1 8 43 September 2019
TransLink SkyTrain Canada 5 3 53 50 September 2019
Phoenix Valley Metro 1 1 38 28 September 2019
PHX SkyTrain 1 1 4 2 September 2019
Santa Clara VTA Light Rail 3 4 63 42 April 2019
San Fransisco SFO AirTrain 2 1 9 3 April 2019
SacRT Light Rail 3 4 55 43 April 2019 Updated Nov ’23 (Morrison Creek)
Capitol Corridor Main Line (ex. Auburn Extension) 1 1 15 133 April 2019
OC Transpo Canada O-Train 1 1 5 5 January 2019
STM Canada Montréal Metro 4 4 68 43 January 2019
MTA Metro-North Railroad West-of-Hudson and East-of-Hudson Service 8 8 124 384 December 2018
YYZ Link Train Canada 1 1 3 1 November 2018
Metrolinx Canada Union Pearson Express 1 1 4 15 November 2018
TTC Canada Subway 5 4 75 48 November 2018
Falls Incline Railway Canada 1 1 2 195″ November 2018
NFTA Buffalo Metro Rail 1 1 13 6 November 2018
MTA Long Island Rail Road Electric & Diesel Territory 13 12 126 322 November 2018 Updated Jan ’23 (✪ Inaugural Grand Central Direct Trip); Nov ’22 (⍟ Pre-Revenue East Side Access GCM Service); Electric as of February 2017
Amtrak Empire and Knowledge Corridors 2 2 6 118 November 2018
CTrail Hartford Line 1 1 9 62 June 2018 ✪ Inaugural Trip
Brightline 1 1 6 237 January 2018 Updated August 2018 (FTL-MIA); Updated Feb ’23 (BOC & AVE); Updated Feb ’24 (ORL)
NNEPRA Amtrak Downeaster 1 2 11 145 January 2018
MBTA Commuter Rail 13 16 142 407 December 2017 Updated Feb ’19 (✪ Blue HIll Ave); Oct ’19 (✪ Foxboro Commuter Service); Oct ’22 (Foxboro-Mansfield); Jan ’23 (✪ Pawtucket)
Shore Line East 1 1 9 51 December 2017
Chipman Central Railroad 1 1 1 0.05 December 2017
ATL SkyTrain 1 2 3 2 October 2017
Atlanta Streetcar 1 1 12 3 October 2017
MARTA 4 6 38 48 October 2017
SF Market Street Railway E/F Streetcar Lines 2 2 4* 7 August 2017
SFMTA Muni Metro 7 6 37* 39 August 2017 Updated Nov ’23 (Central Subway)
SF Cable Cars 3 3 5* 5 August 2017
BART Rapid Transit, eBART 5 4 50 131 August 2017 Updated April ’19 (eBART); Aug ’21 (Berryessa)
Portland Aerial Tram 1 1 2 1 August 2017
TriMet MAX Light Rail & WES 1 1 102 75 August 2017
SoundTransit Central Link & Tacoma Link 2 2 22 22 August 2017
Seattle Streetcar 2 2 17 4 August 2017
Virginia Railway Express 2 2 19 86 July 2017
SunRail 1 1 16 49 May 2017 Updated Feb ’23 (Phase II South Extension)
Walt Disney World Monorail, Railroad, Skyliner 7 6 14 20 May 2017 Updated Feb ’23 (Skyliner)
Chicago ORD Airport Transit System (ATS) 1 1 5 3 May 2017
CTA Chicago “L” 8 12 146 103 May 2017 Updated October 2019
NJ Transit Rail Operations 11 12 155 440 April 2017
MBTA Rapid Transit 13 16 84 78 March 2017 Updated April ’18 (✪ SL3 Chelsea); March ’22 (✪ GLX Union Square); December ’22 (✪ GLX Medford Branch)
AirTrain EWR 1 1 8 3 February 2017
Miami-Dade Transit MetroRail and Metromover 5 4 44 29 January 2017
SFRTA Tri-Rail 2 2 19 80 January 2017 Updated Feb 2024 (Downtown Link)
SEPTA Trolley City, Suburban, Girard 8 9 86* 60 December 2016 Updated July 2024 (15 Richmond)
Amtrak NEC, Keystone Corridor 3 2 42 556 November 2016
NJ Transit Light Rail RiverLINE, HBLR, NLR/NCS 6 6 62 57 October 2016
LA Metro Subway, Light Rail 6 6 100 112 September 2016 Updated August 2023 (K Line)
Disneyland Monorail 1 1 2 3 September 2016
MTA Maryland Light Rail & Metro Subway 4 4 47 45 May 2016
WMATA Metrorail Metrorail 6 17 97 128 April 2016 Updated Nov ’22 (✪ Silver Line Phase II)
MTA NYC Transit Subway, Staten Island Railway 26 37 493 250 April 2016 Updated January 2017 (✪ Second Ave Subway)
D.C. Streetcar 1 1 8 2 March 2016
AirTrain JFK 3 2 10 8 April 2015
SEPTA Regional Rail 13 13 155 283 March 2014 Updated August 2022 (✪ Wawa Extension)
PATH 4 3 13 14 February 2014
SEPTA Heavy Rail MFL, BSL, NHSL 3 3 75 39 February 2014
PIT People Movers 1 1 2 1 October 2011
RIOC Roosevelt Island Tramway 1 1 2 1 October 2010
Dallas DFW SkyLink 1 1 10 5 August 2009
Atlanta ATL The Plane Train 1 1 8 3 April 2008
PATCO 1 1 13 14 July 2006

 

*Count Includes Dedicated Stations Only; Does Not Include Non-Platform Surface Stops

✪ Denotes a ride along the full primary passenger route on a service’s inaugural passenger trip.


 

Jeff Rules™ to System Completion

At what point does a system count as being “complete”?

Since there are enough people who have asked me, both out of curiosity, and for their own adventures, I’m officially documenting the guidelines by which a system is marked as such: A system is considered “complete” when every route mile in regular service has been traversed, and at least a portion of the territory was traversed on the system’s own equipment.

There are several implications from this, guidance of which is below.

  • Riding the entirety of a service’s territory on an intercity train does not count in and of itself, until one has also used the service itself.
    • e.g. Riding Amtrak between New Haven and New London does not count for SLE until SLE itself has been ridden.
  • Not all of the territory must have been ridden at the same time, on the same trip, or even on the same service, provided the entire territory of the service is traversed
    • e.g. MNR’s Hudson Line could be completed by riding a MNR train to Riverdale, and taking Amtrak betwen Penn Station and Poughkeepsie on a separate occasion; doing so traverses the entire territory and covers the service.
  • Every route-mile does NOT mean every track-mile. Where express tracks run parallel to local tracks, they both count as the same route and either can be used to traverse the territory.
    • Where lines split, merge, and operate unilateral segments, these need not be traversed independendently unless the route itself (e.g. customer-facing messaging, stops, etc.) diverges to operate separate one-way segments.
    • Where different services operate on isolated trackage/networks, there is a preference for covering the adjacent segments on each network, although this is not required.
    • e.g. Riding the MBTA Commuter Rail’s Old Colony Lines to Braintree would generally not count for the MBTA Red Line Braintree Branch.
  • Where bidirectional services operate different one-way route segments, each one-way segment must be traversed.
    • e.g. Tri-Met’s MAX in Portland operates several one-way segments through the downtown core, each of which must be traversed separately.
    • The start/end of bidirectional trackage need not be traversed per the above guidance on route miles vs track miles.
  • A territory must see regularly-scheduled service to be considered a required segment for a system’s completion.
    • Other territories can certainly be counted and tracked as part of a system’s rare mileage, but need not be completed to consider a system “complete.”
    • e.g. The multi-year suspension of the SEPTA Route 15 Trolley and GCRTA Waterfront Line, and the event-only MBTA CR service between Mansfield and Foxboro, exclude them from the required components of their respective systems. However, these can still be tracked as rare mileage.
  • When in doubt, the “Line of Sight” heuristic applies: if the territory could be seen from the adjacent territory, it counts; if it can’t be seen, it doesn’t.
    • e.g. Riding the Brunswick Line’s branch to Frederick, MD, returning to Point of Rocks, and riding the other segment to Martinsburg, WV counts for the system’s completion since the wye at Point of Rocks is visible from the Brunswick Line’s tracks (and is visible from the station itself).