Approximately 110 cities in the world have urban rail, 33% are developing or eastern cities, and 66% were built after 1970. Of 14 large cities (approximately 10 million inhabitants) with urban rail, 9 are in developing or eastern countries, with up to 7 billion passengers per year. Further of 63 cities (approximately 1 million inhabitants) with urban rail, 24 are in developing or eastern countries, with up to .5 billion passengers per year. Of 33 other cities with light rail, 6 are in developing countries. 14 American cities (with approximately 500 cars per 1000 inhabitants) opened urban rail after 1970. Urban rail can be considered as a success in both city types. (A) The French title of this paper is: "La succès du chemins de fer urbain et en banlieue".
Abstract