light rail

noun

A kind of passenger railway in urban and suburban settings typically characterized by a mixture of tram (or in North America streetcar) and metro features, crossing streets at grade crossings and normally powered by electricity.

“The new Denver light rail runs along the Interstate highway.”

Similar
LRlight rail systemlight rail transitlight rail transport system
Opposite
heavy rail
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Meanings

nounlight rail (countable and uncountable, plural light rails)

plural light rails

  1. CanadaUScountableuncountablerail transportA kind of passenger railway in urban and suburban settings typically characterized by a mixture of tram (or in North America streetcar) and metro features, crossing streets at grade crossings and normally powered by electricity.

    The new Denver light rail runs along the Interstate highway.

    Synonyms: LR, light rail system, light rail transit, light rail transport system · Antonyms: heavy rail

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA kind of passenger railway in urban and suburban settings typically characterized by a mixture of tram (or in North America streetcar) and metro features, crossing streets at grade crossings and normally powered by electricity.

Similar
LRlight rail systemlight rail transitlight rail transport system
Opposite
heavy rail
Also see
light rail systemlight rail transitlight rail transport system

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 輕軌 /轻轨
  • 輕軌 /轻轨 (qīngguǐ)type of passenger railway
Danish letbane
  • letbanetype of passenger railway
Finnish pikaraitiotie
  • pikaraitiotietype of passenger railway
French métro léger, système léger sur rail
  • métro légertype of passenger railway
  • système léger sur railtype of passenger railway
  • transit léger sur railtype of passenger railway
  • train légertype of passenger railway
German Leichtbahn
  • Leichtbahntype of passenger railway
Hebrew רַכֶּבֶת קַלָּה
  • רַכֶּבֶת קַלָּה (rakévet qalá)type of passenger railway
Icelandic léttlest
  • léttlesttype of passenger railway
Italian metropolitana leggera
  • metropolitana leggeratype of passenger railway
Norwegian lettbane
  • lettbanetype of passenger railway
Polish kolej miejska
  • kolej miejskatype of passenger railway
Portuguese trem ligeiro
  • trem ligeirotype of passenger railway
Spanish tren ligero
  • tren ligerotype of passenger railway
Swedish lättbana, stadsbana
  • lättbanatype of passenger railway
  • stadsbanatype of passenger railway
Vietnamese đường sắt nhẹ
  • đường sắt nhẹtype of passenger railway
Cite this entry
APA

light rail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20rail

MLA

“light rail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20rail. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “light rail,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20rail.

Source: light rail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.