Subways and Railways

A metropolis the size of Cape Suzette needs an efficient, reliable mode of public transportation, which is where the subway and streetcar systems come in.

Thousands of commuters ride Cape Suzette's subways each day. The development of an electric train car is what permitted rail lines to be built underground, allowing travelers to escape the congestion of traffic on the surface. Each subway station connects to an adjacent street by a stairway that leads above ground. Riding the subway (also known as the "metro") requires a small fee for a ticket; subway cars are cramped, and often there is standing room only. The trains travel through tubes with two tracks each; at the end of the line, the track loops around and trains run in the opposite direction.

Electric trains run above ground also, only these are single cars known as streetcars (or trams). Unlike subway trains, streetcars travel on surface rails and their electric power comes from overhead cables. The rails embedded in city roads are called street trackage; when upheld by raised structures, they form an elevated railway (or "el" for short). One advantage of these trains is that they allow commuters to see far more of Cape Suzette's gorgeous city scenery.

Right: A minor accident in the subway.

Below: City streetcars.

Besides intracity transit, traditional railways and railroads connect Cape Suzette with other cities overland, as they first did during the industrial age. Limited commuter railways carry workers and shoppers from downtown to their homes in the suburbs; transcontinental lines, meanwhile, span hundreds of miles to Usland's other coasts. In spite of the popularity of air travel for shipping and passage, established railroads are still the dominant means of moving heavy freight and hundreds of passengers at a time from one side of the country to the other.