What is the difference between a trolley and a tram

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Tram or trolley? Thread starter aftunk Start date Feb 23, Hello, Can anyone explain to me the difference between a tram and a trolley? I tend to think that they are the same, but I'd like to hear from a native English speaker. There may possibly be slight technical differences here and there, but in simple terms Tram is BE, trolley is AE.

You little ripper! Senior Member Australia. Tram - Wikipedia A tram also known as tramcar ; and in North America known as streetcar , trolley or trolley car is a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets, and also sometimes on a segregated right of way.

They do not run on rails. I don't think they are ever called just plain trolleys in the English-speaking world, but I could be mistaken. Vancouver BC, where I live, has the last remaining trolleybus system in Canada.

As a side comment, a few years ago I was on what may be the only remaining trolleybus system running on the left, in Wellington, New Zealand. Feb 23, 2. Yes I've seem trolleys in Santos but that was long time ago, don't know if they still exist. Bonde is very generic, it can mean street cars, trams, trolleys and most often used to define cable cars. But I guess a brazillian would even call Suspended Railway as bonde. Trams are rare in Brazil but one of the first cities to use trams in latin america was Manaus, in Brazil.

The capital of Amazon state where most of the amazon forest exist. Back in the world was in need of rubber and natural latex was abundant in that region. The company known as Manaus Tramways unfortunately couldn't afford expensive repairs and spare parts after WWI.

I would never call metro something that goes above ground. Maybe "metro voador"? Oh that is true. Metro elevado can then also be used for monorail. Show hidden low quality content. You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services. To a transit enthusiast, this may seem like a silly question, but what exactly are the basic differences between streetcars also called trolleys or trams and cable cars? Cable cars run on steel rails with a slot between the tracks where an underground cable runs at a continuous nine miles per hour.

The cable runs from a central powerhouse, from huge winding wheels, as the cable cars themselves are completely mechanical and have no means of independent locomotion no motors.

In order to move forward, the underground cable is grabbed by a grip on the cable car that works like a pair of pliers.

Originally, the powerhouse used steam power to run the cables beneath the streets, but as electricity became more commonplace, steam engines gave way to electric motors hydroelectric power which wind the huge wheels that spin the cable to this very day.