Tram and Train as a Trend

People live among many trends as long as they live. People have an imitative behavior. As a result, they will copy the style of someone else who is considered as a trendsetter. This imitative phenomenon also occurs among provinces. 

A capital country tends to be a trendsetter for other provinces in the country in many sectors includes transportation. The capital country which becomes the trendsetter of Indonesia provinces is Jakarta. In transportation sector, Jakarta is famous for the varieties of the transports. One of the transports which makes Jakarta a trendsetter is KRL (Kereta Rel Listrik). KRL is an electric train which is operated to link many parts of Jakarta and surrounding. Most people do not know that the concept of this rail vehicle is not really new. In previous century, a vehicle named tram with a similar concept ever became a trend in transportation of Jakarta. A tram is similar to a train, but in some ways like the physical appearance, the location, the route, and the performance, they are different.

Physically, a tram and a train have some differences  include the length and the weight. A tram is shorter than a train. If a train has many carriages, a tram just has two carriages. In addition, a tram is lighter compared to a train. A tram is 20 tons and a train is at least 40 tons. So, a tram absolutely looks shorter and lighter than a train. 

Another difference between a tram and a train is the location of the tracks. A railway of a train is located outside the city to avoid the crowd of the city. Differently, a tramway was located inside a city because this vehicle is operated to link many parts of the city. A railway of train is outside the city, but a tramway is inside the city.

The previous difference happens because there is a different route between a train and a tram. A train is used by the passengers to go to other cities. In contrast, a tram is used by the passengers to go to other parts of a city. It means that a train has a longer route than a tram.

Both train and tram performances are different. A train is suitable for a straight railway because it is operated outside the city. It can run on a hilly and extreme area. Compared to a train, a tram is suitable for crankle tramway because it is operated inside the city and it has to follow the main road of a city. A tram can also run on a flat area. Each performances of a train and a tram are totally unsimilar.

Despite of these differences, these transportation have some similarities include the similarities of the source power and the track.

The power sources for a train and a tram are the same. The source usage has already developed depend on the technology development. At the first time, both a train and a tram were moved by some horses. But, horse power could not move them for a long distance. So, a train and a tram were pulled by a long cable. The sources always change from steams, diesel, petrol(gasoline), and the newest one, electricity. Now, some developed countries like French, Germany, and England still use tram for the public transportation in their cities with electricity power.

A tram just like a train runs only on the track. A train and a tram can just move on a special tracks named railway for a train and tramway for a tram. This tracks are made based on the routes that will be followed.

Although a train and a tram are a trend in transportation with many similarities, they also have some differences.  On one hand, people can distinguish a train and a tram from several things like the physical appearance, the location, the route, and the performance. On the other hand, people can get the similarities from the power source and the track. In addition, we can realize that something can be a trend again after missing in a long period.