Regional rail

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Clockwise from top left:

• A Northern Trains Class 156 at Dewsbury station, England
• A V/Line VLocity at Albury station, Australia
• An SNCF TER Normandie Class B 82500 at Dieppe station, France
• A Deutsche Bahn DBpzfa double-decker carriage at Falkenberg (Elster) station, Germany
• An Indian Railways WAG-5P arrives at Odela station, India
• An Ichibata Electric Railway 5000 series passing Lake Shinji, Japan

Regional rail is a term used for passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail,^{[citation needed]} operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connecting smaller cities and towns.

In North America, "regional rail" is often used as a synonym for "commuter rail", often using "commuter rail" to refer to systems that primarily or only offer service during the rush hour while using "regional rail" to refer to systems that offer all-day service.^[1][2]

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Regional rail is usually defined as providing services that link settlements to each other, unlike commuter rail^{[citation needed]} which links locations within a singular urban area. Unlike inter-city services, regional trains stop at more stations and serve smaller communities. They may share routes with inter-city services, providing service to settlements that inter-city trains skip, or be the sole service on routes not busy enough to justify inter-city service.

Regional rail services are much less likely to be profitable than inter-city, so they often require government funding. This is mainly because many passengers use monthly passes giving a lower price per ride, and that lower average speed gives less distance, meaning less ticket revenue per hour of operation. Subsidies are justified on social or environmental grounds, and also because regional rail services often act as feeders for more profitable inter-city lines.

There are also services that are something in between regional and inter-city, like the Oresundtrain (between Copenhagen and three cities in Sweden over 3 hours away) with stopping pattern like a regional train and pass prices attracting work commuters.

This list describes the terms used for regional rail in various countries, as described above.

• Commuter rail
• Elektrichka
• Passenger rail terminology
• Train categories in Europe