Q. What is standard rail?
Standard Rail - equipment types
Locomotive-hauled — this is what Caltrain, ACE, and the Amtrak Capitol Corridor uses today. A locomotive on one end of the train either pulls the unpowered passenger cars (from the front) or pushes them (from the back) to make them move. Locomotives vary in how powerful they are and how quickly they can accelerate. Some locomotives are powered by diesel fuel and others by electricity. They can pull a variety of types of passenger cars, to which they supply electricity for heating, lighting and ventilation →see our railcars page.
Multiple-unit (MU) — In a multiple-unit train, every car in the train has a motor which is capable of propelling the vehicle. This makes it easier to split trains and to run trains of varying length during the day. A DMU (diesel multiple-unit) is powered by diesel, and an EMU (electrical multiple-unit) is powered by electricity.