Word.ws English Dictionary

commuter rail

commuter rail noun: a rail transport system with trains used to transport commuters between two places, typically their homes and works, normally within a metropolitan area and its surrounding environs, and generally distinguished from other rail transport systems (i.e. subways, metros, tramways) by having less frequent service, lacking free transfers between trains and using heavy rolling stock running on a mainline railway.

commuter rail: a rail transport system with trains used to transport commuters between two places, typically their...
Image: こうのいち, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

commuter rail (uncountable)

  1. (US) A rail transport system with trains used to transport commuters between two places, typically their homes and works, normally within a metropolitan area and its surrounding environs, and generally distinguished from other rail transport systems (i.e. subways, metros, tramways) by having less frequent service, lacking free transfers between trains and using heavy rolling stock running on a mainline railway
    • Boston and Philadelphia's commuter rails each have thirteen active lines, but Boston's lines reach, on average, over a third again farther out from the central city than their counterparts in Philly.
    • I took the commuter rail in to work today, since it's quicker and more convenient than driving on the highway at rush hour.
    Synonyms:
    suburban rail

Synonyms of commuter rail

  • suburban rail

Questions about commuter rail

What does commuter rail mean?
Commuter rail means a rail transport system with trains used to transport commuters between two places, typically their homes and works, normally within a metropolitan area and its surrounding environs, and generally distinguished from other rail transport systems (i.e. subways, metros, tramways) by having less frequent service, lacking free transfers between trains and using heavy rolling stock running on a mainline railway.
What part of speech is commuter rail?
Commuter rail is a noun.

Words near commuter rail in the dictionary

  1. commuter bus
  2. commuter buses
  3. commuter busses
  4. commuter marriage
  5. commuter marriages
  6. commuter rail
  7. commuter town
  8. commuter towns
  9. commuterdom
  10. commuterliner
  11. commuterliners

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: commuter rail (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “commuter rail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/commuter_rail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.