A third rail is a method of providing electricity to power a railway by means of a continuous rigid conductor mounted alongside the railway track or between the rails. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in own corridors, fully or almost fully segregated from the outside environment. A list of lines or networks equipped with a third rail is provided further below. Third rail systems generally supply direct current to power the trains. In the early 1900's, the third rail electric system was used to power early rollercoasters such as the Rough Riders (rollercoaster) in Coney Island, New York.
The third rail system of electrification is unrelated to the third rail used in dual-gauge railways.
The Third Rail® is an online magazine concerning itself with rapid transit topics, including history and current events. It is currently published by The Composing Stack Inc. of New York, a software and internet services company, and the title is a registered trademark of that company.
