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A grand union is a junction where two double-track railway or lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen (sets of points) allow (or in rarer installations, trains) coming from any direction to take any of the three other directions. The same effect may be achieved with two adjacent wyes if the location allows for space.


Complexity
These types of complex junction are expensive to build and expensive to maintain. Special parts, sometimes made of steel, are needed for each location where one rail crossed another (a "frog"); these parts often need to be custom-made and fitted for each single location, depending on the specific angle of crossing of the intersecting streets.

A full grand union junction consists of 88 frogs (where one rail crosses another rail), and 32 switchpoints (point blades) if single-point switches are not used. A tram or train crossing the junction will encounter four or twenty frogs within the space of crossing the junction.

For all of the possible tracks of a grand union to be used during normal operation, at least six different tram routes have to cross the union. In an intersection with lines oriented towards cardinal directions, these could be: north-south, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west, and east–west.


Three-quarter, half and butterfly unions
Three-quarter unions are similar to grand unions in that they are also rail track junctions where two double-track railway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads; the primary difference being that one corner of the crossing does not have curved junction tracks, with the union having a total of 12 (sets of points).

Half unions are similar, but have curved junction tracks on only two adjoining corners of the intersection, with a total of eight switches.

Butterfly unions share the total of eight switches, but the curved junction tracks are on opposing corners.


Examples

Europe

Austria
  • has a three-quarter union at Quellenplatz, 48°10′32.3″N 16°22′24.7″E


Belgium
  • has a grand union at carrefour Buyl – Général Jacques, 50°49′05.9″N 4°22′45.8″E


Croatia
  • has a grand union at the intersection of Savska and Vodnikova Street, 45.80545°N 15.96627°E, and a three-quarter union at the intersection of Vukovarska and Držićeva Avenue, 45.80113°N 15.999°E.


Czech Republic
  • , has a three-quarter union located at 49°12′16.24″N 16°37′25.54″E.
  • , has one grand union located at 49°35′44.42″N 17°14′50.27″E.
  • , has three grand unions, first at 50°6′12.65″N, 14°28′23.89″E the second at 50°5′55.94″N, 14°25′59.76″E. and the third at 50°4′23.19″N 14°24′50.30″E, this Grand Union was rebuilt in 2003 and has curved trackwork as the streets are not aligned at the river crossing.


Estonia
  • has a butterfly union at the intersection of Narva maantee, Hobujaama and A. Laikmaa streets at 59°26′14.07″ N 24°45′26.21″ E. The new crossing line started service in 2024 and connects the city harbor to the rest of the system.


Finland
  • has a three-quarter union at the intersection of Simonkatu and Mannerheimintie, 60.1699°N 24.9385°E, and a butterfly union at the intersection of Runeberginkatu and Mannerheimintie, 60.1817°N 24.9273°E. These are probably the northernmost unions in the world.


Germany
  • has a full grand union under construction at the stop Bennigsenstraße at 53°4′13.8″N 8°51′22.2″E. It is used since August 2025, full usage will be from approximately 2028.
  • has one grand union at the stop Aachener Straße / Gürtel at 50°56′13.2″N 6°54′30.4″E, and one three-quarter union at Barbarossaplatz 50°55′42.9″N 6°56′33.7″E
  • has one grand union at 51°45′39.86″N 14°19′51.39″E and a three-quarter union at 51°44′57.54″N 14°19′42.50″E.
  • has two grand unions at 51°3′49.47″N 13°44′48.95″E (Albertplatz) and 51°2′58.09″N 13°44′39.27″E (Hauptbahnhof), two three-quarter unions at Fetscherplatz and Könneritzstraße/Jahnstraße as well as a five-eighths union at 51°3′47.55″N 13°44′13.53″E
  • has a butterfly union at Marxloh, Pollmann at 51°30′7.44″N 6°45′25.78″E
  • Kiel had a half union on Berliner Platz.
  • has a butterfly union at 50.976099°N 11.034358°E, its modern city center: the Anger.
  • 's system has three grand unions located at Stop Mathystrasse (49°0′8.96″N 8°23′39.77″E), located at Entenfang (49°00′37.1″N 8°21′31.8″E)., and the third one established in 2018 at intersection Rüppurrer Str. and Baumeisterstraße. A fourth one is planned at the next intersection of Kriegsstraße and Baumeisterstraße.
  • 's system has a single grand union located at 51°19′4.87″N 9°30′1.02″E and a three-quarter union at 51°18′43.02″N 9°29′29.64″E.
  • has a grand union at 51°20′39.35″N 12°22′15.99″E it is unique in interfacing with four tracks at Goerdelerring tram stop. There is a three-quarter union at 51°19′56.49″N 12°20′19.68″E, a half union at 51°20′31.31″N 12°21′31.15″E and butterfly unions at 51°19′12.95″N 12°19′48.80″E, 51°20′20.36″N 12°21′44.96″E and 51°21′44.93″N 12°21′55.79″.
  • has one real grand union at Ostfriedhof since the last track alteration in 2015 at 48°07′8.6″N 11°35′1″E. A three-quarter union can be found on Leonrodplatz at 48°09′34.2″N 11°32′50.8″E. While not a traditional grand union, the Munich tram system has also a "" which has the same route function as a grand union and also provides a loop for all lines, it is located at Maxmonument in Maximilianstrasse, 48°8′15.27″N, 11°35′17.02″E.


Italy
  • : the Milan tram network currently has two grand unions. The first is a non standard design with divided North South tracks around a monument located at piazza 24 Maggio, and the second located nearby at piazzale Porta Lodovica.In summer 2022 it is going to lose one of the diverging tracks. Works ongoing. There used to be another large one until the 1990s located at piazza della Repubblica, but it has since reduced to a still keeping the layout of diverging routes by the removal of the straight route to via Vittor Pisani.
  • : This network does not have a Grand Union but a Grand Circle, located at the Porta Maggiore, east of Roma Termini railway station.


Netherlands
  • Google Maps: Ceintuurbaan 55–157 1072 Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • Google Maps: Vasteland – Westzeedijk Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  • : The Hague tram system has one butterfly union at the crossing of the Laan van Meerdervoort and the Koningin Emmakade/Waldeck Pyrmontkade (S100), (52°04′54.1″N 4°17′15.9″E). There is also a half union at the crossing of the Loosduinseweg and the Monstersestraat, (52°04′22.2″N 4°17′30.5″E)


Poland
  • Kraków has three grand unions, one at 50°3′27.42″N 19°57′32.40″E one at 50°3′23.40″N 19°56′43.63″E and one at 50°4′46.65″N 20°1′38.49″E. There is a "Grand Circle" at Centralny Square, 50°4′19.56″N 20°2′14.46″E, the "Grand Circle" which has the same route function as a grand union and also provides a loop for all lines. There is a three-quarter union at 50°3′6.26″N 19°56′30.22″E and a five-eighths union at 50°4′24.31″N 20°1′2.89″E.
  • Https://maps.google.com/maps?q=52%C2%B024%2728.02%22N,+16%C2%B054%2744.97%22E&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=52.407766,16.912468&spn=0.000439,0.001206&sll=52.402659,16.889031&sspn=0.000439,0.001206&t=k&z=20 Google Maps: Rondo Kaponiera, Poznań, Poland 52°24′9.54″N, 16°53′20.65″E; 52°23′24.39″N, 16°53′39.07″E; 52°22′48.68″N, 16°56′35.21″E and 52°23′57.53″N, 16°57′8.97″E. All can be seen in detail on Google Earth.
  • Google Maps: Rondo Kercelak, Warszawa, Poland third at 52°22'01.84"N, 21°00'49.14"E, and fourth at 52°18'87.92"N 21°00'20.16"E.
Https://maps.google.com/maps?q=52%C2%B015%2717.24%22N+20%C2%B058%2757.11%22E&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=52.254707,20.982457&spn=0.000882,0.002411&sll=48.137884,11.588259&sspn=0.000961,0.002411&t=k&z=19 Google Maps: Rondo Zgrupowania AK "Radosław", Warszawa, Poland and 52°26'35.68"N 21°02'07.88"E.


Russia
  • Google Maps: 55.780459 N, 49.112853 E
  • Google Maps: Preobrazhenskaya Ploshad, Moscow Russia
  • : Saint Petersburg Tram system has a three-quarter union on Svetlanovskaya Ploshad, a three-quarter union on Irinovskiy Prospekt and a butterfly union on Prospekt Kultury
  • : Angarsk Tram system had one Full grand union which was partially removed in 2000s
  • : Kaliningrad Tram system had one grand union. It is located at 54.712167N, 20.523258E This Grand Union has been partially removed in 2009. [1]


Slovakia
  • Košice, had one grand union at 48°42′18″N 21°14′35″E, in 2018 that was replaced with a Grand Circle, which can be seen on Google Earth.


Switzerland
  • , the Basel system has a grand union at 47 33' 48.62"N 7 35' 57.96" Https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47%C2%B033%274.83%22N++7%C2%B035%2741.89%22E&aq=&sll=51.317927,9.500285&sspn=0.000433,0.001206&ie=UTF8&ll=47.551401,7.595375&spn=0.000934,0.003433&t=k&z=19 Google Maps: Aeschenplatz 1 4052 Basel, Switzerland


United Kingdom
  • The UK had at least four grand unions, at Salford, , , and . the components of the Salford union were stored at the National Tramway Museum at Crich.


Americas

Canada
  • : The Edmonton Radial Railway had a single grand union at the intersection of 109th Street and Jasper Avenue, although one side of the junction remained as a stub and was removed by the late 1930s. Edmonton Radial Railway 1924 track map
  • : The system operated by Montreal Tramways Company (Montreal street railway system) had several grand unions, with one known to be at the intersection of Ste. Catherine and St. Lawrence Streets.

  • : The most extensive street railway system in the Americas is the Toronto streetcar system of the Toronto Transit Commission in southern , which has many four-way streetcar intersections, including the only extant grand unions remaining in the Western Hemisphere. The system includes three grand unions, one seven-eighths union (one curve short of a grand union), four three-quarter unions (missing 2 curves at a single corner), three more unions with 6 curves and many unions in various configurations with less than 6 curves. The "traditional" grand unions are located at Bathurst and King (43°38′38.14″N 79°24′9.50″W); Spadina and King (43°38′43.73″N 79°23′42.09″W) and Spadina and Queen (43°38′55.43″N 79°23′46.91″W). King and Dufferin (43°38′20.15″N 79°25′38.45″W) is a "seven-eighths union": it is missing the curve from southbound to westbound.
  • Brantford, Ontario The Brantford Municipal Railway installed a UK-made grand union at Colborne and Market Streets circa 1910. It remained in service until the end of streetcar service in the city on 31 January 1940."Traction on the Grand", John Mills, Railfare Publishing, 1977. It was taken up for scrap in 1940.Page 74, Canadian Rail Passenger Review Number 3, 2000, author Douglas NW Smith


United States
  • : The Akron streetcar system had one grand union at the intersection of Main and Exchange Streets,
  • : The Boston Elevated Railway had four grand unions on Washington Street, at Hanover Street, and Essex Streets, Southampton Street, and Dover Street. Dover Street was also a part of another, albeit asymmetrical, grand union where it intersected and terminated into Berkeley Street, leading to another grand union at the intersection of Berkeley and Columbus Avenue. Another grand union existed at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue. An eighth grand union had existed at .
  • : The Chicago Transit Authority has a three-quarter union at Tower 18, located on the northwest corner of The Loop. This union has the notable distinctions of not only being built entirely on over the streets below, but also being fully equipped with for power distribution. www.Chicago-L.org Photo "tower18l.jpg" taken June 19, 2006.(Retrieved November 2009)
  • : has a surviving example of a half union located at the intersection of Chester Avenue and 49th Street; and PTC previously had two butterfly unions, the first at Erie Ave and Old York Road and the second at Lancaster Avenue and 33rd Street; as well as a second half union at Allegheny and 22nd Street.
  • : Pittsburgh's trolley system had a three-quarter union located at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Craig St.
  • Rochester, New York: Rochester's surface streetcar system had three full grand unions, all of which were located on Main Street, as well as two three-quarter unions, and three half unions.
  • : The Seattle-Tacoma Interurban was believed to have a single grand union, located at N. 34th St. and Fremont Ave.
  • : The San Francisco Municipal Railway's light rail line has a quarter union at 4th Street and King Street. The route crosses 4th, and the current route uses the turn connecting the tracks on King northwest of the intersection to those on 4th to the southwest; the tracks on 4th across King lead to the Central Subway.
  • Salt Lake City: The Utah Transit Authority's TRAX system has 2 half unions(Main Street Interlocking at 40°45′38.2″N 111°53′28.3″W and the Airport Junction Interlocking at 40°46′09.7″N 111°54′08.4″W), 1 quarter union (Union Interlocking at 40°43′21.1″N 111°53′48.8″W), and a three interlocking combination that offers the effect of a half union (Lovendahl/Ephraim/Sugar Interlockings at 40°37′56.2″N 111°53′54.7″W).


Galleries
File:Tramway Montreal 1893.jpg|A Grand union tramway crossing under construction in Montreal at Sainte Catherine and Saint Lawrence Street in 1893 Image:Toronto Streetcar Grand Junction.jpg|A grand union at and Queen Street West in , Ontario File:CTA loop junction.jpg|Chicago Transit Authority control tower 18 at this three-quarter union guides elevated Chicago 'L' north and southbound Purple and Brown lines intersecting with east and westbound Pink and Green lines and the looping Orange line above the Wells and Lake street intersection in the Loop.


Oceania
  • , Australia: The 1908–1958 electric tram system had three grand unions, located at King William Street and North Terrace, King William and Wakefield Streets (Victoria Square), and at Pulteney and Wakefield Streets.
  • , New Zealand: The Auckland system formerly had two grand unions, located at Queen Street's intersections with both and Wellesley Street.Graham Stewart, The End of the Penny Section: When Trams Ruled the Streets of New Zealand, rev ed. (Wellington: Grantham House, 1993), p. 149.
  • , Australia: The only surviving grand union in the Southern Hemisphere is Balaclava Junction on the Melbourne tram system, in Australia. It is located at 37°52′21.56″S 145°1′29.01″E. There is also a three-quarter union at the intersection of Victoria Parade and , East Melbourne. Route 3 runs east-west along Balaclava Road, with Route 64 running north-south along Hawthorn Road while Route 16 takes the west-to-north curve. The southern corners are used by trams accessing Glenhuntly depot while the top-right curve is used for diversions or other reasons.


See also


Notes
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