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Table 1 The main structural components of transport networks

From: Factors affecting performance improvement of the metro system in cities

Node

(Station) The location through which any public transport system passes, facilitating access to the rest of the public transport systems on the one hand and linking, switching, and integrating between their networks on the other.

Link

The path taken by the public transport system that links two successive stations, whether above or below ground.

Flow

The amount of traffic that goes through a link between two nodes and the amount of traffic that goes through a node. Thus, streams can be conditioned, multimodal (between modes) and mobile (between components of the same mode).

Gateway

A node that connects two different public transport systems in different paths and separate networks to achieve their integration and acts as a mandatory path and entry point for different traffic and movement flows. It is implemented and its location is chosen so that it mediates the networks of the different systems to facilitate the movement of people and goods from one system to another.

Hub

The main center that regulates the movement of large traffic volumes and the communication between the components of the same public transport system, on the one hand, and the integration between the networks of the different public transport systems, on the other hand, at the regional or international level.

Feeder

It is the site associated with the main center and its function is to regulate the directions of traffic flows along the transport path. It can be considered as the point of traffic and transport collection and distribution.

Corridor

It is a series of consecutive connected nodes and lanes of traffic flows for transporting people and goods, generally concentrated along the communication axis. It has a linear direction towards the larger node connecting two different transport systems.

  1. Prepared by the researcher and the information is obtained from reference no. [7]