Tram station's locations in Karbala city based on GIS

Abstract Rail stations are locations where passengers are picked up and dropped off by trains. This article aimed to determine the optimal locations of tramway stations in Karbala City, Iraq, by using the geographic information systems program. Two model builders had been used, one for origin-destination stations and one for intermediate stop stations. The selection of best locations depended on many criteria, which are the walking distance to active zones were had high trip attraction, land use, and population. For criteria weighting process an analytic hierarchy process method had been used. Five suitable end stations were selected which were located at the entrances of the city, and four groups of intermediate stations had been chosen. Group A consists of 32 stations, group B consists of 26 stations and for group C and D 22 and 22 stations had been chosen. The stations distance was between 300 and 1,000 m.