Outside of public transportation, vertical linear motors have been proposed
as lifting mechanisms in deep mines, and the use of linear motors is
growing in motion control applications. They are also often used on sliding
doors, such as those of low floor trams such as the Citadis and the
Eurotram.
Dual axis linear motors also exist. These specialized devices have been
used to provide direct X-Y motion for precision laser cutting of cloth and
sheet metal, automated drafting, and cable forming. Most linear motors in
use are LIM (linear induction motor), or LSM (linear synchronous motor).
Linear DC motors do exist but are not used due to higher cost and linear
SMs suffer from poor thrust. So, for long run in traction LIM is mostly
preferred and for short run LSM is mostly preferred.