Regarding Sydney CityRail, I'd vote for rapid transit, if for no better reason than that AFAIK there is no subway network it could relate to as express metro -- but indeed it's difficult to get clever of the terminology... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
So while its mostly at ground level with the occasional dive or overpass, it is only the interurban and country trains terminating at Central that avoid going underground altogether. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.