I was in a plane about to land at Las Vegas when the plane was struck about ten feet outside my window. It certainly puckered every orifice of your body, but it was a non-event. The pilot mentioned after we landed that it was a common occurrence.

If you are inside a conducting container, known as a Faraday cage, you are unaffected by a lightning strike.

So if your light rail car (or automobile, or shipping container, or whatever) is conducting it isn't a problem. Modern airplanes that use carbon fiber parts have to take this into account in their design.