An internally illuminated transparent rail, such as a handrail, is disclosed. The rail is fabricated from polycarbonate or the like, and contains one or more series of lighting elements such as LEDs. The LEDs are connected to a programmable controller which stores preloaded programming control sequences and features, and which can also receive commands wirelessly from e.g. a hand held user interface such as a cellular telephone. The rail includes stanchions for mounting to an environmental object such as a transport vehicle or a static structure.